Church's Tempered, Thoughtful Look at BDS Movement Condemned by Israel
A briefing paper by the Methodist Church in the UK that explores the legitimacy of the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel for its continued occupation of Palestinian lands, apartheid policies, and subjugation of the Palestinian people has received condemnation from the Israeli embassy in London and the UK-based Board of Deputies.
Though the church document—officially titled ‘‘ (pdf)—is quite clear that the paper is not itself an endorsement of BDS, but rather an exploration of the “range of arguments for and against” and “offering evidence in each case,” Israeli officals claim that by presenting such arguments to its congregants, the church is “legitimizing” what the embassy officials called an “extremist” political campaign.
According to the Jewish Chronicle Online, the Board of Deputies “called the exercise skewed and flawed because it offered no alternatives for action other than boycott.”
According to the Church Times in the UK, which first reported on the story:
An Israeli spokesperson at the embassy in London told Haaretz that the briefing paper’s attempt to present numerous sides to the issue, backed by evidence “was a troubling departure from the Methodist Church’s long tradition of genuine listening and promoting reconciliation and justice,” though he did not elaborate on why that was so.
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