Reverend brings Dem house down with Israel-Palestine plea

The Democratic convention audience erupted in cheers Thursday night when the Rev. William Barber II urged them to love Jews and Palestinians equally.

 

“When we love the Jewish child and the Palestinian child … we are reviving the heart of our democracy,” said Barber, who is also the president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.

 

Barber was raising an issue — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — fought over vigorously both in the party’s platform debate and here on the streets of Philadelphia, where pro-Palestinian protests have cropped up throughout the Democratic National Convention this week.

 

“Jesus, a brown-skinned Palestinian Jew, called us to preach good news to the poor, the broken and the bruised and all those who are made to feel unaccepted,” he said.

 

Barber brought the Democratic crowd to its feet after having sat subdued for several hours of speeches in the lead-up to Hillary Clinton’s acceptance of the party’s presidential nomination on Thursday night, the final evening of the convention.

 

The crowd went crazy again when Barber took a shot at the National Rifle Association (NRA).

 

“We are reviving the heart of our democracy when we fight for peace and when we resist the proliferation of military-style weapons on our streets,” he said. “And when we stand against the anti-democratic stronghold of the NRA we are reviving the heart of our democracy.”

 

Read More: Reverend brings Dem house down with Israel-Palestine plea | TheHill