ELCA Adds Disclaimer to Blog Entry on Bethlehem Call
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the more intellectually robust mainline churches in the United States.
This is not to say the denomination’s witness about the Arab-Israeli conflict is perfect.
The denomination’s “Peace Not Walls” campaign routinely draws attention to alleged Israeli misdeeds while downplaying the bad acts of Israel’s adversaries.
Still, Snapshots is obligated to give credit where credit is due.
ELCA’s “Peace Not Walls” blog posted an entry publicizing The Bethlehem Call, the deeply hostile and incendiary statement issued by the same people who issued the Kairos Palestinian Document in 2009.
It also, however, posted links to two articles critical of the statement, one issued by the B’Nai Brith and the other by the American Jewish Committee.
On this score at least, ELCA’s blog did a decent job of living up to its stated purpose of showing “the breadth of views and opinions surrounding the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
ELCA’s actions compare well in light of actions of the Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ whose website serves as a virtual clearing house of anti-Israel propaganda. Over the years, the Global Ministries of the UCC and the Disciples of Christ has become a mainstay of the international campaign of “deligitimization and criminalization” that is lauded and encouraged by The Bethlehem Call.
Apparently, somebody, or maybe several somebodies, at ELCA have started to think that they do not want to go down the same road as the UCC and The Disciples.
Good for them.
In addition to posting the responses from B’Nai Brith and the Disciples of Christ, the “Peace Not Walls” blog has also recently added a disclaimer clearly intended to distance ELCA from the Bethlehem Call’s hostile and incendiary message. The disclaimer states:
The blog of the Peace Not Walls campaign of the ELCA does not endorse the content of items posted or linked by authors. The document known as the ‘Bethlehem Call’ contains several elements not in agreement with ELCA policy concerning Israel and Palestine.
With this short and Innocuous statement, ELCA officials have made it clear that while they are committed to standing in solidarity with Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, they are not going to sign off on or unreflectively re-broadcast every statement issued by the leaders of this community.
This is a good thing.
More from SNAPSHOTS
Double Standards: Boycotts and Discrimination in MassLive
May 16, 2025
Anti-Israel activists, including Harvard University’s Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor, seem to struggle with the concept of “discrimination.” Quoted in a May 14 MassLive article, “Harvard ‘failed to respond’ to 450 discrimination complaints. Staff hand-delivered [...]
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]