WORD JERUSALEM

Inside the Embassy
ICEJ Rallies For The Fence
THE ICEJ LED A GROUP of Christian residents
of Jerusalem to a rally in support of Israel’s
security fence that took place on the
southern outskirts of the city on the same
day the International Court of Justice in The
Hague, Netherlands, opened hearings on
the legality of the fence.
“We Christians came here today not with
a political message; this is personal”, ICEJ
media officer David Parsons told hundreds
of Israelis and a throng of journalists gathered
at the rally.
“Our families live here among you in
Jerusalem. We ride the buses, eat at the
cafés, and get invited to your bar mitzvahs.
As Christians we also have a stake in this
Holy Land and a right to live and work here
in peace. And we are all going to feel safer
for ourselves, our spouses and children as
this fence gets built”, he said.
Much like a simultaneous pro-fence rally in
The Hague at that very hour, the gathering on
the Gilo ridge overlooking Bethlehem drew
Jews and Christians together around the
twisted hulk of a bombed-out city bus and
enlarged photos of Israeli victims of terror.
The victims’ faces were held aloft by 150
Jewish students from a high school in the
French Hill neighbourhood that has been
hard hit by terror over recent years. So far,
the violent Palestinian intifada has claimed
the lives of 22 people associated with the
school, including faculty, students, parents
and close relatives.
In fact, one student lost her mother only
the day before when a suicide bomber
exploded on bus No. 14 at a traffic light
astride Liberty Bell Park, claiming eight lives.
To stress the message “The Fence Saves
Lives”, the rally took place along a newly
completed section of the security fence
where 3 weeks earlier, another Palestinian
bomber had snuck into Jerusalem at night
and targeted bus No. 19, killing 11 people.
If that same bomber tried to cross there
today, he would not make it. ■
Pastor Felipe Garcia
ICEJ Appoints
New Director
For Mexico
THERE ARE SOME exciting new developments
for the ICEJ in the
Spanish-speaking world, according
to International Director Michael
Utterback. In one example, an
incredible door opened quickly in
the country of Mexico when Michael
visited there in December to meet
and install a new national director,
Pastor Felipe Garcia.
Pastor Garcia is one of most prominent
leaders of the rapidly growing
Evangelical movement in Mexico. He
has now caught the vision for Israel
with such fire, that he has delegated
day-to-day responsibilities for his
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