Jewish groups rebuke United Church of Christ

Eight Jewish groups rebuked the United Church of Christ for what they said was an imbalanced statement on Israel. The letter crafted last week by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for policy groups, targeted a UCC statement marking 40 years of Israel’s occupation of disputed lands. While noting that the UCC statement committed itself to Israel’s security, the Jewish letter said the church document failed to mention Israeli peace overtures, Palestinian rejection of the overtures and “brutal Palestinian campaigns of terror aimed at innocent Israeli children and families.” The UCC response to the Jewish letter said it was the church’s position that Israel’s actions are the “context for and, in many cases, a cause of” violence on both sides. Joining the JCPA in the letter were the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements; the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International.