Zionist Council of Victoria statement regarding feature article in the Uniting Church’s “Crosslight”publication

“The Jewish community has had formal dialogue with the Uniting Church over many years and this is a particularly disappointing result.

The feature in “Crosslight” reeks of inaccuracy, prejudice and malicious distortion – summed up by the bizarre and historically inaccurate statement that Jesus was a Palestinian! Jesus was a Jew of Judea, at the time of Roman occupation.

A further example of biased reporting is that when writing about Israel’s Anti-Terror Fence, Kim Cain fails to even mention the very reason why the Fence was built in the first place: “terror”. The Anti-Terror Fence is Israel’s most successful preventative measure against terror to date and in order for it to come down; serious steps by the Palestinian leadership must be taken to ensure that Israelis are safe on buses, in cafes and on the street.

This terror in fact dates back to the 1920’s when Jews were massacred in the city of Hebron, an example of a city that the Church has used to tell only the Palestinian narrative.

We wonder how the complex issues around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are being taught to students, including Jewish students in schools run by the Uniting Church, such as Wesley and MLC.

We are extremely concerned that members of the Uniting Church reading material of this nature will be given a completely distorted view of the reality of life in Israel and the West Bank. For example, the description of the “peaceful protests” at Bil’in exemplifies Kim Cain’s misrepresentation as Bil’in is the site of regular violent demonstrations, with the protesters hurling rocks and wounding over 100 Israeli soldiers and border police from January to June 2009.

The Zionist Council of Victoria is considering preparing a response to submit to Crosslight, refuting the many significant lies inherent in the articles.”

Dr Danny Lamm, President, Zionist Council of Victoria

For more information contact:
Ginette Searle – Executive Director, Zionist Council of Victoria 9272 5544
Elly Shalev – Public Affairs Director, Zionist Council of Victoria 9272 5519

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The Zionist Council of Victoria leads and encourages Jewish and Zionist activity and expression within Victoria, to represent the Jewish community, to promote and communicate Israel’s interests within the broader Victorian community and to promote Victoria’s relationship with Israel. For more information, visit the Zionist Council of Victoria website www.zionismvictoria.org.au