Statement on Israel-Palestine spawns backlash v. backlash The Layman Online Wednesday, July 28, 2004 The 216th General Assembly's decision to phase out the denomination's investment in corporations that do business with Israel has spawned a backlash from Presbyterians and Jewish and Christian groups – and a backlash against those who are criticizing the decision. Rising to defend the General Assembly are Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, who, through the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, has concurred in numerous condemnations of Israel's response to Palestinian suicide bombers, and John A. Huffman Jr., a California pastor who has been a long-time supporter of the NCC. One of the most stinging criticisms of the General Assembly action came from Dennis Prager, a Jewish radio talk-show host and syndicated columnist, who wrote a July 20 column titled "Presbyterian Church defames Christianity." "It takes a particularly virulent strain of moral idiocy and meanness to single out Israel, not Arafat's Palestinian Authority, or terror-supporting, death-fatwa-issuing Iran, or women-subjugating Saudi Arabia, for condemnation and economic ruin," Prager said. Prager was not alone in his condemnation of the General Assembly's 431-62 vote in favor of a policy that included instructions to begin "phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel…" In a column published today by The Layman Online, Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, a Ph.D. Lutheran theologian who is the religious affairs editor of United Press International, says the General Assembly's statement is consistent with previous actions that prompted membership losses in the Presbyterian Church (USA) from 4.2 million in 1967 to 2.4 million at the end of 2003. "What makes activist church people look so pathetic is that, for all their good intentions, they have an infinite ability to make fools of themselves," Siemon-Netto said. His column cited a number of instances when church leaders sided with oppressive governments or terrorist movements. In a related development, Konrad Raiser, the retired general secretary of the World Council of Churches, acknowledged this month that the council erred by siding with the former Soviet Union's repression of democratic movements in Poland and Czechoslovakia that eventually contributed to the end of the Communist Party's stranglehold on Eastern Europe. He said the council focused too much on "bridge-building" and not enough on "prophetic witness." Both Prager and Siemon-Netto say the assembly's Israeli-Palestinian policy is one-sided, blaming Israel's defensive strategies for the ongoing violence in the Mideast. Both Kirkpatrick and Huffman, who is the pastor of the 4,400-member St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., indicated that they had been besieged by complaints from Presbyterians who reacted angrily to the General Assembly's decision. "I was stunned to begin receiving phone calls, e-mails and letters from persons outraged by what they understood to be policies of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America toward Israel," Huffman said in a preamble to the sermon he preached on July 25. Kirkpatrick said he wrote his statement because "some people have raised concern about certain actions taken by the 216th General Assembly." The Layman Online has published numerous letters about the General Assembly's action, with most of the letter-writers condemning the PCUSA for viewing Israel's defense initiatives and military responses to terrorism as no worse than suicide bombers who have murdered Israeli civilians, including children. Huffman's backlash was directed at Prager's column. Huffman began with a friendly tone. "I have known Dennis for a quarter of a century," he said. "I used to appear as a regular guest when he hosted Religion on the Line. I have known him to be one of the brightest, most gracious and intellectually stimulating of radio talk show hosts. On most issues, Dennis and I agreed, as we both were staking our positions on the authority of the Bible, he from the perspective of the Old Testament and me from the perspective of the Old and New Testaments." But Huffman called Prager's column a "one-sided, malicious, political/religious polemic against the very careful and well-thought-out endeavor of our denomination to work for justice and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians in the violence fraught Middle East." Kirkpatrick posted his statement on the Web site of the PCUSA. He said he wanted to "clarify the actions of this assembly and the ongoing commitments" of the denomination. He defended the assembly's call for an "end to the separation barrier" that Israel is constructing to protect Israelis from suicide bombers. He also contended that the General Assembly did not call for "blanket divestment from companies that do business in Israel, as is being reported in some places." Nonetheless, Kirkpatrick acknowledged that the divestment strategy "is to explore use of a proven tool of economic pressure to motivate real change in Israeli policies and movement toward peace." The General Assembly policy "Refers to Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) with instructions to initiate a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel, in accordance to General Assembly policy on social investing, and to make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly Council for Action." During the General Assembly's debate on the Israeli-Palestinian policy, proponents of divestiture were obviously seeking to use the strategy as political leverage to get Israel to allow greater access by Palestinians into Jewish settlements. "We have to send strong messages to such companies," said the Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Lutheran pastor from Bethlehem and an ecumenical guest at the assembly. He was referring specifically to Caterpillar Inc., which manufactures armored tractors and bulldozers the Israeli army uses to demolish Palestinian buildings that Israel believes are nests for terrorists. The Rev. Victor Makari, the PCUSA's liaison to the Middle East, echoed that sentiment. "If nothing else seems to have changed the policy of Israel toward Palestinians, we need to send a clear and strong message." Kirkpatrick's statement also condemned Jewish and Christian Zionism, which Siemon-Netto deemed ironic. "The Vatican, though clearly no admirer of Ariel Sharon's wall, nonetheless exercised theological sanity last week by officially equating anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism," Siemon-Netto said. "The PCUSA's divestment vote, on the other hand, was none other than a fashionable anti-Zionist move."

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