Stephen Sizer Placates The Board of Deputies

Sizer to his Facebook followers today

Reports the Jewish Chronicle's Marcus Dysch:

'[Reverend Stephen Sizer] has said he regrets posting website links which promoted Holocaust denial and Zionist conspiracy theories.

 Reverend Stephen Sizer said he accepted that his actions had offended the Jewish community and acknowledged he should have "taken more care" and "reflected on the choice of words more carefully".

 Rev Sizer was the subject of an unprecedented complaint made by the Board of Deputies to the Church of England last year.  Following mediation sessions with the Board, he said on Wednesday that while he did not accept claims that he had made antisemitic statements, he now realised the importance of monitoring online posts and avoiding "inflammatory" language.  He was twice forced to alter his website last year and was briefly investigated by police.

One link had directed readers to a website featuring Holocaust revisionism and adverts for the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Another had claimed that countries including Britain and Israel had "special forces operating in Syria… backed up by the CIA and Mossad".

The mediation sessions, held earlier this year, were led by Christian and Jewish conciliators – the Very Rev Christopher Lewis, Dean of Christ Church Oxford, and retired High Court judge Sir Gavin Lightman.

During the meetings Rev Sizer discussed the offensive links with Board vice-president Jonathan Arkush. He agreed to have three people check his blog posts and links he posts to other websites, and said he would respond "promptly" to future critics.

After both parties signed the conciliation agreement, Mr Arkush said:

 "The outcome has demonstrated that the Board of Deputies, the community and very many Christians were right to feel very deep concern about Rev Sizer.

The Board welcomes Rev Sizer’s acknowledgments and undertakings, which clearly demonstrate that conduct on his part which led to the complaint was unbecoming or inappropriate to a minister of the Church of England."

Mr Arkush said the Board was committed to ensuring strong Christian-Jewish relations in Britain, and that Rev Sizer’s actions had been "the exception, not the rule".

The Board has agreed to treat the result of the mediation as the resolution of its initial complaint....'

 More here

Sizer's reaction to the outcome was contained in a long press release that he issued today, which forms the substance of this blogpost of his; it will be seen that he avows "the right of Israel to exist within internationally agreed borders," a stance that has not always been apparent in his numerous written and uttered indictments of Israel -

- and might prompt the cynical to say: "Will the real Stephen Sizer please stand up?"

Re the verdict:

Later on:

More re the verdict:

And from another old mate of ours:

(The latter in response to Sizer drawing attention to the now disputed report that at her concert in Tel Aviv Rihanna changed the words of a song from "All I see is dollar signs" to "All I see is Palestine")

See also my next post!