Posted on 07/10/2005 10:39:40 PM PDT by KittyKares
While many people were aware that the United Church of Christ voted earlier this week to endorse same-sex marriage, they may have missed another controversial decision made at the biennial conference of the 1.3 million member US church. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that in the closing minutes of the conference on Tuesday, attendees approved a resolution that called for members "to use 'economic leverage' to promote peace between Israel and Palestinians."
The Washington Post reports, however, that the group did reject resolutions calling for "divestment in companies that supply Israel with bulldozers and military equipment." The approved resolution did call for the dismantling of what Israel calls a security barrier and what critics have called an 'apartheid fence.'
The decision was greeted with much criticism by Jewish groups in the US and in Israel. The Jewish Week of New York said the UCC's resolution signalled a "sharp turn for the worse" in the "divestment crisis."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, of Los Angeles called the UCC's resolution "functionally anti-Semitic, which devalues the lives of the citizens of the Jewish state."
'This immoral resolution, which cloaks itself in the language of reconciliation, demands that Israel leave her six million citizens exposed to a renewed spate of suicide terrorism, which over the past five years has murdered and maimed thousands of innocent Israeli Jews and Arabs.
'We are deeply shocked that nowhere is there an explicit call to the Palestinians to desist from further violence and to tear down the infrastructure of terrorist groups, like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We note that the Theological rationale of this onerous resolution is based on Reconciliation and Love. Cooper added, "While we agree that Reconciliation is a holy goal, woe to those who would reconcile to the evil of terrorist violence. In the post-9/11 world, people of Faith have the obligation to denounce Terrorism and to build the strongest barriers available to protect the innocent from more mass murder.'
David Elcott, the American Jewish Committee's US Director of Interreligious Affairs, also criticized the measure, including the language about tearing down the barrier between Israel and the West Bank.
'We understand Christian concerns about a fence, but we believe that saving human lives is more significant than property,' he said. 'That "wall" has saved the lives of Jews, Christians and Muslims.'
But Peter Makari, the UCC's executive director for the Middle East and Europe, said the barrier "has devastating effects on the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians" and 'prevents the opportunity for interaction for people who desperately want there to be peace." Mr. Makari also said the UCC "remains committed to religious dialogue and participation among Jews, Christians and Muslims."
Over the past year, Jewish leaders and Protestant leaders have been holding meetings trying to resolve issues between the two groups. But The Jerusalem Post argues in an editorial that Jewish leaders should "stop wasting their breaths" on high-level meetings and "turn instead to the laity and the local leadership. It is from within those ranks that voices of dissent have come, as ministers and concerned churchgoers have begun to say to the anti-Israel activists: You don't speak for us."
The divestment movement has also led to tension between evangelical and mainstream Protestant denominations in the US, The Baltimore Jewish Times reported recently.
The divestment vote by the UCC was the second by a large mainstream Protestant organization within a month. Belief.Net reports that "Anglican churches around the world, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, were urged Friday (June 24) to join a growing church-based movement to divest from Israeli companies that support the Palestinian occupation."
The Anglican Consultative Council, a global policy-setting panel for the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, unanimously approved a statement urging divestment that was drafted last year by the Anglican Peace and Justice Network. The ACC, meeting in Nottingham, England, commended the US church for its "resolve" to pursue divestment, even though it has not formally endorsed divestment. American church leaders were not allowed in the meeting because of sanctions stemming for their pro-gay policies.
The ACC urged the Communion's 38 provinces to consider divestment, as well as 'investment strategies that support the infrastructure of a future Palestinian state.'
The UCC is the sixth Protestant church to pass such a resolution about Israel. The Presbyterian Church USA, the World Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church, have all passed similar measures at their annual meetings.
"The UCC is the sixth Protestant church to pass such a resolution about Israel. The Presbyterian Church USA, the World Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church, have all passed similar measures at their annual meetings."
Hopefully others will also join in divesting.
In hoc signo vinces.
"The approved resolution did call for the dismantling of what Israel calls a security barrier and what critics have called an 'apartheid fence.'"
These must be the same dorks that thought the South was the aggressor in the Viet Nam war.
Why? Do you not believe Israel has a right to exist?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.