Brian from Toronto, your description of the UCC very much ties up with my experience in the Church of England. Here too the hard core of anti-Zionists is quite small, and it’s certainly not the case that I go to church on Sunday expecting to be treated to anti-Israel harangues. But the anti-Zionists’ grip on Christian Aid (and bear in mind that you don’t have to be Christian to work for CA) gives them significant influence over ordinary churchgoers who are not very well informed but feel that something nasty is going on in the Middle East and Christians ought to be doing something about it. Of course that influence has to be seen in conjunction with the far greater influence of the media and especially the BBC.

What I suspect is really widespread, though not very often articulated, is the belief that Judaism is a cruel and vindictive religion and that Israel’s actions reflect this. My wife heard this expressed at a Bible study meeting the other day; she was able to counter it by retelling a story from the Talmud, but of course that doesn’t always happen. And it’s precisely this perception which Christian Aid’s propaganda hooks into.

We need to steer between hysteria and complacency. Kristallnacht II isn’t round the corner, but the seeds of prejudice are there and they’re not going to go away if we ignore them.

It was not and is not my intention to smear anybody. If you’re honest with yourself you will apologize for smearing ME.

Regardless Christian antisemitism has been a problem for Jews since Roman times, indeed it’s been deadly to us.

And, I don’t think that this tendency is completely behind us.

To be honest do you?

Do you really that theology, history and custom have no role in the West’s equivocation about Israel and recognition of Jerusalem as her capitol? How can it when Jerusalem is the site where Jesus was murdered supposedly at our hands?

Let me put it this way: do you think Mel Gibson isn’t Christian?

The fact is Sabeel and other organizations continue to preach the replacement covenant and it really seems as though there’s reluctance to accept the essential equality and worthiness of the Jewish people to this day.

How can there be if we’re damned for our beliefs?

As Israelinurse points out the lack of unequivocating support for Israel’s continuing existence is damning to us and makes our continuing existence precarious. As others mention liberal denominations in the West use their very idealism to equivocate about Israel’s existence.

Between that and far left characterizations of Israel as “colonialist/imperialist” we don’t have any room to breathe. Gradually we are being made to see that Israel is evil, that we shouldn’t be there, that we have no right to a country, that we’re racists, that we should be destroyed.

Of course we should be destroyed! We’re evil, we’re damned, we’re thiefs and poisoners of water, we’re usupers – our religion is inferior, our ties to the land are meaningless, we can take no joy in our accomplishments, in the miracle of Israel’s rebirth.

Instead we’re condemned for it. We’re told that the trees we’ve planted were only a cover for the destruction of Arab villages. We’re told that Tel Aviv was built on the destruction of Arab villages.

This is coming from THE WEST as much as it is from the East. Much of the violence in Mandate Palestine was stirred by English and other Western antisemites and their lies.

So this hatred of Israel and of Jews isn’t all coming from the East. A lot of it is coming from the West. It’s imported, classical Western antisemitism. It’s been studied and written about eloquently by many scholars.

It is however fueling the rage in the East and it is generating endless conflict.

The fixation on Israel is making solutions to the problems confronting Israel and Arabs impossible. Look at the pictures posted in the update to this article.

The picture of Africa shows a contented man in front of a green field. The picture relating to Israel shows Palestinians behind bars.

This expresses an implicit bigotry, it also belies the relative condition of the two regions.

It was really only recently, relatively speaking, that the Pope addressed these issues and the role of Pius during WWII is still a hot-button issue.

So tragically the heroic Poles and others who risked their lives to save Jewish people remain the exceptions.

Had their been more of them there would have been no Shoah but people turned their backs and even participated actively.

Or do you think the Germans weren’t Christians?

Or the English centuries before and even in the Mandate, even after WWII, who tormented us?

What about the Spanish?

To this day that’s one of the most antisemitic countries in the world and they have practically no Jews anymore, they threw us all out and tortured people who’d already converted.

That was centuries ago but the hatred remains. Where did it come from? Where does Chavez’ imagery come from when he talks about bloodsuckers who’ve taken all the gold?

What about the Poles who actually murdered survivors of the camps? Were they not Christians?

By heaven they were. They are. They attend church regularly and pride themselves on their beliefs.

So let me ask again: doesn’t this have ANYTHING to do with the bias against Israel that Cyrus so eloquently exposes?

Look. Whether we’re talking about Israel, Africa, Pakistan or Iran, or human rights in China: we can’t make things better around the world, in far away lands, if we don’t confront the fault lines within our own civilization.

The United Church of Canada has had an unhealthy obsession with Israel since 1967. As an institution, it’s anti-Israeli if not outright antisemitic.

But within the church, only a tiny minority – literally, a few dozen people – are anti-Israel activists. However, they receive passive support from the Church hierarchy; they’re given space to demonize Israel at church meetings and in the UCC magazine The Observer.

Also, the Church has adopted an official stance that sees Israel as at fault in the conflict and the Palestinians as oppressed victims.

On the other hand, within the UCC, there is a diversity of opinions, including a minority who are genuinely committed to peace, as opposed to blaming Israel, and some who believe that the major obstacles to peace are on the Palestinian side, etc.

However, the large majority of UCC church-goers have little interest in the Middle East, and in so far as they have any opinion at all, it’s likely the vague impression held by most Canadians that Israelis and Palestinians are indiscriminately responsible for the mess.

They’d be happy if the conflict would stop, but they’re not spending their time thinking about it – and of course, why should they?

Antisemitism and anti-Israelism are primarily ideological sins and as such they’re adopted and spread by elites – by university professors, by the leaders of the United Church of Canada, by the editors of the Guardian, etc.

When it comes to Israel, many churches – especially liberal churches – have a shameful record, but in Canada at least, few ordinary Christians have picked up the disease. (Though, from what I read, it sounds like things are much worse in Britain.)

It’s not just Sabeel that defines “just peace” as the elimination of Israel, but also the World Council of Churches.

Similarily practically all organizations that describe themselves as part of the “peace and justice” movement are actually partisan aniti-Israel propaganda organizations.

And while “justice” signifies the elimination of Israel, “peace” means that Israel is not to defend itself.

Fair point.

Red Sea Pedestrian

Fair point also. But I still maintain that there is a worrying trend in some pockets of the Christian world, which is either growing or am simply noticing it more (and it always existed) and I hope that it is the latter.

It was specifically the United Church of Canada that voted on the boycott motion (which, as you mentioned, it rejected). My understanding is that the United Church is about as representative of Christianity as the SHJ is representative of Judaism.
Also, I too think that some of the comments on this thread regarding Christians and Christianity are quite offensive.

“All Jews are the same.”

Discuss.

Hebrew is not necessary – only Arabic is desirable.

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