Presbyterians Commended for More Balanced Middle East Report

The Presbyterian Church (PC) (U.S.A.) has been commended by several non-profit groups for its drastic revision of a report on the Middle East conflict, which was previously criticized as being "slanted" and "one sided."

"In recognizing Israel's security needs while striving to remain faithful to the church's Palestinian Christian partners, the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has embraced a more thoughtful approach to Middle East peacemaking," the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said in a statement.

On Friday, PC(U.S.A.) Assembly delegates adopted a heavily revised version of a report from its Middle East Study Committee (MESC), which had originally included statements accusing Israel of apartheid and calling for an end to the Gaza blockade.

Instead, PC(U.S.A.) noted that while they are "deeply concerned with the policies implemented by Israel in relation to the Palestinian territories and Palestinians under its jurisdiction, we believe that dialogue is hampered by words like 'apartheid.'"

Regarding the Gaza blockade, the group called on Israel and Egypt to limit the embargo to military equipment and devices and to guarantee the flow of adequate levels of humanitarian goods and free commercial exchange.

Furthermore, the report's historical analysis of the Israeli-Arab conflict, which media monitoring group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) called "one-sided and…rife with material omissions" was rejected by the Assembly in favor of eight yet-to-be-written narratives.

The report also added a reaffirmation of Israel's right to exist as a sovereign nation.

Assembly Moderator Cindy Bolbach called the actions "Presbyterians at our best" and praised the MESC for their hard work.

"God's healing presence has been at work," added former Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase.

Other notables in the report included PC(U.S.A.)'s choice to "commend for study" the controversial Kairos Palestine document rather than fully endorse it.

Authored by Palestinian church leaders of various denominations, the Kairos Palestine document has been criticized by pro-Israeli groups as being extremist in nature.

Portions of the document that PC(U.S.A.) currently endorses include the statement's "emphases on hope for liberation, nonviolence, love of enemy, and reconciliation" as well as its representation of the "often neglected voice of Palestinian Christians."

"Despite intense pressure, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly rejected the calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel," Emily Soloff, Associate Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations for AJC said. "The civility with which Presbyterians reached their decisions in the wake of passionate argument on different sides of each issue is impressive."

Assembly delegates also resolved to create a Monitoring Group on the Middle East for the next two years that will include no more than two members of the current MESC, which has been accused of containing anti-Israeli activists.

The members of the Monitoring Group will be chosen "on the basis of demonstrated experience with and knowledge of the complex dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the larger concerns of the Middle East, and shall together comprise an authentic balance" in representing the PC(U.S.A.)'s commitments in the matter.

"We fervently hope that the new Middle East monitoring committee will meet the GA's charge for authentic balance in the study of and teaching about the complexities of the Middle East," AJC said. "The parties to the conflict deserve nothing less."

Meanwhile, the PC(U.S.A.)'s call on the U.S. government to withhold military aid unless Israeli settlement building is stopped was maintained, although the language was softened.

The U.S. should make "aid to Israel contingent upon Israel's compliance with international law and peacemaking efforts" rather than withholding aid "as a means of bringing Israel to" compliance.

CAMERA said that while they still have concern over PC(U.S.A.)'s Middle East policies, their handling of the Assembly report is a "model worth following."

CAMERA particularly commended MESC members Susan Andrews and Ron Shive who had helped prepare the original report for taking "huge risks" by acknowledging the problems with the document and working to fix them.

"If more Presbyterians follow the example of these people…the PC(USA)'s 2010 General Assembly will likely be seen as the gathering where pro-Palestinian Presbyterians started to realize that acknowledging and working to end the suffering of the Palestinian people does not require demonizing Israel and offering up a history that absolves Arab leaders of all guilt," the group said.

"That's a model worth following."

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