On Monday, May 16, Fox News? conservative pundit Glenn Beck announced to both his radio and television fans that he would be launching a follow-up of sorts to his August 28, 2010 ?Restoring Honor? rally in Washington D.C. His upcoming “Restoring Courage” rally ? scheduled for August, this time in Israel ? has already been the subject of criticism by some on the Left.
Beck explained the motives behind his plans:
Last summer we set out to Restore Honor in Washington, D.C. This summer it is time to Restore Courage. Taking a stand is not always easy, but now more than ever it is imperative that we live with conviction and do the right thing. It is time for us to courageously stand with Israel.
Things in Israel are going to get bad its only a matter of time. They are going to attack the center of our faith, our common faith, and that is Jerusalem. And it wont be with bullets or bombs. It will be with a two-state solution that cuts off Jerusalem, the old city, [from] the rest of the world.
It is time to return inside the walls that surround Jerusalem and stand with people of all faiths all around the world.
According to Beck, the dates and details of the rally are still a work in progress, though he is planning a full week of activities in Israel. He also indicates that he is working to acquire group discounts for the trip, as well as exploring ways in which people can participate in the events from back in the United States.
Upon learning of Becks planned event in Jerusalem, MSNBCs Rachel Maddow sarcastically uttered, Oh good before mocking Beck and his fans.
The Blaze reports:
After warning that any American insertion into the volatile Middle East must be done with care, she played Becks announcement. Then the jabs started: And dont worry Glenn Beck Followers, there will be travel deals for you to get yourself physically to Israel, to make it convenient for you to bring your subtle, nuanced political understanding to a part of the world that really needs you.
Maddow then posed some rhetorical questions:
What could be worse than Fox News exporting its end-of-the-world conspiracy theorist who sees Communists and George Soros as a Jewish puppet-master in everything? What American export could be less helpful to the Middle East than that?
Additionally, Media Matters dubbed the event Becks latest self-aggrandizing spectacle.
One conservative blogger sees it differently. Exposing Liberal Lies wrote, God must smile when he looks down upon the actions of Glenn Beck, a true patriot and an avid supporter of Israel.
The attendance at Becks Restoring Honor rally last August in Washington, D.C. was estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
