B'nai B'rith International Addresses Church Committee on Divestment

B'nai B'rith International welcomes the steps toward balance on the Middle East that delegates to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) urged at its biannual General Assembly, which met in San Jose, California, June 21-June 28.

Though moderate Jewish organizations disagree with some decisions taken at the General Assembly, Presbyterian delegates demonstrated a clear desire for more equitable and constructive treatment of Israel. B'nai B'rith International had expressed concern prior to the General Assembly that the Presbyterian Church was adopting an increasingly one-sided view of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In early June, the Church revised a previously commended document on anti-Jewish bias in discourse on the Middle East, replacing notable introspection with reassertion of a right to unrestrained censure of the Jewish state.

But at the General Assembly, a more measured approach was endorsed. Delegates opposed a call to suspend United States military aid to Israel. The delegates also rejected a resolution that singled out Israel for heightened rhetoric and intensified movement toward divestment. B'nai B'rith International's Director of Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels testified against that overture before the General Assembly's peacemaking committee. Michaels told the committee that the pursuit of justice requires attention to the needs and responsibilities of all parties in the Middle East.

The fact that strident criticism of Israel remained such a disproportionate focus in proposed resolutions, and in programs held during the Church's meeting, makes the cautious, thoughtful approach of Presbyterian delegates a source of encouragement to all those committed to peace and to the crucial Christian-Jewish friendship.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegates have now mandated two years of thorough study of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. B'nai B'rith International hopes such study will yield a truly fair and nuanced perspective on the complexities of the Middle East.