Session's resolution asks PCUSA leaders to apologize for meeting with Hezbollah By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, December 17, 2004 The session of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gulfport, Miss., has sent leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) a 2,154-word resolution condemning a denominational group for meeting with Hezbollah. The resolution expressed the session's "condemnation and outrage" over an Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy-led delegation's meeting with the group that is believed to be responsible for the murders of hundreds of Israelis and 270 Americans in a years-long series of bombing incidents. It called on the leaders of the PCUSA to apologize to the world Jewish community and Israel. The resolution also called for a policy to prevent its advisory committees and any denominational committees' staff, employees or officers of the church from engaging in international 'peace-making' activities." Among other charges, the resolution said the Presbyterian delegation was unskilled, manipulated and used for propaganda purposes, and that it had "done great harm to the good relationship between the Christian community of faith and the Jewish community of faith in this country and throughout the world." "The former prestige and respect of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in this country, in the international community, and in the community of faith … has been severely tarnished by this action," it added. The resolution said the 216th General Assembly's vote, which called for divestment of Presbyterian funds in multinational corporations that do business with Israel, was a precipitating event for the meeting with Hezbollah. The resolution declared the divestment policy "irrational and inappropriate" – and one-sided inasmuch as "we took no action against acquiring or holding invested assets in companies doing business with terrorist states, states supporting terrorism, rogue nations and governments unwilling to comply with rules of the international community regarding nuclear proliferation, development of weapons of mass destruction and governments engaged in acts of extreme inhumanity to their own people and their neighbors." "Hezbollah is directly responsible for the willful terrorist killing of 241 United States Marines in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, the hijacking of TWA flight 847 in 1985, the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, resulting in 29 deaths in 1992, the bombing of a Jewish community center in 1994, killing another 95," the resolution said. "Hezbollah has repeatedly engaged in other acts of terrorism including murder, kidnapping, bombing and other acts of violence against innocent citizens of the United States, Israel and other countries." The session sent copies of the resolution to Rick Ufford-Chase, the moderator of the 216th General Assembly, PCUSA Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and the moderator and clerk of the Presbytery of Mississippi. "The actions of the members of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and its salaried denominational staff members took place during a time of declared war by the government of the United States of America against terrorist organizations," the resolution said. "Hezbollah is a Lebanese terrorist organization. It is on the official list of foreign terrorist organizations as identified by the United States government. Among its stated objectives are the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in Lebanon, the destruction of Israel and the elimination of all Western influences from the Middle East." The resolution took note of the plight of the Palestinian people, calling it "real, serious and not to be minimized." It recognized the "inherent right of the Palestinian people to an independent state and to peaceful self rule, but within the context of peaceful negotiations according to international law through diplomatic activities conducted according to the principles recognized and followed by the community of nations within organized structures recognized by the international community and the governments of the United States and Israel." But the resolution also noted that individuals "purporting to represent the Palestinian people have repeatedly rejected efforts from the Israeli government to resolve the conflict and have continued to engage in acts of terrorism through Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations." It declared, "The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and its denominational staff officers … lack the skills, knowledge and experience to properly understand and participate in the delicate and difficult negotiations and international diplomacy necessary to make meaningful contributions to peace in the Middle East. Nor do they understand the past actions of the individuals with whom they meet or the historical context in which these actions take place. Indeed, they are neophytes who 'see dimly' in such matters … "With all respect, these amateurs, at best, allowed themselves to be manipulated and used as partisan propaganda tools to further the interests of a terrorist organization and to lend legitimacy to murders and intolerant religious and political ideologues, or, at worst, engaged in acts properly characterized as anti-Semitic." "[T]his denomination is urged to immediately institute structural change to prevent recurrence of such actions in the future, including but not limited to adopting a policy of absolute prohibition against meeting with or engaging in dialogue with individuals, groups or organizations recognized by the United States government as being terrorists, terrorist organizations, terrorist states or supporting terrorist states," the Westminster resolution said. The resolution said the Presbyterian Church (USA), in the view of "many scholars and and experts in international issues, has become "irrelevant" in its actions and statements – "and they probably are correct." The resolution concluded with an apology by Westminster. "[W]e extend our deepest and most sincere apology to all Jewish people for the grave and reprehensible actions of our denominational representatives involved in this incident and offer our assurance that those individuals and theirs actions and views are not representative of the general membership of the Presbyterian Church (USA). We pray that our heartfelt apology and call for institutional change will be acceptable to those people we have hurt and will be acceptable in the eyes of God."

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