A noted Catholic cleric told a Jewish audience here last night that a hostile attitude towards Israel–“stemming largely from an old, theological anti-Judaism and a still-present anti-Semitism–is “widespread and in some cases quite intense” among a large number of Christians. Rev. Edward H. Flannery of Washington, D.C., executive secretary of the Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations of the United States Conference of Bishops, said, “the quality and extent of anti-Zionism among Christians is disturbing and deplorable.”
Rev. Flannery’s remarks were delivered before some 150 persons at a Zionist Organization of America dinner at Beth Abraham Synagogue here conducted by the ZOA’s Dayton District marking the organization’s 75th anniversary year. The cleric stressed that his remarks represented his own views and not necessarily those of the Conference of Bishops.
He said a present cause of the “new manifestation” of Christian anti-Zionism is the apparent “intransigence” of Israel on such issues as Middle East peace negotiations, withdrawal to pre-1967 boundaries and settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem.
Rabbi Joseph P. Sternstein of Roslyn, N.Y., a ZOA leader, said now may be the time for Jews “to put their own priorities first and disregard whether this will have a good or bad effect on Jewish-Christian relations.” Calling for “a return to classic Zionist ideology,” he said that too many young Jews erroneously believe that the problem of Jewish survival will be overcome with the resolution of world problems.
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.
