JourneyOnline
Palestine resolution
It was reported in the Australian, (“Uniting Church in Australia faces backlash on anti-Israel boycott”, Tuesday 15 December, page 3) that the Uniting Church Assembly had decided to embrace the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.
Uniting Church president, Stuart McMillan, said the church had “encouraged members to be informed and to consider personally boycotting” goods produced “within the occupied territories”.
It is concerning that the Assembly can make such a decision that apparently was not one of consensus.
Surely occupants of the “occupied territories” and HAMAS who indiscriminately fire rockets, mortar shells and promote knife attacks on innocent citizens in Israel, should also be sanctioned.
Why have we, in the Uniting Church, decided to become a mouthpiece for anti-Jewish movements just to satisfy such lobbyists?
At this time of the nativity we should remember that our Lord was also a birth member of the race which all churches have persecuted both historically and contemporarily.
Richard Morcom
Coolum Beach Uniting Church
Editor’s note: The resolution referenced in this letter was unanimously adopted by the 14th Assembly and does not endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. More information about the resolution, its rationale and the Uniting Church’s commitment to peace with justice in the Middle East and to relationships with other faith communities can be found at assembly.uca.org.au/palestine
