Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex) walked off stage in protest after being heckled for defending Israel at an event sponsored by In Defense of Christians (video embedded below).
Though the event was organized “to raise awareness about the threats to Arab minorities” posed by groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Cruz was booed for pointing out that Israel was a great supporter of the Christians being threatened across the Middle East. The Daily Caller reported on Cruz’ remarks:
Religious bigotry is a cancer with many manifestations,” he continued. “ISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, state sponsors like Syria and Iran, are all engaged in a vicious genocidal campaign to destroy religious minorities in the Middle East. Sometimes we are told not to loop these groups together, that we have to understand their so called nuances and differences. But we shouldn’t try to parse different manifestations of evil that are on a murderous rampage through the region. Hate is hate, and murder is murder. Our purpose here tonight is to highlight a terrible injustice, a humanitarian crisis.”
“Christians have no greater ally than Israel,” he said, at which point members of the crowd began to yell “stop it” and booed him.
When the heckling became intolerable, Cruz said, “If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Good night, and God bless.”
In recounting the experience to the Washington Free Beacon, Cruz said, “I’ve certainly encountered audiences that disagreed with a particular point of view. But this virulent display of hatred and bigotry was remarkable, and considerably different from anything I’ve previously encountered.”
In a statement released after the speech, Cruz wrote:
Tonight in Washington should have been a night of unity as we came together for the inaugural event for a group that calls itself ‘In Defense of Christians.’ Instead, it unfortunately deteriorated into a shameful display of bigotry and hatred.
When I spoke in strong support of Israel and the Jewish people, who are being persecuted and murdered by the same vicious terrorists who are also slaughtering Christians, many Christians in the audience applauded. But, sadly, a vocal and angry minority of attendees at the conference tried to shout down my expression of solidarity with Israel. …
I told the attendees that those who hate Israel also hate America
The Free Beacon reported yesterday that a number of the people involved with In Defense of Christians have ties to or are supporters of Hezbollah.