October 21, 2004
by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Three top officials of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have written a letter to Jewish leaders with whom they met last month, renouncing a meeting earlier this week in southern Lebanon between a PC(USA) delegation and representatives of Hezbollah.

General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, General Assembly Council Executive Director John Detterick and General Assembly Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase said the meeting between members of the church's Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) and Hezbollah representatives during a two-week fact-finding mission to the Middle East was "misguided at best" and denounced statements made by delegation members after the meeting as "reprehensible."

At a post-meeting press conference telecast widely on Arabic television in the Middle East, ACSWP member Ronald Stone, a recently retired Pittsburgh Theological Seminary professor praised Hezbollah's "expression of goodwill towards the American people," and "initiative for dialogue and mutual understanding," saying, "As an elder of our church, I'd like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders."

Relations between the PC(USA) and Jewish groups had been strained since the 216th General Assembly in early July voted to "initiate the process of phased, selective divestment" from corporations contributing to the more destructive aspects of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, such as the bulldozing of Palestinian homes and farm lands and the construction of a "security wall" Israel and occupied territories.

PC(USA) and Jewish leaders met in New York on Sept. 28 to try and clear some of the air over the divestment decision.

But news of the ACSWP delegation's Oct. 17 visit with Hezbollah at the Khiam Detention Center in southern Lebanon drew immediate condemnation from an array of Jewish groups and threatens to unravel whatever progress was made at the Sept. 28 gathering.

In an Oct. 20 letter to Kirkpatrick and Ufford-Chase, two Reform Jewish leaders who attended that meeting - Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Paul Menitoff, executive vice-president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis - wrote: "There can be no religious justification whatsoever for words that serve to encourage terror and justify terrorism ... We hope and pray that you will exercise the moral leadership required at this moment and repudiate these deplorable words spoken in the name of your church."

Kirkpatrick, Ufford-Chase and Detterick pleaded for ongoing dialogue, direct communication in response to press reports and continuing cooperation in efforts to eliminate violence by all sides in the Middle East conflict.

The full text of the Oct. 21 letter:

To Jewish leaders at the New York City meeting on September 28, 2004

We, along with John Detterick, Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, who was unable to be with us in New York, were distressed to learn of the visit of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy to the Khiam Detention Center and the meeting with Hezbollah leaders. We were particularly distressed about this, given our meeting with you in New York last month.

The time we spent with all of you in New York moved us very deeply, and we made several commitments as a result of our time together. One was to commit ourselves to a continued dialogue with those of you whom we met on the national level, as well as with our Jewish colleagues at local levels. We were particularly moved by the comments during our meeting about the importance of listening to, respecting, and including the Jewish narrative as we lift up our concern for peace in Israel and the Middle East.

Another commitment we made was to press as hard as possible with our colleagues in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to investigate and take advantage of any and all pressure points that we might have as a denomination to make our opposition to the use of terror tactics by Palestinian organizations. We are convinced that such possibilities for pressure must exist, and that the only credible stance that we as a denomination can take is to make absolutely clear our conviction that Palestinian violence is never acceptable and that citizens of Israel must be able to live free of the fear of terrorism.

The recent visit of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy to the Khiam Detention Center and its meeting with Hezbollah there was misguided, at best. The group's specific itinerary was not authorized by any of us; in fact, once we learned of it, we asked the group to drop this visit from their plans. Furthermore, the comments attributed to Presbyterians there, as we understand them, are reprehensible.

As a church, and as individuals, we know at the core of our souls that terrorism, especially terrorism against civilians, is one clear source of the lack of peace in the Middle East. Even when we identify and condemn the occupation as another key source of violence and lack of peace, we in no way condone the terrorism of groups such as Hezbollah, or of individuals or other actors in the region. Terrorism in all of its forms is morally abhorrent and completely inexcusable in our eyes.

Our prayer is for the following. First, that you will continue to work with us to create avenues of communication for that dialogue. Second, that we will find a way to communicate directly about this matter rather than confining ourselves only to what is being communicated through the media. Third, that we as a denomination will find ways to continue our insistence that we side both with Palestinian victims of the occupation and its violence, and with Israeli and Jewish victims of violence and terrorism.

We trust that we have a great deal more to learn, and we believe that our continued relationship with you is critical for that learning to take place.

With faith in our common God,

Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator, 216th General Assembly (2004) of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

John Detterick, Executive Director, General Assembly Council

Presbyterian News Service