CAIRO,
January 7, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Leading
American evangelist and broadcaster Pat Robertson came under fire
Saturday, January 6, for saying Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's stroke
was divine retribution for withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip and
a part the West Bank.
"I'm
appalled that Pat Robertson would make such statements. He ought to
know better," Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious
Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest US
Protestant denomination, told the Los Angeles Times.
"The
arrogance of the statement shocks me almost as much as the
insensitivity of it," he added.
Robertson,
who urged followers to vote for President George W. Bush in the 2004
election, unleashed one of his trademark furors with the comments on
his "700 Club" show on Thursday, January 5.
As
the Israeli prime minister battled for life, he suggested Sharon was
being punished by God for his policies in Gaza and the West Bank.
"The
prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those
who, quote, 'divide my land.' God considers this land to be his.
"You
read the Bible, he says, 'This is my land.' And for any prime minister
of Israel who decides he's going carve it up and give it away, God
says, 'No. This is mine.'"
Robertson
claimed Sharon was "dividing God's land".
"I
would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar
course to appease the EU, the United Nations or the United States of
America."
Israeli
occupation forces pulled out from the impoverished Gaza Strip in
September after 38 years of military occupation.
Offensive
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Bush's spokesman said the remarks were "offensive".
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The
White House on Friday, January 6, lashed out at Robertson's Sharon
remarks.
"I
think those comments were wholly inappropriate and offensive, and
really don't have a place in this or any other debate," Trent
Duffy, a White House spokesman, told reporters.
Bush
on Thursday hailed Sharon as a strong man who "had a vision for
peace."
"Our
nation sends their deepest sympathy to Ariel Sharon," he said at
the US State Department before a speech on promoting languages.
"We
pray for his recovery…May god bless him."
The
Sharon remarks also drew immediate condemnation from Israel's
ambassador to the United States and the US Anti-Defamation League.
Robertson,
founder of the Christian Coalition and a presidential candidate in
1988, called in August for the assassination of Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez for allegedly intending to become "the launching pad
for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
In
November, the televangelist warned the town of Dover, Pa., that it
risked God's wrath because voters had recalled conservative school
board members who favored teaching "intelligent design,"
whose proponents believe organisms are too complex to have developed
independently.
The
popular US televangelist is also infamous for his repeated anti-Islam
remarks.
