US Episcopal Church urges support for Palestinian hospitals

From Middle East Monitor-

Members of the US Episcopal Church are urging support for Palestinian hospitals in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, in light of the coronavirus public health emergency.

According to the Episcopal News Service, American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) “has launched an urgent appeal for support to help the leaders and staff at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City make preparations to serve and care for its neighbours” in the days ahead.

The report noted how “Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth”, with life already “precarious and dangerous”, adding that “the presence of the coronavirus in this crowded, impoverished strip of land quickly will become a full-blown crisis”.

More here-

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200327-us-episcopal-church-urges-support-for-palestinian-hospitals/

The Episcopal Church will sell stock in companies profiting from the occupation

From RNS-

A Statement by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network (EPF PIN) on Action by Executive Council re Resolution B016 (2018): Adopt Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Action on Israel/Palestine.

The Steering Committee of EPF PIN commends Executive Council for positive action on three Resolutions implementing the mandate from the 79th General Convention expressed in Resolution B016: Adopt Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s [ELCA] Action on Israel/Palestine.

Meeting in Montgomery, Alabama on Oct. 18 – 21, the Council voted to receive the June 2019 Report of its Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CCSR) on resolution B016 and adopt the recommended Global Human Rights Screen (GHRS) with “criteria for the Israel//Palestine conflict.” The GHRS is modeled on the ELCA’s human rights screen and is consistent with policy adopted by General Convention or Executive Council over the last six decades. PIN lauds the clear criteria established by the GHRS for deciding if a corporation supports or benefits from denial of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). 

More here-

https://religionnews.com/2019/10/22/the-episcopal-church-will-sell-stock-in-companies-profiting-from-the-occupation/

Friendship between Virginia and Palestine churches leads to support for the wider community

From Virginia-

The deep, enduring friendship between the people of Grace Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Virginia, and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Nablus, Palestine, has its roots – as so many important things do – in a Sunday school lesson.

When Tim Wilder arrived home in 2002 after serving with the State Department at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, he and his wife, Susan (who is a pastor), were asked to teach an adult Sunday school class on the state of political turmoil between Palestine and Israel. The Middle East Working Group grew out of those conversations as an effort to answer the question: As people of faith, what should our response be to what we’ve learned? 

According to Grace’s current pastor, Ben Trawick, members of the working group put in a great deal of time doing research and exploring possibilities for engagement in Palestine. Ultimately, in 2007, with the help of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staffer Doug Dicks, a partnership between Grace and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Nablus – a city of 350,000 people in the northern West Bank – was born.

More here-

https://pres-outlook.org/2019/07/friendship-between-virginia-and-palestine-churches-leads-to-support-for-the-wider-community/

An Episcopal Church in New York Is About to Host Two Virulently Anti-Israel Speakers

From The Algemeiner-

On Tuesday May 14, the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Astoria, Queens is scheduled to hold an event called “Palestinian Expulsion and Resistance: The Nakba, BDS, and the Great Return March.” The scheduled speakers include BDS leaders Raja Abdulhaq, the executive director of Majlis Ash-Shura Islamic Leadership Council of New York, and Nerdeen Kiswani, founder and chair of Within our Lifetime United for Palestine.

Given that the Episcopal Church voted against BDS at its General Convention last July, the Redeemer Church’s promotion of the BDS campaign raises serious questions. The Church’s opposition to BDS was clearly articulated by many at the Convention, including by retired bishop Ed Little from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana who said, “Divestment will not move us one inch forward in the peace process. It will not bring an end to the occupation. It will not lead us to the solution that we all yearn for, which is two states living side by side in peace within secure borders.”

Little continued, “All it [BDS] does is make us advocates for one side in the conflict and remove us from our role as peacemakers.” Indeed, as reported by William Murchison in The American Spectator, “at General Convention, they affirmed, formalistically, Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.”

More here-

https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/05/13/an-episcopal-church-is-about-to-host-two-virulently-anti-israel-speakers/

Christian Zionists are Israel’s political foot soldiers in US

From Middle East Online-

Stephen Sizer, an Anglican minister and author of “Zion’s Christian Soldiers?,” defines Christian Zionists as those who “believe it is their biblical responsibility to support the nation of Israel.” Sizer spoke recently at the Palestine Centre, a small Washington research institute.

A spot check of Facebook is revealing: AIPAC’s Facebook site has 169,000 friends while Christians United for Israel, just one of many like-minded groups, has 1.7 million.

The theology of Christian Zionism is only tenuously connected to the Bible. Adherents claim Christ will return only when the world’s Jews are in Israel but that Jews must then be converted to Christianity. Islam is regarded as a hostile religion and all Arabs — Christian or Muslim — are impediments to the return of the Jews to their homeland. Violence is acceptable if carried out in the name of biblical prophecy. In fact, an apocalyptic battle in the Middle East is to be longed for because God will intervene on behalf of Israel.

More here-

https://middle-east-online.com/en/christian-zionists-are-israel%E2%80%99s-political-foot-soldiers-us

Protestant Churches Finding Balance On Israel

From Jewish Weekly-

Is some of the anger that mainline Protestant churches in America have shown in recent years toward Israel regarding its treatment of Palestinians beginning to cool?

 

That’s the suggestion of the Jewish community’s point man on outreach to Protestant churches, Ethan Felson, in assessing a busy summer of votes on Middle East resolutions at their national conventions.

Both the Presbyterian Church USA and the Episcopal Church this summer supported moderate resolutions, offering a balance to ones in favor of the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) movement that would isolate Israel economically, said Felson, executive director of the Israel Action Network (IAM); the network was created by Jewish Federations of North America in partnership with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). He offered his update in a webinar interview last week conducted by JCPA President David Bernstein titled “Mainline Protestants and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Where Do We Go From Here?”

More here-

https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/protestant-churches-finding-balance-on-israel/  

Antisemitism Is Still a Serious Problem in Churches

From Algemeiner-

Bishop Suffragan Gayle Harris’ discredited testimony at the recent Episcopal Church General Convention and her subsequent apology have highlighted a troubling, long-standing issue in Jewish-Christian relations: antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments in Christian churches. 

While Bishop Suffragan Harris and Bishop Alan Gates now appear to understand the damage that Bishop Harris’ actions have caused, it comes as no surprise that such actions were countenanced in the first place. 

While Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has talked about the Jewish roots of Christianity, the Episcopal Church under his leadership signed an anti-Israel Atlanta Summit document, which was produced by a summit co-hosted by the Palestinian Authority and the Carter Center. Bishop Curry subsequently “added the Episcopal Church’s name” to another multi-denominational statement — one giving cover to Hamas on Gaza’s border violence. 

Given the willingness of Bishop Curry to give his church’s stamp of approval to documents clearly composed of Palestinian propaganda posing as “peacemaking,” it comes as no surprise that Bishop Harris felt at liberty to disseminate what respected, prominent Jewish organizations have described as a blood libel.

More here-

https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/10/03/antisemitism-is-still-a-serious-problem-in-churches/

Episcopal Diocese apologizes for bishop’s comments about Israeli soldiers

From Boston-

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts apologized to the Jewish community Friday after one of its bishops repeated unverified and misleading stories about the Israeli military at the church’s July convention in Austin, Texas.

In a pair of statements, Bishop Alan M. Gates, who heads the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and Bishop Gayle E. Harris, who serves as Gates’s second in command, apologized for the “hurt” caused when Harris told church members two stories about alleged mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli soldiers.

Harris shared the anecdotes while speaking at the General Convention during deliberations over a resolution to “Safeguard the Rights of Palestinian Children.”

More here-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/20/episcopal-diocese-mass-apologizes-jewish-community-after-bishop-told-unverified-stories-about-israeli-soldiers/gz69b60Y2Pn0U2nX2f7n5L/story.html

Episcopal Bishop Forced to Apologize After Making Up Israeli ‘Atrocities’

From Massachusetts- (additional links below)

Gayle Harris, Suffragan Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, has apologized for presenting unsubstantiated atrocity stories against Israel during her church’s General Convention in July.

“The fault is solely mine,” she said in a statement issued Friday. “I was ill-advised to repeat the stories without verification, and I apologize for doing so,” she said.

Alan M. Gates, the Diocesan Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, affirmed her apology, declaring, “We recognize that for Christian leaders to relate unsubstantiated accounts of Israeli violence awakens traumatic memory of a deep history of inciting hostility and violence against Jews—a history the echoes of which are heard alarmingly in our own day.”

More here-

https://unitedwithisrael.org/episcopal-bishop-forced-to-apologize-after-making-up-israeli-atrocities/ 

and here-

https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/08/19/massachusetts-bishop-accused-of-anti-israel-blood-libel-offers-full-apology/

and here-

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/112531/bishops-false-israel-atrocity-stories/

An Open Letter To The Episcopalians’ General Convention Hatefest

From The Jewish Press-

Just in case no one bothered, dear members of The Episcopal Church, we’re reaching out to thank you for giving us the resolve to go on. You see, the most potent weapon against the Jewish State is not a Hamas suicide belt or an Iranian missile. With the help of G-d and Israel’s army, we can deal with those. What really does the most harm is a hug – and you folks just gave us the antidote.

Beleaguered Jews are suckers for love. Lob missiles into our kindergartens, and we’ll fight back. But send some signal that you “might be ready” to live alongside us, and we melt. On the road to Oz, we bought into the Oslo Accords, and really wanted to believe that somehow the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza would help bring peace. In the end, both were catastrophic.

To your credit, your Church removed any veneer of objectivity or fairness from your General Convention, and zeroed right in on those pesky Zionists. We watched as you introduced a dozen resolutions hostile to the Jewish state, prompting one bishop to ask why Episcopalians were intent on “piling on” to Israel. We heard allegations that Israel incarcerates children for 10-20 years simply for throwing stones; that Israel suppresses peaceful protests in Gaza with lethal weapons.

More here-

http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/an-open-letter-to-the-episcopalians-general-convention-hatefest/2018/08/01/

Episcopal Church’s Campaign Against Israel Comes Close to A Blood Libel

From The Simon Wiesenthal Center-

Episcopal Church’s Campaign Against Israel Comes Close to A Blood Libel
July 26, 2018

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemns the outrageous fabrications made from the floor of the recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church by Bishop Gayle Harris of Massachusetts. In speaking in favor of a punitive measure against Israel, Harris claimed, “I was there a couple years ago on the Temple Mount. A three-year-old little boy, Palestinian, with his mother was bouncing a rubber ball. The ball happened to sort of roll away from him and go over the side down to the Western Wall,” leading to Israeli soldiers charging the Temple Mount and attempting to handcuff the child.

This is an absurd allegation. There is a high stone wall on top of the Temple Mount that blocks balls and people from going over the side. Nonetheless, Harris’ charge was met with many “aye” votes, and no challenge of her facts.

More here-

http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=8776547&ct=15019255&notoc=1

Catholic, Anglican leaders urge halt to destruction of Palestinian village

From Crux-

A Catholic-Anglican delegation met with British officials on Monday to try and stop the demolition of a Bedouin village in the West Bank.

Israel claims the village of Khan al-Ahmar - located between two Israeli settlements - was built without the proper permits, which Palestinians have long complained are nearly impossible to get.

“Earlier today we met with the Minister for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and shared our deep concern about the planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar,” said the statement issued by Catholic Bishop Declan Lang, chair of the Holy Land Co-ordination, and Bishop Christopher Chessun, Anglican Bishop of Southwark.

The Holy Land Co-ordination brings bishops from Europe, North America, and South Africa on an annual pilgrimage of the Holy Land in a show of solidarity with the region’s Christian community.

More here-

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-uk-and-ireland/2018/07/17/catholic-anglican-leaders-urge-halt-to-destruction-of-palestinian-village/

Episcopal Church rejects measure to divest from Israel

From The Jewish Journal-

The Episcopal Church rejected a measure to divest from Israel at its General Convention.

The measure, titled “Ending Church Complicity in the Occupation,” was initially approved by the House of Deputies in the church, one of the legislative houses of the bicameral General Convention, but was later rejected by the House of Bishops during its triennial convention in Austin, Texas.

“Divestment will not move us one inch forward in the peace process. It will not bring an end to the occupation. It will not lead us to the solution that we all yearn for, which is two states living side by side in peace within secure borders,” said retired Bishop Ed Little of the Diocese of Northern Indiana, who was one of six bishops to speak against the resolution before the vote, the Episcopal News Service reported.

More here-

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/fl-jj-episcopal-church-divest-israel-20180718-story.html

Anti-Semitism Creeps Back Under Episcopal Auspices

From The American Spectator-

And what to my wondering eyes should appear, at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church this month, but a heap of painful evidence that the foreign policy of the United States isn’t in disarray solely because of Donald Trump.

Practically no substantial number of Americans seems capable these days — in contrast with the Cold War era — of figuring out for long who the good guys are, and aren’t. It used to be so easy. The commies were bad. Then we beat the commies, and… and…

I intrude mention of the Episcopal Church here because of my presence at the late convention — where what could have been taken for the third, perhaps second, cousin of old-fashioned anti-Semitism prowled like a ramping and roaring lion, snarling at Israel, clapping its paws for the Palestinians.

Resolution after resolution targeted Israel for its apparently endless failures to bestow full rights on Palestinians in the so-called “occupied” territories. Resolution authors wanted the church, through its investments, to pressure Israeli acquiescence in a pro-Palestinian policy.

More here-

https://spectator.org/were-all-cold-warriors-now/ 

and here-

https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/07/16/the-episcopal-church-general-conventions-sin-of-scapegoating-israel/

US Episcopal Church moves towards divestment from Israeli occupation

From Middle East Monitor-

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church, with more than 3 million members across the US, has passed a number of resolutions in support of Palestinian rights, including an unprecedented move towards divestment from companies involved in Israeli violations of international law.

At the 79th General Convention, six resolutions on Israel-Palestine made it through both the House of Deputies and House of Bishops, although the latter body failed to follow through on “bolder steps” backed by Deputies.

Issues singled out by the adopted resolutions “including the plight of Palestinian children, the status of Jerusalem, the disproportionate use of lethal force on both sides and ways the Episcopal Church can press for peace through its investment decisions”.

As regards that latter issue, resolution BO16 mandates the Church’s Executive Council’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility “to develop criteria for Israel and Palestine based on a human rights’ investment screen”, and “to engage in shareholder advocacy in support of human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories”.

More here-

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180716-us-episcopal-church-moves-towards-divestment-from-israeli-occupation/

The Messiah’s message has been twisted beyond recognition

From The Star-

The first time I visited Bethlehem I thought I was going to die. Leaving the town where Jesus was born to re-enter Israel, I waited at the security checkpoint for the bored-looking soldier to check me through. In front of me was an elderly Palestinian man with his young grandson. There was a problem with their papers and the grandfather noisily tried to explain the situation. He then motioned to the child at his side, who lifted up his shirt to reveal a package clumsily taped to his belly. This was at the height of the time of suicide bombings and all I could think was that this was such a surreal way and place to die.

The appendage was actually a colostomy bag, and the boy had an urgent appointment at an Israeli hospital. He was allowed through, and taken to be cared for and looked after.

An hour later I sat in my Jerusalem hotel room and suddenly burst into tears. Not out of fear, I think, but out of despair. Salt-stained, sorrow-stained, pain-stained despair that in Bethlehem, where I believe that the great conduit of grace came into this world, so much suffering and confusion could still breathe and flourish. And not only in Bethlehem of course, but throughout the entire world; and the shadows of cruelty and suffering often appear not to be diminishing but positively growing in their clawing darkness.

More here-

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/12/23/the-messiahs-message-has-been-twisted-beyond-recognition-coren.html

Archbishop of Canterbury's praise for "bridge-building" Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem

From ACNS-

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby,  has concluded his longest pastoral visit to a diocese outside the Church of England by praising the Archbishop of Jerusalem's "bridge-building" work between Israelis and Palestinians.

Archbishop Justin's 11-day "pastoral pilgrimage" was designed to provide an opportunity for him to hear from beleaguered Christians in the Middle East and to witness the Diocese of Jerusalem's work in the area of reconciliation.

The diocese, in the province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, includes Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.  Archbishop Justin began his visit in Jordan, where King Abdullah assured him that the country would continue to speak out for the presence of Christians in the region. After that meeting, Archbishop Justin asserted that Christians "are the past in the Middle East, they are the present, and they must be the future."

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/05/archbishop-of-canterburys-praise-for-bridge-building-anglican-archbishop-in-jerusalem.aspx

Archbishop of Canterbury to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders

From The BBC-

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to meet Palestinian and Israeli political leaders as part of a 12-day tour of the Holy Land.

His visit comes two weeks before US President Donald Trump is due to arrive in Jerusalem to try to revive the moribund peace process.

However, the Most Reverend Justin Welby indicated there should not be too much significance read into the timing.

"I come to pray, to share, to listen, to encourage," he told the BBC.

"It would be very presumptuous to go further. You cannot, in a place as complicated as this, go and lecture people."

More here-

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39843985

Archbishop of Canterbury makes surprise visit to Gaza

From The Guardian-

The archbishop of Canterbury has made a surprise visit to Gaza during his 12-day tour of the Holy Land.

Justin Welby spent three and a half hours in the Gaza Strip, which has been the scene of repeated conflicts over the past decade and is governed by the militant group Hamas.

The archbishop, who was accompanied by the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, and two aides, was granted Israeli permits and given security clearance at the last minute, after earlier this week seeking permission to enter the Gaza Strip.

Welby described his short visit to the densely populated and impoverished territory as “extraordinary”. About 1.9 million Palestinians live in Gaza, which is surrounded on three sides by walls and fences and blockaded by the Israeli navy along its coastline.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/04/archbishop-of-canterbury-makes-surprise-visit-to-gaza-justin-welby-israel

Presiding Bishop joins landmark summit on Holy Land peacemaking

From ENS-

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined more than 100 church leaders from the Middle East and the United States at the Carter Center last month for an unprecedented summit focused on seeking a lasting two-state solution for peace in the Holy Land and ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

“We honor the land that witnessed to the life and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ affirming his call to justice, peacemaking and to the ministry of justice and reconciliation,” the leaders said in a statement at the conclusion of their April 19-20 summit at the Atlanta-based center founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.

Curry described the event as an “unprecedented summit … to look at how we can be a force for good” for Israelis and Palestinians “to find a way forward and to help our governments find a way forward for a just and lasting peace for all of the people of the Holy Land.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/05/05/presiding-bishop-joins-landmark-summit-on-holy-land-peacemaking/