FAIR Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East

WITNESS 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1960

New York, New York 10115

(212) 870-2320

www.christianfairwitness.com

Board of Directors

CHAIRMAN

G. Morris Gurley, Esq.

VICE-PRESIDENT

Hon. Peter F. Vallone

SECRETARY/ TREASURER
Prof. Dennis Hale

Executive Committee

Rev. Currie Burris

Rev. Dr. Bruce Chilton

Rev. Dr. Roy Howard

Rev. James Loughran, S.A.

Rev. Chip Larson

Rev. Dr. Peter Pettit

Rev. Dr. Steve Simmons

Rev. Dr. L.T. Archer Summers

Rev. Suzanne E. Wagner

Dexter VanZile

National Director

Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.

March 3, 2008

Re: Divestment From Israel

Dear UMC General Conference Delegate:

A second proposed resolution for divestment from companies doing business with the state of Israel has come to our attention. The Methodist Federation for Social Action (“MFSA”) published its resolution in the January-February 2008 edition of their newsletter Social Questions Bulletin (the “Bulletin”).

The material in this issue of the Bulletin follows the same pattern of the General Board of Global Ministries’ (“GBGM”) Israel-Palestine: A Mission Study. It attacks the fundamental nature of the Israeli character, exploits Holocaust themes and grossly misrepresents and distorts the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict.

The front page of the Bulletin features an article by Dr. Sara Roy, who is prominently trumpeted as the “Child of Holocaust Survivors.” Dr. Roy begins her article with a professed measure of deep sympathy for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust -- which she characterizes as a “defining feature of [Jewish] life.” (p. 1) But she quickly twists this sympathy into open hostility towards Israelis whom she accuses of holding the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany in “disdain.” (p.14) Dr. Roy hypothesizes a “link of some sort between the murdered Jews of Europe and the Palestinians” (p. 14) as she accuses Israeli soldiers of behavior that is “absolutely equivalent in principle, intent, and impact” to that of Nazis. (p. 14)

Plainly put, the MFSA, just like the GBGM with its Mission Study, has crossed a line of decency here. No one should desecrate the memory of another people’s collective tragedy -- in this case the mass extermination of six million Jews -- by turning that tragedy into a weapon to use against them. That the MFSA uses a Jewish voice to do this in no way redeems it -- in fact it compounds the extent of the exploitation. Israel can be criticized without coopting the memory of the Holocaust; that two separate Methodist groups now use the Holocaust to promote their political agendum raises troubling questions about the intent of these groups.

The Bulletin chronicles history in a “Synopsis of the Israel/Palestine Conflict.” (p. 4) Just like the GBGM’s Mission Study, every section of this “Synopsis” consists of a combination of half-truths, obfuscations and outright misrepresentations, all aimed at making Israel appear to be the aggressor and the sole obstacle to peace in the region.

The MFSA’s divestment resolution consists of a litany of Israeli misdeeds coupled with a conspicuous absence of acknowledgment of any wrongdoing by the Palestinians or the Arab nations. (p. 8) “Realities in Palestine” contains a full report on the Israeli barrier and checkpoints, but not one word about the Palestinian terrorism that prompted their construction. (p. 3)

The barrier and checkpoint system are choking the lives of Palestinians and no reasonable person would say that Israel is blameless in this conflict. But what is the motivation for the MFSA’s and GBGM’s selective telling of history and selective accusations?

Rev. Kathryn Johnson cautions that there will be “enormous pressure” not to vote for divestment and that this pressure may take the form of accusations of anti-Semitism and concern over inter-faith relations. (p. 12) We agree that the state of interfaith relations should not be the issue here. If divesting from Israel were the morally correct thing to do, then how that might affect relations with Jews should not be a decisive factor. However, we ask you to take a good hard look at both the GBGM’s Mission Study, and From Palestine to Israel (a children’s book recently published by the GBGM) and the material in the Social Questions Bulletin, and come to your own conclusion about the anti-Semitic overtones in the current movement towards divestment.

In the end your decision must be based on a Gospel vision of justice. Justice that includes not falsely accusing people and refusing to take part in open bigotry under the cover of defending an oppressed people. Justice that includes learning the truth of a situation and proceeding from there -- not using propaganda and misinformation to gang up on one party -- especially when that party just happens to be the world’s favorite scapegoat.

Very truly yours in Christ,

Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq., National Director, Fair Witness

Rev. Dr. Archer Summers, Senior Minister, First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto, California