Still a long way to go

Editorial

Zionist and Jewish groups are cautiously optimistic after Canada's largest Protestant denomination backed down from its plan to boycott Israel. The United Church of Canada, long a source of some of the most vile anti-Israel rhetoric, has decided not to initiate a boycott of the Jewish state or urge its members to divest from companies doing business with Israel.

Instead, the church is urging its members and divisions to invest "ethically."

"Divestment has a great deal of association to it. But the intention of the motion is still somewhat similar," a church leader, Bruce Gregersen, told the National Post. "The church is now requesting or encouraging its members, its constituents, its ministries and congregations to only invest in companies and corporations that support peace and justice in the Middle East."

Subjective terms like "ethics" invite continued discrimination against Israel. Any doubts about the depth of depraved hatred of and bias against Israel from some United Church members was evident in a series of leaked correspondence between a leader of the Toronto branch of the church and a Canadian Zionist.

Rev. Lawrence Pushee, in an official church response to an inquiry, dismisses the abduction of Israeli soldiers as a "mere embarrassment" and suggests there is a "deficiency in the intelligence quotients of those who govern Israel."

Israel's ultimate goal, Pushee states, is "to take every opportunity to destroy any potential for Palestinians to ever manage to create a viable nation of their own."

In a litany of one-sided condemnations, Pushee declares that "Israel is being so greedy in such a nasty and murderous way that we find ourselves very sympathetic to the Palestinian complaints."

Pushee was dismissed from his leadership position in light of his hateful diatribe, but his philosophy maintains some cachet among Canadians inside and outside the United Church.

While Canadians have been among the most active opponents of Israel over recent years, most have not participated in actual constructive engagement with the region, preferring anti-Israel obstructionism rather than capacity-building or statecraft among Palestinians. While the United Church and many other Canadian activists have been uncompromising in their harassment of Israel, most have been nearly or completely silent in opposing violent methods, choosing to heap all blame on the victim in the conflict and to justify murder and mayhem as deserved.

The United Church has taken a step in the right direction. But it has a long way to go.

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