Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Pro-Israel British Methodists On The Offensive

Hot on the heels of Britain's University and College Union, which on the motion of leftist diehards at its annual conference recently voted to change the defintion of antisemitism contained in the European Union Monitoring Centre (EUMC) Working Definition of Antisemitism to suit their own vicious Israel-bashing ends, motions by pro-Israel elements within the BDS-committed British Methodist Church might effectively  deter any copycat move by anti-Israel colleagues.

Writes staunchly pro-Israel Methodist preacher David Hallam on his blog (hat tip: reader Ian G):
 'It is heartening to see that three circuits have submitted resolutions (or "memorials") affirming Methodist opposition to anti-Semitism and expressing concern at the impact of the disastrous 2010 report and resolution purporting to about "justice" for the Israelis and Palestinians.
The charge is led by the  The Barnet and Queensbury (35/35) circuit which has the highest percentage of Jewish residents in the UK.... 
Their memorial M32 outlines the growing difficulties facing the Jewish community in the UK and asks conference to reaffirm our formal opposition to anti-Semitism. Possibly the most significant sentence in the memorial is the inclusion of the [EUMC Working Definitism of Anti-Semitism].
This however will create difficulties for the British Methodist Church. For example at last year's conference a guest speaker Naim Ateek accused Jews of using the Holocaust as a Zionist tool, with the Holocaust used as an "industry" which is "exploited for financial gain". This speech was applauded by the very people ... who are now running round boasting that we are involved in interfaith engagement with the Jewish community...'.
Read more: http://methodistpreacher.blogspot.com/2011/06/methodist-conference-to-be-pressed-to.html
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2 comments:

  1. Juniper in the Desert30 June 2011 at 06:06

    Dear Daphne, a bit of Methodist memorabilia, courtesy of my local newspaper archives, dated 1786:
    "Richard Spearpoint of Hamponds, in the Parish of Word, nr Sandwich, put an end to his life by cutting his throat with a razor.
    No one can tell the reason of his committing this rather rash action: he was one of the followers of the people called Methodists and had been indisposed in his mind for some time"

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  2. Daphne Anson30 June 2011 at 06:19

    Thanks, Juniper.
    In its heyday, of course, the Methodist Church was the largest "working-class" (if I can put it that way) denomination in England, but it's experienced a slump in membership in recent decades, sadly becoming prey to radical lefty elements ...

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