LEADING CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION CALLS FOR A MORE “BALANCED APPROACH TO THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT”

A proposed call for a better understanding of the Mideast could be a “turning point
 in relations between the UCC and the Jewish community”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today commended delegates to the United Church of Christ (UCC) National Synod in Hartford, Connecticut for proposing a resolution that calls for a more balanced view of the conflict in the Middle East. The resolution, “In Support of a Renewed and Balanced Study and Response to the Conflict Between Palestine and Israel” stands in stark contrast with two resolutions passed at the Church’s last Synod in 2005 that focused only on Israel’s actions by calling for a dismantling of its security fence and for the Church to divest its funds from companies doing business in Israel. The new resolution, if formally adopted tomorrow on the Synod’s final day, would acknowledge that the historical, cultural, political and religious complexities of the conflict compel the UCC to “have a responsibility to more fully understand and name the ways other nations and forces have contributed to the situation.”

“This is potentially a turnaround moment in the relationship between the UCC and the American Jewish community,” said Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Wiesenthal Center. “If passed, it would allow the Church to channel its considerable energies to act as a facilitator of dialogue between all parties in the Holy Land,” he added.

The proposed resolution also addresses this past month’s violence between Hamas and Fatah faction in Gaza, showing that a future for the Palestinians is not just blocked by Israel, but also by the recent fighting waged by these factions. “We are called to an honest and searching critique of all the forces in conflict,” the resolution stated.

“This is an important step away from one-sided, punitive boycott measures that have marred relations with the Jewish community in recent years,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Center. “In acknowledging the complexities on the ground, the UCC resolution can serve as a role model for other Protestant denominations that are struggling to find appropriate modalities to further the prospects of peace and security for Christians, Jews and Moslems,” he concluded.

When the UCC proposed the two measures against Israel in advance of its 2005 National Synod, the Wiesenthal Center launched an online petition campaign that called on the Church’s leader, Reverend John Thomas, to defeat the measures. The campaigned generated over 20,000 signatures. At the 2005 Synod, a number of UCC members stood side by side with Wiesenthal Center officials and other interfaith leaders as they protested the adoption of the resolutions.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036.