Jewish extremists have no interest in “interfaith dialogue” as long as their exclusive interests are not served, as evidenced by the latest upheaval in the planned “Christian-Jewish Roundtable” meeting scheduled for October 22-23 in New York.
The Christian delegates to this meeting—which has been held annually since 2004—have never made any preconditions or demands before any of the meetings, but this year, the official Jewish delegations have announced that they are pulling out of the meeting before it even starts.
Their reason, the Jewish extremists (consisting of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and Conservative and Reform Jewish movements) have announced, is because some liberal Protestant leaders have called on the U.S. Congress to investigate continuing foreign aid to Israel.
The Christian church leaders said in an October 5 letter to Congress that Israel was guilty of widespread human rights violations against Palestinians that violated U.S. legal standards for recipients of military aid.
Rabbi Steven Wernick, chief executive of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism responded by calling the claims “repugnant, regrettable and morally misguided”—even though every single point the Christian leaders raised is completely factually accurate.
In the letter to Congress, the Christian leaders said both Israelis and Palestinians share responsibility for the conflict in the region, and church leaders acknowledged the suffering of both groups. But the leaders said, “we have also witnessed widespread Israeli human rights violations committed against Palestinians.”
Arguing that U.S. military aid to Israel was “sustaining the conflict and undermining the long-term security interests of both Israelis and Palestinians,” church leaders said Congress should investigate whether Israel has violated the human rights standards set by the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.
The refusal by the Jewish extremists to proceed with the “interfaith meeting” reveals precisely their purpose in holding the meeting in the first place: not, as they like to claim, to “promote interfaith dialogue but actually just to advance their own racial interests.
