Jews should reach out to Christians

The dominoes are falling against Israel. First, U.S. colleges embraced the cause of divestment. Next, the Anglican Church announced that it was studying the issue. Then, the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted the policy, and now, the World Council of Churches on Feb. 28 encouraged denominations to do the same.

It looks bad, but Jews need to understand that lay members of Christian churches remain firm in their support for the Jewish state. Jews need to reach out to Protestants in the pews of the churches that fund the WCC, telling them that the council isn't worthy of their support and that it's time to start a divestment campaign of their own - against the WCC.

Jews might be surprised at the response they get. U.S. Christians stopped listening to the WCC long ago.

Many still have not forgiven the WCC for giving $85,000 to the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe in 1978, months after the group shot down an airliner, killing 38 of the 56 passengers on board.

American Christians know the WCC has a history of supporting violent "liberation" movements in Central America, Africa and East Asia.

They know the WCC ignored the plight of dissidents behind the Iron Curtain and "built bridges" with killers and tyrants, just as leaders from the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently extended offers of friendship to Hezbollah, a group that killed 241 U.S. Marines in 1983.

The reaction of Presbyterian lay members was so strong that two church employees were fired for meeting with Hezbollah, demonstrating where the denomination's true power and conscience rest - in the pews, not in the minds of the movement's theologians.

American Protestants know the WCC turns a blind eye to the violence perpetrated by the Muslim regime in Sudan, instead focusing its criticism on Israel. They know the WCC is foolish to praise the leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for embracing divestment, even after the denomination released a survey showing that 42 percent of the church's members oppose the decision and only 28 percent support it.

Knowing all this, lay Protestants in the United States long have regarded the WCC as irrelevant.

But it's a mixed blessing. Because they have grown used to ignoring WCC pronouncements, Protestants do not understand the lethality of the organization's one-sided condemnations of Israel. They do not understand that the WCC's soft-pedaling of terrorism against Israel only encourages more terrorism against Jews.

Because U.S. Christians always have enjoyed religious freedom in America, they do not understand the oppression suffered by Christians in the Middle East and the threat faced by Jews in Israel.

Once U.S. Christians understand these things - and groups like ours are making a full-court press to educate them - they will know which organizations are the true, legitimate targets of divestment.

They just have to be told. Their own leaders will not tell them, so their Jewish friends and neighbors - and their Christian allies - will have to step into the breach for the sake of Israel, the United States and all of our children.

Dexter Van Zile is a member of the Judeo-Christian Alliance, which promotes a fair and honest discussion of the Middle East conflict in Protestant churches.

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