From IsraelNationalNews.com, 14 July 2010, by Gil Ronen:
The Presbyterian Church's General Assembly amended at week's end a report [see this previous post] that had originally condemned Israel as an “apartheid” state, and called for divestment from it.
A group of influential pastors from within the denomination including Rev. John Buchanan was unhappy with the report issued by the PC-USA's Middle East Study Committee (MESC). That report was so harshly anti-Israeli that even radical leftist group J-Street took exception to it. After a group called Presbyterians for Middle East Peace called on the assembly to reject the report in its entirety, it was decided to delete the historical analysis from the report and replace it with eight personal narratives – four pro-Arab and four pro-Israeli ones – which have yet to be written.
The committee also added a clause that affirmed Israel’s right to exist.
The original report called for the members of the MESC to be appointed to a “monitoring group” that would observe events in the Middle East for two years and then report again to the General Assembly. The amended version of the report reduces the MESC's representation on the monitoring group to one or two members.
According to Israel advocacy NGO CAMERA, “This change in the composition of the monitoring committee gets at the heart of the problem.”
“The Middle East Study Committee was fundamentally biased against Israel,” CAMERA explained. “One member had stated previously stated that in his heart of hearts he wanted a one-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. And another had stated that she could not reconcile herself to Israel’s 'right' to exist.”
“The appointment of members such as this to the Middle East Study Committee by one current and two past PC(USA) moderators in 2008 set the stage for disaster a the 2010 General Assembly,” the group commented, adding that it hopes the people who decide on the personal makeup of the monitoring group “will learn from past mistakes.”
...“What is new at the 2010 General Assembly is that people started to realize that drawing attention to Palestinian suffering and working to end it does not require demonizing Israel,” CAMERA concluded.
...The Anti-Defamation League issued a separate statement that credited the assembly for having "averted a rupture," it condemned the recommendation that the U.S. consider withholding aid to pressure Israel.
Showing posts with label Presbyterian Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presbyterian Church. Show all posts
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Presbyterian antisemites cuddle up to J-Street
From Israel natinal news, 10 July 2010, by Gil Ronen:
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) convening in Minneapolis will debate this week whether to endorse an official church study committee report that compares Israel to the worst regimes of the 20th century, including Nazi Germany. The report ...also mentions ultra-liberal Jewish lobby group J Street as a sign of “hope...” .
J-Street Vice President Rachel Lerner called out to the Presbyterians to reject the 'study.' She said that the report’s authors never consulted her group before choosing to mention it.
She added that “with the passage of this study, the Church will alienate us ...She said she was “saddened” and “angered” by the report. However, Lerner clarified that even if the study is adopted, J-Street will not be issuing a directive to its local branches to cease partnering with local Presbyterian churches.
Presbyterian Alan Wisdom also asked his fellow church members to reject the report....
...The study further urges that the U.S. cut off aid to the Jewish state in order to “bring Israel to compliance.”
New York Times religion reporter Gus Niebuhr, grand nephew of pro-Zionist Christian ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr, warned fellow Presbyterians that the “terribly imbalanced” report would “obscure” Presbyterian influence in America. Niebuhr was joined by Presbyterian pastor and Christian Century magazine publisher John Buchanan...
...In June 2004, the U.S. Presbyterian Church's General Assembly adopted a resolution that called on the church "to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel."
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) convening in Minneapolis will debate this week whether to endorse an official church study committee report that compares Israel to the worst regimes of the 20th century, including Nazi Germany. The report ...also mentions ultra-liberal Jewish lobby group J Street as a sign of “hope...” .
J-Street Vice President Rachel Lerner called out to the Presbyterians to reject the 'study.' She said that the report’s authors never consulted her group before choosing to mention it.
She added that “with the passage of this study, the Church will alienate us ...She said she was “saddened” and “angered” by the report. However, Lerner clarified that even if the study is adopted, J-Street will not be issuing a directive to its local branches to cease partnering with local Presbyterian churches.
Presbyterian Alan Wisdom also asked his fellow church members to reject the report....
...The study further urges that the U.S. cut off aid to the Jewish state in order to “bring Israel to compliance.”
New York Times religion reporter Gus Niebuhr, grand nephew of pro-Zionist Christian ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr, warned fellow Presbyterians that the “terribly imbalanced” report would “obscure” Presbyterian influence in America. Niebuhr was joined by Presbyterian pastor and Christian Century magazine publisher John Buchanan...
...In June 2004, the U.S. Presbyterian Church's General Assembly adopted a resolution that called on the church "to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel."
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
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