Hundreds protest annual conference of Christians United for Israel in US

More than 800 activists and faith leaders from dozens of institutions banded together to protest the annual conference of Christians United for Israel.

CUFI is a far Christian Zionist group, considered the largest pro-Israel group in the US, advising politicians and funding officials' trips to Israel.

The conference, which is held annually in Washington, DC, aims to generate US political support for Israel. This includes support for US arms sales, Israeli expansion into the occupied West Bank; referred to as "Judea and Samaria" by far-right activists and fundamentalists advocating for a hardline approach with Iran.

The interfaith group protesting the CUFI conference held joint prayers to counter the lobbyist gathering, leading to more than 50 arrests on Tuesday. Meanwhile, hundreds more protesters organised online and in groups near the three-day conference held from 29 June to 1 July.

"As Black and Indigenous People of Faith, CUFI's political project is not just about foreign policy.  It is a theological and colonial assault on life itself," said Assata Dela Cruz, executive director of Tending Futures, in a public statement.

"CUFI's belief that Palestinians must be removed from their ancestral lands to fulfil a prophecy mirrors the genocidal narratives used to dispossess Black and Indigenous people in the Americas.  It is a theology of conquest, not communion," she added.

Abby Stein, a rabbi who took part in the interfaith prayer, expressed similar concerns over CUFI's lobbying in Washington. She also warned of the dangers of Christian nationalism to Jews.

"Christian Nationalism and Christian Zionism is currently the greatest threat to safety, liberty, and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis wherever they live. Christian Zionism is part of one of the oldest, deadliest, historical antisemitic tropes: that Jews don't belong or aren't 'loyal' or "rooted" in the countries they live, but rather belong in 'the Holy Land,'" she said in a public statement.

CUFI, founded by televangelist John Hagee, has more than 11 million members, making it the world's largest Zionist organisation. (By comparison, the higher-profile American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, has 5 million members).

Hagee has sparked controversy for antisemitic and Islamophobic comments, in at least one instance saying he believed Adolph Hitler was sent by God. Indeed, Christian Zionism is widely considered antisemitic due to the belief that Jews must move to Israel to remove Palestinians from the Holy Land to hasten the end times.

Christian Zionism has played an important role in US policy in the Middle East, though over the years it has largely been overshadowed by other issues. With the current administration of Donald Trump, far-right Christian nationalism has played a far more prominent role, with the appointment of outspoken evangelical Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel and the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.