World

Israel Detains Christian Group

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 25, 1999 / 10:22 AM EDT / CBS

Twenty-one born-again Christians are in Israeli police custody and facing deportation, reports CBS News Correspondent Jesse Schulman.

They were arrested on JerusalemÂ's biblical Mount of Olives. And they are members of a group that believe in the second coming of Christ in the year 2000.

Police said the detainees, followers of the House of Prayer group, were suspected of planning to harm public safety and would be deported after an investigation. Police spokesman Rafi Yaffi said a key concern was that the group was paving the way for other Christians to settle in Israel.

Israel radio said police feared the group planned a mass suicide or other dangerous acts.

SundayÂ's midnight sweep marked the third time since January that Israel has detained Christian groups. Israeli authorities suspect so-called Christian "end-timers" will carry out violent acts to bring about an apocalypse and hasten the return of Christ.

A former Syracuse, N.Y. trailer park owner calling himself Â"Brother DavidÂ" said he and his followers were arrested "because we speak the truth and Israel is about to hear the truth in a greater way than ever before."

Sister Sharon, 53, of Sacramento, Calif., said she had just gotten home from watching a movie at the nearby home of her son, Brother Raymond, when police knocked on the door after midnight.

Â"When I got outside, they told me I was getting arrested,Â" Sharon said, speaking by mobile phone from the van. Â"The street was full of police.Â"

Sharon said that among those detained were Christians from the United States, Australia, England and Spain.

Some of those now being held have lived in Jerusalem peacefully for years. Remaining Â"end-timersÂ" believe they are being persecuted, likening the detentions to Â"old days, when they used to hunt Christians.Â"

There is concern that the expulsions will take a toll on IsraelÂ's tourism industry and dissuade Christian pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land to witness the coming of the new millennium

Already, Israel has halved its earlier tourism predictions, saying it now expects only 3 million visitors in 2000. Tourism officials have attributed the drop to a lackluster marketing campaign and security concerns of would-be visitors.