Liberal protestant churches not friends

REFLECTIONS ON TWO NEW PRESBYTERIAN DOCUMENTS

GILBERT S. ROSENTHAL

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has prepared two new study documents to be submitted to their General Assembly for approval in July of this year. These two documents are of considerable importance to the Jewish community and the future relationship between the two faith groups. It is important that our rabbis and lay leaders be informed of their contents and the reasons for our positive and negative reactions to these two documents. The full texts of both are available on the website of the Church. Keep in mind that the Presbyterians have had missionaries in the Middle East since the 1820s. They are genuinely concerned about the welfare of their flock and worried about their exodus from the area so that peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors is of vital importance to them as well as to us.

I) "Christians and Jews: People of God" is the result of four lengthy consultations over the past five years between the Presbyterian Church and the National Council of Synagogues. It is a theological restatement of an earlier document (1987) that sought to clarify the relationship between Judaism and the Protestant faith. It deal s with four areas: The relationship between us theologically and historically; The Holy Land; Evangelism and mission; How we define ourselves. It is a fine document and Rabbis Shira Lander, Barry Cytron and I were involved as consultants in the preparation of the final draft. I hope it passes overwhelmingly at their GA.

II) "Breaking Down the Walls" is a book-length document that is anti-Israel and skewed in favor of the Palestinians and their allies. It is a distortion of history as well as a reiteration of the Sabeel theology of Naim Atik and his cohorts as evidenced in the Kairos document attached to the long paper. Here are just few historical distortions or inaccuracies:

1. There were no Arab attacks prior to May 15 1948 and the establishment of the State.

False: The first attacks came on Nov. 30, the day after the UN voted for partition. Over 900 Jews were killed from Nov. 30 to May15, including 77 doctors and nurses massacred on the road to Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, plus Jews in Aden, Iraq, Egypt and other Arab lands.

Not a good way to frame this. This suggests the report says there were no Arab attacks. Instead, the report omits reference to them.

2. Jews were well organized and better equipped than the Arabs.

False: Better motivated, yes (ein bereirah!). On May 7, Israelis numbered 16,400 combat troops and 13,500 armed settlers. They had no planes (the first arrived on May 21), no heavy artillery (the first arrived on April 24), no tanks, no anti-tank guns, no heavy machine guns, no navy. The Arab forces from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq , plus Palestinian irregulars under the command of Quwukji numbered 142,000, of whom over 30, 000 actually invaded.

3. The Jews invaded Palestine.

False: Jews had lived in Palestine since time immemorial and after the 1880s, news waves of immigrants swelled the Jewish population to 600,000-650,000 by 1947. Five (not four as the document erroneously states) invaded including the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, etc.

This was a major disagreement I had with Gil. This quote is from a sermon one of the 9 members of the committee gave last year - it is offset in a box. It is not committee work product. It's fair game to criticize - but not like this, without differentiation from the other quotes which are committee work product. This gives them an immediate "talking point" that we don't understand PCUSA process.

4. The Jews expelled all Arabs and created the Arab refugee problem

False: In many cases the Arab s fled in terror as their leaders fled. In many cases the Israelis compelled them to leave. But there were cases where the Israelis urged them to remain, e.g., Haifa. The head of Haganah met with the Arab leaders on May 22, 1948 and urged them to stay. They agreed but the Mufti (the Nazi partisan)ordered them to leave and all but 4,000 fled.

To his credit, Gil refined this line at my suggestion - originally, he did not acknowledge any Israeli responsibility

5. The Israelis attacked Egypt and Syria on June 5, 1967.

False: The authors neglect to mention that the Egyptians had closed the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping ( a causus belli) and had expelled the UN peace-keeping force from Sinai. They announced a united military command with Syria and made no bone s about their intention: the elimination of the Jewish State. Jordan later joined in the battle despite Israeli appeals to remain neutral.

Aside from these glaring historical distortions, the authors quote left-wing, and even anti-Zionist "experts." They allude to the call for boycott and divestment, another thing Gil fixed, originally he said they reiterated their call for divestment, but it's not a good fix. The report makes NO mention of boycott - its only in the Kairos document. Sloppy. they say not a word about the tragedy of over 830,000 Jews forced out of Arab lands not true - the anti-Israel narrative does mention this, but only to downplay the claims; they say nothing about the result of Israeli withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza; they invoke the theological language of Naim Atik (Israel was born in original sin) they do not invoke liberation theology. I explained this to Gil, to no avail. And Gil misspelled "Ateek" ; they never mention Arafat's rebuff of Clinton-Barak in 2000 when he could have had an Arab state; they never allude to the culture of "martyrdom" actually, they do allude to it that glorifies mass murderers of innocents, but describe such behavior as legitimate opposition to unjust occupation; they insist that the occupation is the cause of resistance but ignore the fact that from 1948-1967 there was no Israeli occupation, but Jordan and Egypt were the occupiers and terrorism raged nonetheless; they say nothing of Hamas or Hezbollah's clear intention to destroy Israel or Iran's mortal threats, etc. just not true. They specifically DO mention Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran's threats - but they make them equivalent to islamophobia and "Israeli efforts to deny the Nakba"

If this document is adopted, it will poison relations between Jews and Presbyterians and set us back 30 years. I urge our colleagues to familiarize themselves with the issues, meet with and dialogue with their Presbyterian neighbors and colleagues, and marshal their support in defeating this skewed, one-sided, distorted, and insidious document. With this I agree.




Author: Solomon J Street Teams up With Leftist Christian Group to Cause Israel Diplomatic Trouble

J Street, in cooperation with anti-Israel Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), is hosting a delegation of Congressmen from the US to Israel. Who is this CMEP that the "pro-Israel" J Street is running with? NGO Monitor has a good rundown:

Analysis: Churches for Middle East Peace and the BDS Movement

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), which is J-Street's partner in sponsoring the visit of a US Congressional delegation to Israel, is a US-based political advocacy organization. Like many other such NGOs, CMEP's rhetoric and its activities are not always consistent, and some of its constituent groups are centrally involved in the political war against Israel.

A number of CMEP partners take an active role in promoting BDS - the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign - as part of the 2001 Durban NGO agenda which calls for the total international isolation of Israel. For example, Friends of Sabeel North America (www.fosna.org) is a fundraising and publicity branch of the Palestinian NGO Sabeel. This organization, headed by Naim Ateek, is a leader of the church divestment campaign, and in his speaking tours around North America, Ateek employs antisemitic themes and imagery in sermons promoting his "Palestinian Liberation Theology." In promoting this agenda, his rhetoric includes references to "the Israeli government crucifixion system".

CMEP's website also features the "KAIROS Palestine Document", which was written by a group of Palestinian Christians, including Ateek. KAIROS Palestine calls for action designed to create "a system of economic sanctions and boycott [and divestment] to be applied against Israel," echoing Sabeel's efforts. CMEP also quotes Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, referring to the document as "a word of hope in a time of pessimism that could lead to despair."

This adoption of the Palestinian narrative of victimization, perhaps a reflection of the close ties to Sabeel and other Palestinian groups, was also evident in a January 21, 2005 full-page New York Times ad sponsored by CMEP. The text read, in part, "With each news report of Palestinian suffering...popular support in Arab and Muslim countries for terrorism grows and the threat of attacks directed at the United States increases."

A number of CMEP's board members also reflect the goal of demonization, under the façade of promoting peace. For example, Helena Cobban, a fierce anti-Israel ideologue and member Human Rights Watch's Middle East board, sits on CMEP's Leadership Council.

Thus, while much of the media coverage of this delegation has focused on the involvement of J-Street angle, this is only half of the story. CMEP is an equal partner, and deserves equal scrutiny.

The fact that J Street would partner with a group like CMEP is simply and straightforwardly another nail in the coffin of J Street's pro-Israel bona fides. How out to lunch do you have to be to partner with this group and give them credibility before a group of Congressmen? Here, BTW, is a search on "CMEP" at CAMERA's site. Lots of material there.

J Street's handling of the event is already causing trouble, as the Foreign Ministry is refusing to meet the delegation with J Street as an intermediary: US congressman demands explanation for chilly reception in Israel

A visiting U.S. congressman lashed out at Israel's number two diplomat Wednesday, saying he was snubbed by the Foreign Ministry and demanding an official clarification.

Rep. William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts and a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is heading a congressional delegation to the region. The trip is hosted by J Street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group that presents itself as an alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee -- one of Washington's most powerful lobbies.

J Street, which supports President Barack Obama's push for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, says it sought a meeting for the U.S. representatives with Israeli diplomats but was turned down.

The Foreign Ministry dismissed the complaint, saying in response that it did not need mediators to set up meetings with U.S. officials.

The snub appeared aimed at J Street. Israel's government has been critical of the group's programs, which are more dovish than those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish government.

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Delahunt said he was surprised and disappointed to read an Israeli newspaper report that he was being boycotted by the Foreign Ministry for his affiliation with J Street and identified Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon as the culprit.

"We were puzzled that the Deputy Foreign Minister has apparently attempted to block our meetings with senior officials in the Prime Minister's office and Foreign Ministry -- questioning either our own support of Israel or that we would even consider traveling to the region with groups thatthe deputy foreign minister has so inaccurately described as 'anti-Israel'," Delahunt said.

"In our opinion this is an inappropriate way to treat elected representatives of Israel's closest ally who are visiting the country."

Delahunt asked the Israeli government "for a clarification of its stance toward this and future delegations."

Ayalon's office said the deputy minister was prepared to meet any elected officials, especially from the U.S. Congress, but he "didn't need mediators."...

...Four other U.S. representatives were traveling with Delahunt -- Democrats Donald Payne of New Jersey, Lois Capps of California, Bob Filner of California and Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio...

All five of the Congresspeople now assisting J Street in redefining what it means to be "pro-Israel" were signatories to the Ellison/McDermott sponsored letter on the Gaza "siege."

Here's more on J Street's latest self-inflicted wound: J Street blasts Ayalon's 'boycott'.

This is what a pro-Israel group does? Partners with one of the worst of the anti-Israel Christian groups and causes a diplomatic incident with the government? Once again we see that J Street is more about leftist politics than about support for Israel. Leftism is the only thing a group trying to claim it was pro-Israel in any meaningful sense could possibly have in common with CMEP. They partner with CMEP yet denounce John Hagee. They bring Bill Delahunt on a trip to Israel and instigate a row putting Danny Ayalon on the spot, as though he doesn't have enough to worry about.

This is about Jeremy Ben-Ami's ego, fundraising and leftist politics. It has nothing to do with supporting Israel.