(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - A trip across America reminds one of the degree of support Israel enjoys both among Jews and non-Jews. In the town of Florence in northwestern Alabama, I heard Parker Griffith - a first-term Democratic congressman - speak of Israel in a way that could bring tears to the eyes. Griffith told an interdenominational crowd of some 150 people at the town's Reform synagogue: "I went to Israel as a tourist, and came back as a Zionist." Griffith, a retired oncologist, talked about Israel's energy and ingenuity, and about the need for the U.S. to stand by Israel and not be taken in by Iranian deception. He spoke of a recent trip to Israel, and how struck he was that places he heard about as a kid in Sunday school were actually real. I asked Griffith the source of his support. An Episcopalian, he grew up on the Old Testament and is familiar with it - it means something to him. Secondly, he went to medical school at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he had a number of Jewish friends. Those friends, he said, cared greatly about Israel, and it rubbed off.
2009-12-11 08:24:29Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive