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Herbert London: The Presbyterian Church And The BDS Movement

It has been clear for some time that Mainline Protestants have gone through a complete transformation. This religious group led by Presbyterians has become a secular humanistic faith far more interested in same sex marriage, abortion privileges, equality in some abstract sense, and fashionable left wing ideologies and tropes than religious doctrines.

Secularism is the new religion and it is defended as fiercely as traditional dogma. Hence it is not surprising that in a vote on Friday June 20 the Presbyterian Church voted to boycott Israel over its avowed “occupation” of Palestinian territory, following on the heels of other organizations embracing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.

Al Jazeera gloated that “it was a vote heard halfway around the world in Israel.” Alas, it is a vote that will reinforce and energize BDS advocates around the globe who are intent on demonizing and delegitimizing the state of Israel. This action by America’s eighth largest Protestant denomination represents a significant breakthrough for a well funded and organized campaign by pro-Palestinian groups to subject Israel to a worldwide boycott of its financial institutions, industries and universities.

Never mind that the claims are fraudulent. Never mind as well that the Palestinian territory has benefitted in remarkable ways because of Israeli involvement. Never mind that in Israel, Arab and Jew live and work side by side; in fact, it is the only place in the Middle East where this condition prevails.

Tossing around mindless epithets like “racist” and “apartheid state” the so-called defenders of the Palestinian position are employing insults as a tactic and dissimulations as a strategy. And a portion of the globe, disproportionality found in Western universities is listening. This noxious rhetoric has gained ground because many are ignorant of Israel’s policies and because anti-Semitism has remarkably gained respectability in Europe and elsewhere. As Chairman Mao once noted a lie repeated a hundred times becomes the truth.

In fact, Israel is the embodiment of the open, liberal state with 20 percent of the population Arab and with institutions that provide for individual rights and the rule of law. The West Bank of Judea and Samaria were areas conquered in war and, despite the fictional retelling of the history in this region, Arabs in 1948 were told to leave when the war unfolded. Claims to this slice of land are disputable, but not dispositive.

Clearly Israel is not perfect, but it is the only democratic, free and open society in the Middle East. It is the only nation where Arab women can be educated and prosper. It is the only Middle East nation, whose economy thrives because of the ingenuity of its people.

Yet that said, the campaign against Israel continues inexorably with the decision of the Presbyterian Church the latest and most vile example. The bible teaches that the truth will set us free. Unfortunately in a religion that prescribes secular liberalism as its dogma, the bible really doesn’t count for much.

Herbert London is President of the London Center for Policy Research, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the book The Transformational Decade (University Press of America). You can read all of Herb London’s commentaries atwww.londoncenter.org

 

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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