Don’t punish Israel; it’s not terror’s cause
Sunday, June 11, 2006
MAURICE SHEVIN

This week, the Presbyterian Church-USA is holding its Biennial General Assembly in Birmingham.

This event has caused a serious dilemma for Birmingham’s Jewish community and other friends of Israel. On the one hand, we are so pleased for our Presbyterian friends that their denomination has chosen Birmingham to hold such a significant meeting. The extraordinarily close friendship between the Jews of Birmingham and the Presbyterians dates back 100 years to a time when the Presbyterians held their worship services at Temple Emanu-el. This friendship continues today as our community ministers and rabbis have formed a strong and lasting friendship, working together on matters of importance locally.

At the same time, however, the Jewish community of Birmingham is deeply troubled by an Overture – a resolution – the Presbyterian group is expected to consider at its General Assembly. The measure calls for restricting church funds from companies that the church believes aid Israel’s “occupation” of the Palestinians. This so-called “Divestment Overture” is premised on the mistaken belief Israel is primarily to blame for the continuing Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

I believe that the Overture is one-sided, and does not recognize Israel’s many sacrifices for peace and the difficulty in dealing with Palestinian terror. Additionally, in a recent and startling turn of events, the Palestinians elected a government to be run by Hamas, an avowed terrorist organization that espouses violence and the total destruction of the State of Israel. No, clearly, this is not the time for the Presbyterian Church to isolate Israel.

At this time, Christian communities in the Middle-East and throughout the world are suffering from the same Islamic intolerance and extremism as Jews suffer. While Jews and Christians are being attacked throughout the Arab world, Christians, Jews and Muslims practice their faiths every day in Israel without incident or even a second thought. Israel is a beacon of democracy, offering all of the freedoms that we Americans hold dear.

The Divestment Overture criticizes Israeli occupation of some Palestinian lands, implying that Israel is the root cause of Islamic terrorism. Yet occupation by Israel that was and remains a security measure, and even the building of a security barrier, is not the cause of Islamic terrorism. Rather, it is an extreme and fundamentalist Muslim theocracy that demands the absolute rule of the religious law of Shariah that is the cause.

Israel and the United States have tried for years and in vain to reach a peaceful resolution with respect to the territories taken by Israel in defending herself in war. Israel has offered countless times to give up almost all of the lands claimed by the Palestinians – reserving to herself only those areas needed for security and the city of Jerusalem – which Israel has made an open city to all faiths. The fact is, at every opportunity for peace, the representatives of the Palestinians have walked away and chosen intifada, terror and chaos. Why is that? The answer is that peace with Israel and peace with the West does not serve the purposes of the Jihadists. Nothing but total annihilation of Israel will please them; and, as recent events have proved, the United States and the Western world will be next on their agenda.

So, no, this is not the time for our Presbyterian friends to turn their backs on the efforts at peace our Israeli brethren have made. I sincerely hope and pray the Presbyterian General Assembly will reject the Divestment Overture and, instead, work for peace in the Middle East with a more balanced and evenhanded recognition of the needs and fundamental rights of both sides in this vexing conflict. Maurice L. Shevin is a lawyer in Birmingham and chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Birmingham Jewish Federation. E-mail him at mshevin@sirote.com.

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