For the past several years, a group of five Protestant churches – the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – have legitimized the increasingly virulent anti-Israel movement in the United States. Although these churches have suffered substantial membership declines since the mid-1960s, they still enjoy a considerable influence on the American scene, particularly on the Left, thanks to their role in American history and the affluence of their members.

These churches have used their influence to focus attention on Israel’s efforts to defend itself, most notably the construction of the security barrier between its citizens and Palestinians in the West Bank. The narrative presented by these churches is that Israel could unilaterally bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict but chooses not to because of flaws in its national character.

The Institute for Global Jewish Affairs, a branch of the Jewish Center of Public Affairs, has just released the following special report. The author of the report is Dexter Van Zile, a Christian media analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.

The Special Report highlights the following issues:

• – In 2004 and 2005, a group of five liberal Protestant (or “mainline”) churches in the United States broadcasted a narrative that portrayed Israel as almost solely responsible for the violence of the Second Intifada. This campaign was evident in “peacemaking” resolutions approved by the legislative bodies of these churches and in the books produced by the publishing houses associated with them.
• – The peacemaking resolutions alleged that Israel controlled the violence directed at it during the Second Intifada and could unilaterally end the Arab-Israeli conflict by conceding territory to the Palestinians. Support for this narrative began to wane in 2006 and 2007 under the impact of Hamas‘s violence and misrule in the Gaza Strip and Hizballah’s 2006 attack on Israel from Lebanon. During the summer of 2009, anti-Israel activists suffered setbacks in the mainline community.
• – The materials published by these churches depict Israel as unable to make the sacrifices necessary for peace because of a flaw in its national character. Commentators from these churches are also harshly critical of Israel’s Christian Zionist supporters in the United States, portraying them as intent on bringing about Armageddon. This intense interrogation of the identity of Israeli Jews and the theology of Christian Zionists is coupled with silence about the role Muslim theology has played in fomenting violence against Israel in the Middle East.
• – Largely because of their shrinking numbers, the churches involved in this campaign have had little impact on the American public’s attitudes toward Israel. Nevertheless, by aligning themselves with extremist groups in the Middle East and the United States who seek to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state, these churches have contributed to the mainstreaming of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in American society.

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