Wiesenthal Center Blasts Disciples of Christ for Barring Jewish Voice from its General Assembly

July 26, 2005

Wiesenthal Center Blasts Disciples of Christ for Barring Jewish Voice from its General Assembly

Portland, OR--Officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized a decision made by Disciples of Christ President William Hobgood which bars a survivor of the deadly 2003 Café Hillel suicide bombing in Jerusalem from speaking to delegates to the Disciples’ General Assembly in Portland. The Church Assembly is preparing to vote today on a "Tear Down the Wall" resolution demanding Israel dismantle its anti-terror barrier.

"We are deeply dismayed, that as suicide bombs continue to mass-murder innocents around the globe, mainline Protestant groups like the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ insist on ramming through one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions that would cripple the highly effective, life-saving barrier against the unending onslaught of attempted suicide attacks," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, the Center’s point person on Inter-group Relations.

"Make no mistake. We have personally seen the profound disconnect between an elitist group of agenda-driven church officials bent on casting Israel in a negative light, and rank-and-file members who express sympathy and solidarity for the Jewish State’s need to defend herself from suicide terror," Center officials added.

At a news conference outside the Convention yesterday, the Wiesenthal Center presented Tzippi Cohen, who was injured during the horrific Café Hillel suicide bombing in Jerusalem in September, 2003. Ms. Cohen pleaded that Disciple delegates not turn a deaf ear to her pain, and the tragedy of thousands
of others. "Tearing down Israel’s security barrier will only insure that millions of Israelis will be again exposed to the horrors I witnessed and went through," she said. Ms. Cohen has been prevented from speaking to Assembly delegates because of a last-minute change to rules that restricts speeches from the floor to voting members of the Church. (Use this link for full text of Ms. Cohen's speech).

Also attending the news conference was Mark Tooley, a Methodist leader with the Washington- based Institute for Religion and Democracy who noted the disproportionate number of anti-Israel resolutions presented and adopted by mainline Protestant denominations, while other critical global human rights disasters were too often ignored.

Statements against the scourge of suicide terrorism were sent by US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams.(Use this link to read letter from Sen. Wyden- Adobe Acrobat required)

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a leading Jewish Human Rights Organization with 400,000 constituent families. It is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OSCE and the Council of Europe.

For more information please contact Rabbi Cooper 310-210-9750 or 818-519-9690.