Call For Anglican Superiors To Act Against Stephen Sizer: "There Is Simply No Way Dr Sizer Can Square His Participation In This Conference With His Promise Not To Promote Anti-Semitism"

From the Press TV website, complete with an accompanying video that briefly shows the Reverend Stephen Sizer (pictured, left; he's the clean-shaven one) in full flood:
  
'2nd New Horizon Conference kicks off in Teheran.

Its goal is to unveil the secrets behind the dominance of the Zionist lobby over US and EU politics; the second international New Horizon conference gathers senior investigative journalists, authors, filmmakers and renowned political activists from the United States, Europe and Iran around one table; in an event which rarely seems possible in the West.

And what of the Iranian politicians who persecute and hang Christians and dissidents, vicar?

On the first panel at the three day event experts discussed the influence of the Zionist lobby on the West in the process of nuclear talks with Iran. American investigative journalist Wayne Madsen believes that the Zionist lobby has its grip deep into different layers of the US government. Producer of the movie operation terror believes that issues like the immergence of a new rival in the nuclear fuel market could also be a reason behind the extremist reactions to Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran is a signatory to the non proliferation treaty NPT with its entire uranium enrichment program supervised by the international atomic energy agency. However Iran has so far faced several rounds of UN Security Council and Unilateral US and EU sanctions under the pretext that its peaceful activities are not convincing.' [Emphasis added]

Also from the Press TV website, again accompanied by the same video:

"The second edition of Iran’s International New Horizon Independent Conference started its programs in the capital city of Tehran ...

A number of senior investigative journalists, authors, filmmakers and renowned political activists took part in the gala.

The participants flocked to the three-day event from the UK, the United States, and several countries of Europe.

The first panel of the event hosted the presentations of several experts focused on the influence of the Zionist lobby on the West in the process of nuclear talks with Iran.

The Zionist lobby has its grip deep into different layers of the US government, American investigative journalist Wayne Madsen stated at the conference.

The Islamic Awakening movement, the role of Zionist lobbies in the European and US crises, introducing international anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist figures, and Islamic resistance against the Zionist regime are some of the topics of the conference.

The first edition of the International New Horizon Independent Conference was presented in 2012 along with a film festival centered on the related issues.

The showcased films at the festival represented Islamic resistance against the Zionist regime, war threats against Iran and anti-war movements, the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Iranophobia and Islamophobia, world without Zionism, and world without terrorism and atomic weapons.

New Horizon conference and festival is aimed at providing a platform where independent thinkers can gather together, feature their films and engage in debate and deliberation on various aspects of world and the reality of Hollywood." [Emphasis added]

A still from the video (that's Sizer at the  podium):

 Another still shows the vicar brandishing a book:

(I wonder whether that is the book mentioned here and here?)

To quote from the ADL's official blog:

'....As in the pre­vi­ous con­fer­ence, this year’s New Hori­zon Con­fer­ence has drawn the par­tic­i­pa­tion of sev­eral anti-Israel activists, anti-Semitic con­spir­acy the­o­rists and Holo­caust deniers. A new pres­ence at the con­fer­ence is the par­tic­i­pa­tion of a so called Amer­i­can anti-war activist, Medea Ben­jamin, a co-founder of CODEPINK [this ludicrous woman, tamely hijabbed for her Iranian hosts, although in some of their bizarre stunts CODEPINK women show no modesty, can be seen denouncing the USA in this new Press TV video].

In addi­tion to Ben­jamin [pictured, centre, right; regarding her BDS calls see Daniel Greenfield's exposé], the conference’s offi­cial web­site pub­lished the names of sev­eral Amer­i­can and inter­na­tional anti-Semites, anti-Israel activists and Holo­caust deniers that are expected to be in atten­dance, includ­ing Maria Poumier, a French con­spir­acy the­o­rist and Holo­caust denier; Clau­dio Moffa, an Ital­ian Holo­caust denier; Kevin Bar­rett, an anti-Semitic con­spir­acy the­o­rist and fre­quent con­trib­u­tor to Iran’s Eng­lish lan­guage pro­pa­ganda news net­work, Press TV; Garth Porter, an anti-Israel jour­nal­ist; Pepe Esco­bar, a Brazil­ian anti-Israel jour­nal­ist; and Art Olivier, a for­mer elected offi­cial from Cal­i­for­nia and 9/11 con­spir­acy theorist.

Under-dressed in public ...

More­over, Iran­ian news agen­cies have reported that a num­ber of other indi­vid­u­als are sched­uled to also attend the three-day con­fer­ence in Tehran. Iran­ian news agen­cies have reported the expected par­tic­i­pa­tion of Ali­son Weir, the  direc­tor of If Amer­i­cans Knew and the Coun­cil for the National Inter­est, two grass­roots anti-Israel orga­ni­za­tions; Ken O’Keefe, an anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist for­mer U.S. Marine and a regular contributor to Press TV; Wayne Madsen, an anti-Semitic conspir­acy theorist [he appears on the above-mentioned video]; Cyrus McGoldrick, the for­mer Civil Rights Man­ager for the New York chap­ter of Coun­cil on American-Islamic Rela­tions; Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, the French anti-Semitic come­dian and the cre­ator of the anti-Semitic “quenelle” ges­ture; and Mark Sil­jan­der, a for­mer U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive (R-MI) who was found guilty in 2010 of two fed­eral charges relat­ing to his ties to an Islamic char­ity alleged to have funded ter­ror­ist groups.

But demure at the conference for her Iranian hosts

The con­fer­ence was opened with remarks by the per­sonal advi­sor to Supreme Leader Aya­tol­lah Ali Khamenei, Mohsen Ghomi, who boasted that the con­fer­ence itself is “the biggest threat to Zion­ists,” and that “Amer­i­can offi­cials are pup­pets of the Zion­ist lobby who are tak­ing advan­tage of Amer­i­can igno­rance.” Anti-Israel jour­nal­ist Garth Porter said dur­ing his pre­sen­ta­tion on Mon­day that the Mossad and CIA are responsible for manufacturing the nuclear crisis with Iran.....' [Emphasis added]

Unlike the above, a further ADL official blogpost does not overlook Sizer's participation:

'As Iran’s 2nd New Hori­zon Con­fer­ence wraps up in Tehran, new infor­ma­tion is emerg­ing about con­fer­ence atten­dees, who included U.S. and inter­na­tional anti-Semites, Holo­caust deniers and anti-war activists.

In his open­ing speech, Nader Tale­bzadeh, the direc­tor of the New Hori­zon Con­fer­ence, explained the goal of the con­fer­ence as, “dis­trib­ut­ing the arti­cles and thoughts of top intel­lec­tu­als and philoso­phers world­wide among Iran­ian uni­ver­si­ties and artists,” and that, “The emer­gence of ide­ol­ogy of crit­i­ciz­ing the dom­i­nance of the Zion­ist lobby over the USA and EU, which is going to make some changes in the West, has made it an essen­tial and attrac­tive sub­ject to learn.” Tale­bzadeh added in an inter­view on the side­lines of the con­fer­ence to a Press TV cor­re­spon­dent that, “These are the peo­ple [the atten­dees] that are cen­sored in the West” for their views, which include pro­mot­ing anti-Semitic con­spir­acy the­o­ries and Holo­caust denial.

Press TV also con­ducted an inter­view with Wayne Mad­sen, a U.S. anti-Semitic con­spir­acy the­o­rist, who claimed that the U.S. gov­ern­ment and Con­gress are under Zion­ist con­trol, “The Israeli agenda, which the Chris­t­ian and Jew­ish Zion­ists adopt one hun­dred per­cent, is what is sold to mem­bers of Con­gress, and that devel­ops into leg­is­la­tion, res­o­lu­tions; no one votes against any­thing [the Zion­ists] put up as far as a resolution.”

Among the speak­ers on the first day of the con­fer­ence was anti-Israel jour­nal­ist Garth Porter. In his speech to the atten­dees, Porter lev­eled accu­sa­tions against Israel, the Mossad and CIA for man­u­fac­tur­ing the Iran­ian nuclear cri­sis. Brazil­ian jour­nal­ist Pepe Esco­bar echoed Porter’s mes­sage and pre­dicted that Iran will become more active in world affairs as its stature and influ­ence in the region increases.

On the sec­ond day of the con­fer­ence, Art Olivier, a U.S. 9/11 con­spir­acy the­o­rist and film­maker, pro­moted his upcom­ing film about the life of pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Cor­rie. The film, Olivier said, will allow young Amer­i­cans “to see the real­ity of Rachel’s life which hap­pened 11 years ago and are going to real­ize the atroc­ity of Zion­ist actions against Pales­tini­ans and the peo­ple of Gaza.” Olivier also pro­moted the anti-Semitic canard that the U.S. film indus­try and Hol­ly­wood in par­tic­u­lar are under the dom­i­na­tion of Zionists.

Other U.S. par­tic­i­pants also gave brief inter­views to Farsi-language media dur­ing panel breaks, includ­ing CODEPINK co-founder Medea Ben­jamin, who told IRIB Chan­nel 1 that some of the top­ics at the con­fer­ence addressed U.S. fund­ing for war at expense of pro­vid­ing ade­quate health­care for Amer­i­can cit­i­zens, and that, “These con­fer­ences should lift the pres­sure off of the Pales­tin­ian peo­ple.” Also present at the con­fer­ence was Rev­erend Stephen Sizer, a vicar in the Church of Eng­land who, accord­ing to the UK-based Com­mu­nity Secu­rity Trust (CST), has been accused of pro­mot­ing anti-Semitic links on his website.

Some of the notable panel dis­cus­sions held dur­ing the three-day con­fer­ence included “Zion­ist fin­ger­prints on the 9/11 cover-up;” “The Gaza war & BDS Move­ment against the Zion­ist regime,” which Medea Ben­jamin was part of; “US-Israeli dual cit­i­zens work­ing in the inter­est of Israel: the case for treach­ery;” and “The ‘Islamic’ State meme, its pre­cur­sors, & the US-Israel-Saudi triangle.”' [Emphasis added]

The CST's illuminating blog on this issue (from which the two lists above come) comments:

'The Rev Stephen Sizer is a Church of England vicar with a long record of anti-Israel activity. In 2012 the Board of Deputies made a formal complaint to the Church of England about allegations that Sizer had used his website to link to antisemitic material from other websites. This complaint was resolved through mediation and a Conciliation Agreement was accepted by both parties, which included Sizer accepting that “on occasions his use of language has caused offence to some and agrees that he should have reflected on his choice of words more carefully.”

Sizer also stated:

I care passionately about the safety of the Jewish people and the right of Israel to exist within internationally agreed borders*. I have always opposed racism, anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial as well as Islamophobia and the denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and will continue to do so.

Sizer’s presence at an antisemitic conference in Iran this week brings into question whether he is honouring the spirit of this Conciliation Agreement in good faith.

....According to Iranian state-run Press TV, the conference intended to “unveil the secrets behind the dominance of the Zionist lobby over US and EU politics.” Those attending include a host of Holocaust Deniers and conspiracy theorists.

For an example of why this is an antisemitic conference, one of the conference sessions is on “Mossad’s Role in the 9/11 Coup d’Etat”. This includes discussion of “9/11 and the Holocaust as pro-Zionist “Public Myths”.

Sizer was scheduled to speak at several points during the conference. One of these was a panel on “The Mechanisms of Action of the Israeli Lobby and their Effects in Western Capitals”, with Sizer speaking on “The Israeli Lobby in England”. One of the other speakers scheduled for this panel was Ahmed Rami, a Swedish Islamist with a history of support for Holocaust Deniers and Nazis.

Rami has a conviction for antisemitism in Sweden and his Radio Islam website includes the full text of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, plus extensive Holocaust Denial material. It is impossible to miss the antisemitism on the Radio Islam website: the first four articles listed on the homepage are “The Jewish hand behind Internet”; “Judaism – Jewish “religion” and racism”; “The Jews behind Islamophobia”; and “Al Jazeera English – under Jewish infiltration.” ....

CST Blog has written several times before about the endemic antisemitism in the Iranian government, media and wider public debate. It is inevitable that an Iranian conference on “the Zionist lobby” would feature antisemites, Holocaust Deniers and conspiracy theorists. The fact that it also featured a Church of England vicar is utterly shameful.' [Emphasis added]

(* But does he?:
The CST may be unaware of his avowal of a one-state solution as shown in my blogpost here, which contains further snippets of the vicar's apparent ill-will; if I'm not mistaken that's not the only time the vicar has expressed support for one state.)

And now, in view of Sizer's participation in this grubby conference with its grubby agenda and grubby line-up,  the well-respected Christian analyst and commenter Dexter Van Zile has called upon the Church of England to take action against the vicar (hat tip: reader Ian)

A recent link to ordure

Writes Dexter Van Zile, inter alia:

'.... [Sizer] has been antagonizing Jews and saying hateful things about Israel for years. He works a lot of his mischief on his blog and Facebook page, where he has posted links to articles that downplay or minimize the Holocaust, and accuse Jews of controlling the world and of being responsible for starting World War I and World War II.

But that’s not all. Dr. Sizer has spoken a number of times on Iranian television to condemn Israel and its supporters and has spoken at conferences in Indonesia and Iran organized by Holocaust deniers and attended by anti-Israel and anti-Western terrorists.

When Sizer is confronted about his attendance at conferences organized by Holocaust deniers, he responds by saying he is merely interested in telling his audiences about Jesus Christ.

These are not the actions of a man of peace, but of someone intent on inciting hostility toward the Jewish people and their homeland. They are also the actions of a Jew-baiter. Clearly, Dr. Sizer seems to relish the outrage his actions engender, even more than the acclaim he elicits from the anti-Israel crowd with his actions....

Dr. Sizer’s participation in this conference is a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the mediation agreement he signed with his Anglican superiors and with the Board of Deputies in 2013.

There is simply no way Dr. Sizer can square his participation in this conference with his promise not to promote anti-Semitism, even if this promise was made in the context of his postings on the Internet. Traveling to Iran to participate in a conference where Israel and its Jewish supporters are demonized is simply beyond the pale, or should be....

Now the Church of England must act and it should not require another complaint from the Board of Deputies of British Jews to do the right thing.'  [Emphasis added; read the entire article here]

 I think a commenter on one of the ADL blogposts puts the general situation rather well:

'Imagine if Western governments embraced an official policy of spreading hatred of Muslims the way that fundamentalist Islamic regimes like Iran and Saudi Arabia propagate the hatred of Jews....'

 UPDATE: See also my post here