Christian and Jewish leaders call for "National Day of Prayer for Israel and the Peace of Jerusalem"

 

 

August 9,2006

OTTAWA - Christian and Jewish leaders have called a National Day of Prayer for August 20 and are asking Canadian Christians from coast to coast to "pray for Israel and the Peace of Jerusalem.

"All Canadians are concerned with the ongoing suffering of innocent Lebanese and Israeli’s who are caught in the crossfire," said Charles McVety, President of Canada Christian College and Chair of Christians United for Israel - Canada, the main organizer of the Day of Prayer. "It is our prayer that the fighting will stop and sustainable peace will be established."

"We are calling on all Christians, and inviting all people of faith, to set aside 18 minutes on Sunday, August 20th, to pray for peace in the Middle East," said McVety. "Eighteen in Hebrew is 'chai', which means 'life'. We expect that several million Christians from numerous denominations will pray to the God of Israel for the peace of Jerusalem."

McVety was joined at a press conference in Ottawa by Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B'nai Brith Canada and Alan Baker, Ambassador of Israel to Canada.

Dimant expressed his organization's growing concern with the increase in street demonstrations in favour of Hezbollah. "Hezbollah is a terrorist organization outlawed in Canada," he reminded reporters. Both Dimant and B'nai Brith played pivotal roles in convincing the government to add Hezbollah to the list of illegal terrorist organizations in Canada.

Christians United for Israel - Canada (CUFI - Canada) is a non-denominational coalition of individual Christians and Christian organizations from across Canada dedicated to actively supporting the Nation of Israel and its People. CUFI - Canada is affiliated with Christians United for Israel - America, an umbrella organization representing a number of groups and leaders - including John Hagee, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn - with a collective membership of more than 40 million.