Clergymen attending the synod of the Dutch Reformed Church held near Utrecht last weekend failed to arrive at a unified view on the Middle East situation. Despite lengthy discussions, they did not adopt a statement on the Middle East. One of the speakers, Prof. Hendrik Berkhof, criticized the executive of the Dutch Reformed Church for not adopting a pro-Israel stand during the Yom Kippur War.
Secretary General of the Dutch Reformed Church, Albert Van Den Heuvel disagreed and called Holland’s pro-Israel sentiment during the first days of the war “frighteningly one-sided,” adding that it completely ignored the existence of 20 million Christian Arabs. He proposed a meeting with both Chief Rabbis of Holland and a “Christian Arab delegation.”
Earlier this month, the Dutch Chief Rabbis expressed their disappointment at the neutrality of the Christian churches during the war. Prof, Zwiwerblowsky of the Hebrew University, a well-known figure in Holland, has also criticized the Christian church for its neutral stance. Prof. Zwiwerblowsky resided several years in Holland in the late 1940s.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
