The Gift That Keeps On Giving
6/28/2005
Reaction to the Anglican Consultative Council's anti-Israel resolution continues to come in. And it's increasingly clear that Anglican Christianity is losing ground and losing it fast:
The American Jewish Congress (AJC) has condemned the Anglican Church Consultative Council’s June 24 vote in favor of economic measures against Israel by its constituents.
Neil Goldstein, AJC Executive Director, stressed: "No amount of dissembling can hide the fact that this resolution encourages divestment from companies doing business with Israel in an attempt to isolate and stigmatize the Jewish State."
In condemning this "one-sided resolution about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Goldstein labeled the resolution as "lacking in moral credibility."
AJC President Paul Miller stated: "At a time when Israelis are preparing to withdraw from Gaza, such unjust interference is a significant obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
"It is disheartening," he went on to say, "that the Council did not heed the words of the former leader of the Church of England, Lord George Carey, who warned that ’Israelis are already traumatized and feel that the world is against them,’ and who called the resolution ’another knife in the back’."
Lambeth can and probably will begin spinning this any day now. But no photo-ops, no interfaith gatherings, no sermons extolling the greatness of the Jews and not much of anything else can undo the damage that this single resolution has done to the Anglican tradition.
If Dr. Williams wants to fix things, he is going to have to get started quickly. Because the fact is that an Anglican resolution and the church that passed it are now seen as anti-Semitic by a very large number of Jews. With good reason.