How many sour notes does it take to render a piece of music
impossible to listen to? While there may be no scientific answer,
reasonable people can agree that too many ruins the tune. Such is the
case with a report overwhelmingly adopted by the Presbyterian Church
(USA) at its recent biennial General Assembly held in Minneapolis.
While removing some horrendous anti-Israel and anti-Jewish
language from a 172-page report called “Breaking Down the Walls,”
significant one-sided anti-Israel bias remains.
Presbyterian Church representatives voted by a 4-1 margin
(558-119) to adopt the report, which most disturbingly calls for
withholding U.S. aid as a means to pressure Israel to make peace and
cease settlement activity. Those who argue that the Church merely
reaffirmed a longtime position are missing the point. Singling out
Israel has always been insidious, particularly in today’s environment
where Israel is the target of well-orchestrated campaigns that question
its legitimacy.
The General Assembly also approved an amended endorsement of a
very troubling text produced by Palestinian Christians in 2009, “A
Moment of Truth,” also known as the Kairos Palestine Document. Kairos is
a prime example of an effort to undercut the legitimacy of Israel as a
Jewish State. It calls terror a form of legal resistance, it …
