Letters draw Jewish ire

Ottawa

Angered by public comments made by Anglican primate Archbishop Michael Peers, and United Church moderator Marion Pardy in letters published in the National Post, the Canadian Jewish Congress has dropped out of the Canadian Christian-Jewish Consultation.

The consultation meetings with Canadian church leaders have been held for the past 30 years.

Keith Landy, president of the CJC, said another statement by Archbishop Peers, posted on April 5 on the Anglican church’s website, (see page 5 in this issue of the Journal) was the last straw.

“The statement which purports to be a call for peace with justice is in fact, a one-sided indictment of Israel, blaming the plight of the Palestinian people and the current crisis solely on Israel’s so-called ‘illegal occupation’ of the disputed territories,” Mr. Landy said in a statement.

“The archbishop makes a complex series of issues into a facile zero-sum game in which support for the Palestinian people must be matched with harsh, unjust and unfair condemnation of Israel.”

The CJC president said Canadian church leaders have shown “a clear anti-Israel bias, a lack of historical context or balance and an insensitivity to fundamental concerns and aspirations of the Jewish people.”

Archbishop Peers was out of the country and was not available for comment.