Jewish Voice for Peace expresses outrage over Jewish groups' condemnation of Presbyterian Church USA
After careful reading of Church document grappling with moral responses to Israel's occupation, JVP asks: where is the anti-Semitism?
Analysis of Presbyterian Statement and Response
The three Rabbis and some Jewish organizations pick up some pieces of the current Presbyterian statement and compare it to a previous version. Here is what they have to say. JVP asks: Where is the anti-Semitism?| June 13 letter From Rabbi Yoffie, Rabbi Epstein, and Dr Sheingold to Reverend Kirkpatrick | |
| "The initial statement contained many important elements that are now absent, including: an acknowledgement of complicity in existing anti-Jewish attitudes…" | "Our deeply held commitments to justice and peace for Palestinians and Israelis can only stand if we are equally adamant that these commitments are based on strong support for justice for all people. This means that we must reject and not make use of the two- thousand-year history of Christian anti-Judaism and all the baggage related to it." Where is the anti-Semitism? |
| "[absent]… a deep and thorough analysis of Palestinian liberation theology, ..." | "Christian liberation theology, when used to speak about the Palestinian situation, is unique in that it uses theological language and metaphors to describe a situation of oppression in which the oppressing power is a state that is Jewish, with a population and leadership predominantly made up of Jews. In this situation, Christians suffering oppression at the hands of the Jewish state, its army or its citizens, identify with Jesus in his suffering. Sometimes Palestinian Christians liken their experience to the passion of Jesus, or describe themselves as being crucified as Jesus was crucified. The implication of such descriptions is that the state of Israel and its policies are the crucifying power. Such a characterization of the situation is inevitably construed by most Jews as an echo of the classic anti-Jewish accusation that all Jews everywhere are guilty of killing Christ. For Jews this is terrifying, because the narrative of the passion and crucifixion has been used as a theological basis for the ghettoization, denigration, and killing of Jews for nearly twenty centuries. As Presbyterians, we have a very difficult but very important differentiation to make. On the one hand, we are called to support the efforts of Palestinian Christians to speak theologically about what is happening to them at the hands of Israel and as a result of its policies. At the same time, we are also called to discern echoes of, and to confess our own complicity in, the historic condemnation of Jews as “Christ-killers,” and to eschew any such anti-Jewish teaching. Where is the anti-Semitism? |
| "Now we have a statement that is completely unbalanced in its appraisal of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which contains veiled threats of 'divestment…'" | The only reference in the Presbyterian statement reads: "…continue engagement with corporations as mandated by the General Assembly as a viable approach to achieve justice in this situation" Where is the veiled threat of divestment in this statement? The Presbyterian Church USA has been engaged in a process of examining its investments in corporations that may be profiting from involvement in any of the obstacles to a just peace in Israel and Palestine. This has been the policy of the church for a number of years. Overtures to move the process forward will be discussed at the General Assembly later this week. None of them consider divesting from Israel. Where is the anti-Semitism? |
| The letter from organizations including the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Hadassah, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, the Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, and Women of Reform Judaism | |
| "The revised statement inserts a litany of church policies against Israel, including targeting corporations for 'engagement' as a viable approach to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No recent church policy has caused greater harm to Presbyterian-Jewish relations. In contrast, the church has yet to take any action to 'engage' corporations that foster anti-Israel terrorism through investment in state sponsors of terror, including Iran and Syria. This demonstrates a continued one-sided and distressing approach to peacemaking." | Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Church has also engaged with Citigroup, following allegations that the corporation had provided insufficient controls to prevent the transfer of funds to Palestinian organizations supporting violence. We encourage efforts by the Church to look at investments related to human rights violations in other countries as well, but this cannot serve as an excuse to delay action on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. |
| "The revised statement also adds a most troubling interpretation of the biblical promise of land. The original statement recognized both a universal gift of land and one made specifically to the Jewish people. This is replaced with a re-interpretation that the Jewish covenant instead includes a promise of land to 'the Jewish people and to all the descendants of Abraham.'" | |
| "There is legitimate criticism of Israeli policies that comes from both Christians and Jews. However, some criticism crosses the line. Sadly, many PC(USA) statements have and continue to cross this line." | These Jewish organizations criticize Presbyterian statements in which, in their opinion, the Church "crosses the line." Yet, none of those statements appear in the current Presbyterian document. They predated it, yet warranted no comment when the Presbyterians were being commended for their first statement published last week. |
| "The newly revised statement on anti-Jewish bias describes Israel as 'the oppressive force in the Israeli-Palestinian situation.'"
| The Presbyterian document reads: "Denunciations of Judaism or the Jewish people, rather than the state of Israel and its policies, as the oppressive force in the Israeli-Palestinian situation, repeat the classic theme of collective Jewish guilt for Christian suffering." The church seems to understand that criticizing the policies of the State of Israel is not anti-Semitic. Denouncing Jews or Judaism is. Where is the anti-Semitism? |
| "...dismissing the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish terror that has killed and maimed Israeli civilians in buses, restaurants, and markets."
| The Presbyterian document reads: "To condemn acts of terror and work for an end to the violence that tears apart the lives of Israelis and Palestinians alike." Does this not cover Israelis explicitly? Where is the anti-Semitism? |
(For another analysis, see On the “Expanded” Presbyterian statement on “Vigilance Against Anti-Jewish Bias in the Pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.”)