More Israel Demonizing Likely at Upcoming Presbyterian Church USA’s General Assembly

Legal Insurrection

A shrinking Protestant denomination that’s still obsessed against Israel

"From June 16-23 the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will meet in St. Louis where delegates will consider for passage at least eight Israel-related resolutions.

"By contrast, in terms of its Middle East coverage, the GA is slated to consider only one overture “responding to the current Syrian crisis” and one responding to the devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

"That the PCUSA will be allowing a “concentration of Israel-denunciatory time and energy” throughout its weeklong GA comes as no surprise. As we and others have documented, for nearly 15 years the church has engaged in this “biennial ritual” of obsessive anti-Israel delegitimization:

• Presbyterian Church USA’s General Assembly Assails Israel and Abandons Christians in Middle East
• ALERT: Three U.S. Churches to Vote on Anti-Israel Resolutions This Spring

"As we highlighted, the GA (which takes place every even-numbered year) has long been a “regular scene of controversy” over the denomination’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The problem has emerged on account of the PCUSA’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), a small but well-organized and highly vocal group of virulently anti-Israel activists who have managed to dominate the Middle East-related agenda at the GA. There, they’ve repeatedly pushed proposals targeting Israel for condemnation and advancing the goals of the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement." . . .