ADL Calls Planned Anti-Abortion 'Wailing Wall' Memorial an Affront to Jews
Plans by anti-abortion activists to construct a replica of the Western Wall at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that will be fronted by 60 crosses, each one representing 1 million aborted fetuses, are being met with strong opposition.
The Anti-Defamation League described the proposed "Wailing Wall" to be constructed at a pro-life memorial center in Wichita, Kan., under the leadership of an evangelical community of pastors as "an outrageous affront to the Jewish people."
"Over the years we have seen a number of anti-abortion groups compare abortion to the Holocaust, but this takes the misuse of Jewish symbolism and history to another level," Abraham Foxman, ADL's national director, said in a statement issued Monday. "The Western Wall, this monumental symbol of Jewish grief and redemption is being co-opted and distorted to promote an anti-abortion agenda and message."
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Pastors Rob Rotola of the Word of Life Church and Mark Holick of the Spirit One Christian Ministry are leaders of the group that announced plans for the "International Pro-Life Memorial & National Life Center" in Wichita. The center is described on the memorial fundraising website as "a place of repentance, meditation and healing."
The institute will focus on preserving, promoting and protecting "the unborn and families against the international Holocaust being promoted by governments and individuals … against the unborn," said Holick, who is a regional coordinator of Operation Save America.
"The Lord's Word says that we must 'plead the case of the fatherless to win it.' We must stop the shedding of innocent blood … all of it … completely … end of story," stated Holick in an endorsement of the group, Personhood Kansas.
"Incumbent upon Pro-life Christians is a duty to protect the unborn by actively opposing abortion in every way possible, on all fronts, and from every angle – socially, legally, morally and politically," said Rotola while endorsing the pro-life movement in Kansas.
In his statement against the Western Wall replica at the proposed center, Foxman stated, "Members of the pro-life movement are entitled to their opinions, but we wish they would not express them at the expense of Judaism's holiest site and the Holocaust. The use of the Wailing Wall imagery in protest of abortion constitutes an affront to the Jewish people and a terrible perversion of the meaning of Judaism's holiest site.
"We strongly urge the planners of the International Pro-Life Memorial & National Life Center to reconsider their inclusion of a 'Wailing Wall' in their project and to stop using the word 'Holocaust"' in reference to abortion," he concluded.
Pro-life advocate and evangelist Ray Comfort has also been opposed by the ADL for his use of Holocaust images and comparisons in his film "180." While interviewing people out in public, Comfort asked a hypothetical question after describing a life and death, Holocaust-like scenario.
The 33-minute video available for free online, documents the responses of young adults to questions from Comfort about their stance on abortion, but also includes discussions on Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust in Europe. The video has more than 3 million views.
