WIESENTHAL CENTER: PROPOSED LUTHERAN DIVESTMENT RESOLUTION DENIES LEGITIMACY OF JEWISH STATE

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization, is urging Bishop Mark Hanson and the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to reject a proposed resolution by the Church’s Caribbean Synod that denies Israel’s legitimacy and calls for ELCA to push for divestment of the Jewish State. ELCA is convening its biennial Assembly in Orlando today.

"The Caribbean Synod’s proposed resolution is a major escalation in the worldwide political campaign to delegitimize Israel and is in keeping with the spirit of the 1975 UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

The language of the proposed resolution alleges "57 years" of Israeli occupation, effectively rejecting Israel’s legitimacy as a sovereign state and casting her as "tyrannical," a "colonizer" and an "occupier."

"This resolution goes way beyond any of the resolutions recently passed by the U.S. Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ," continued Cooper. "It dispenses with politically-correct window dressing including any concern for the security of Israel or of Israel’s right to a secure future."

The Caribbean Synod’s resolution also depicts Israel’s anti-terrorism security fence as a "cement wall on confiscated Palestinian land" with no reference to the suicide bombing campaign launched by Palestinian terrorists which has killed over 1,000 Israeli citizens, the equivalent to 50,000 Americans.

"The Wiesenthal Center urges Bishop Hanson and all of the delegates to the ELCA Assembly in Orlando to reject this one-sided racist document, continued Cooper. "Its passage will not help a single Palestinian, but will damage interfaith relations. We instead urge ELCA to find proactive and positive ways to further humanitarianism and peace in the Holy Land," he concluded.

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, or visit www.wiesenthal.com.