The Methodist Church’s decision to boycott produce from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been supported by both the United Church of Canada the World Council of Churches (WCC).The decision was made during the Church’s annual conference in Portsmouth on June 30 and constitutes part of a report on illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Policy Advisor for Methodist Church, Steve Husklesby, expressed hope that the move would “highlight concerns that people have over the occupation and the impact on Palestinian communities.”
The 54-page report, ‘Justice for Palestine and Israel’, was presented alongside a joint Jewish-Christian statement of support.
Its thirty signatures included representatives from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) UK Jews for Justice for Palestinians and the Holy Land Trust.
The WCC has since insisted that the measure is a necessary step forward in strengthening the moral convictions of British Christians.
Program Executive for the Middle East, Michel Nseir, told The Muslim News that the public should “no longer maintain a continuous, non critical support for the policies and Government of Israel.”
He instead asks Christians to “take responsibility for their behaviour” by boycotting the largely agricultural produce in supermarkets.
Last September, the WCC asked all churches to support an international boycott of Israeli settlement produce and services from the region. This was supported by Kairos Palestine, a body of Palestinian Christian leaders who launched a document entitled ‘Moment of Truth’ on December 11, 2009.
The organisation believes that the Israeli occupation is a “sin against God and humanity” and calls upon World Churches to “stand alongside the oppressed” - they have since received a letter of support from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Though Nseir foresees “new debate and discussion” among the other churches as a result of the boycott, the Catholic Church has of yet refused to comment on the Methodist church’s actions.
When asked whether they would consider taking similar measures, Louis Henderson, a spokesman for the Church of England, opposed the idea - its Ethical Investment Advisory Group, has not recommended any such boycott.
“The Ethical Advisory Group has no specific policies on a boycott of any country,” Henderson told The Muslim News.
More open opposition came from Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) (UK) and the Zionist Federation (ZF), whose membership includes followers of the Methodist Church.
The organisations argued that the report had been influenced by ‘supercessionism' – a strain of Christianity which denies the Biblical claim of Jewish people to the land of Israel.
They further condemned the report as “one-sided” and “biased” towards Palestinians, calling for a more balanced approach to the Middle East conflict.
Their argument that the Israeli occupation of the West bank is perfectly legal contradicts the WWC’s recognition of Israeli settlements as “illegitimate under international law.”
In a joint statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council condemned the report.
The bodies declared that the Methodist church had abused the goodwill of the Jewish community and are misinformed regarding the Middle Eastern conflict.
“The Methodist Conference has swallowed hook, line and sinker a report full of basic historical inaccuracies, deliberate misrepresentations and distortions of Jewish theology and Israeli policy,” said the statement.
Chief Executive of the Council of Christians and Jews, David Gifford, echoed this sentiment, asserting that the Conference gave “unfairly biased sympathy” to Palestinians; the Board of Deputies believed that the conference should “hang its head in shame”.
The WCC are sceptical that a similar boycott could be implemented in America, with Michel Nseir citing a “different dynamic” under which American churches operate.
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