A decent churchman speaks

From Melanie Phillips's Diary, June 29, 2005:

Canon Andrew White, until recently Director of the Peace Centre at Coventry Cathedral, is the Church of England's principal peace-maker in the Middle East. He probably knows more about that troubled region than any other churchman alive....Here is his response to the Anglican Consultative Council debacle:

'It is not very often that I pay heed to newspaper editorials, but last Thursday's Daily Telegraph editorial summed up perfectly the Anglican Peace and Justice network's recommendation to the ACC to encourage that provinces disinvest from Israel. ....."Sanctimonious Claptrap" and that is exactly what it was.

Never has this group even paid attention to the fact that the former Archbishop of Canterbury was the very person who commenced the religious track of the peace process -- a process that is still functioning. A few weeks ago Lord Carey himself launched three new centres in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. 'These centres are not slinging negative slogans at each other but are working hard at trying to find a lasting peace with justice. They are taking seriously the new opportunities that arise with Israel's disengagement from Gaza and part of the West Bank in a matter of days. It is these Israelis and Palestinians that we should support. Those who are taking real risks for peace.'

I spend much of my life in Israel and Palestine. Every month I sit with those committed to working for peace on both sides of the divide. I know the pain and hurt of both communities.

....why did they not even bother to go and see anybody from the Israeli Government? ....That such a group should function in the name of the Anglican Church is a tragedy and that the ACC should pass this resolution is an even greater tragedy. .... All that has been happening since the signing of the first Alexandria Declaration for Peace in the Holy Land is now at risk.

'Making peace is not quick or easy work. The Israeli Palestinian conflict has been going on for years..... why was this group not prepared to meet with the Government of Israel? All too often delegations come out for a few days and write definitive reports. I have spent years in the land and even now do not understand many of its complexities.

'This is not a prophetic action but the corporate action of a group of people who are too scared to take seriously the challenge to be true peace makers. This action will be seen as being not only anti Zionist but also anti-Semitic and I know for certain I will never be party to such action.'

At least here is one senior cleric with the moral courage and decency to confront the evil that has arisen within Anglicanism.

Melanie Phillips is a British journalist and author. She is best known for her column about political and social issues which currently appears in the Daily Mail.

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