Former Idols SA winner-turned pastor, Heinz Winckler, has blasted Palestinian supporters in Cape Town and their protests held over the weekend.
The lead pastor of LoveKey Church was one of a group of people who gathered to pray on the Sea Point Promenade on Sunday.
Armed with large Israeli flags, the group’s gathering was disrupted by pro-Palestinian supporters.
Winckler told social media followers: “The Prayer and Proclamation event for the ongoing situation in Israel had a legal permit to gather at Sea Point... The event was illegally and violently disrupted and opposed by abusive pro-Palestinian/Hamas supporters to the extent that the police called off the event.
“So a smaller group of us moved down the road to the Cape Town Stadium to praise, pray and proclaim. Thank you to everyone who boldly prayed at Sea Point, and joined us as well.
“To our Jewish friends – we stand with you. To my fellow Christians, we are at a critical moment in history. Be strong in the Lord and pray without ceasing.”
Winkler concludes: “This is a spiritual war and a very real one and it has a physical outpouring.”
He apologised to the Jewish community of Sea Point, following the action in their community.
Winckler, 45, added the pro-Palestinian group behaved like “criminals” as they “got violent, burnt Israeli flags and caused damage”.
His post immediately came in for criticism from Palestinian supporters.
Samina.karrim wrote: “Hold on! You preach about Jesus, yet you’re supporting Zionism in Israel! Shame on you. For the information of your fellow Christians, there are only 800-1000 Christians in Israel. Israel has already bombed a church. The Christians in Israel fear extinction. People who follow you need to do their research before listening to you blindly. Israelis do not believe in Jesus (peace be upon him), they believe in the anti-christ.”