Presbyterian Peacemakers Called Out for Anti-Semitism

Images like this were posted on a Facebook page run by Presbyterian peacemakers.

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) has called on the Presbyterian Church (USA) to rein in the anti-Zionist and in some instances, anti-Jewish rhetoric proffered by its education and peacemaking organization, the Israel-Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA). In a press release issued on Feb. 6, 2012, the JCPA, an umbrella organization of 125 local Jewish federations and 14 national Jewish organizations, called on the denomination to “take concrete actions to address the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and at times anti-Semitic content that has been all too common in the church’s Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN-PCUSA).” The American Jewish Committee issued a similar statement that day as well.

The press release issued by the JCPA provides some details:

The IPMN-PCUSA Facebook page includes a cartoon of President Obama wearing weighty Jewish star earrings to suggest Jewish control of the American leaders, a common theme on the site. The IPMN-PCUSA has posted articles that accuse Jews of controlling Hollywood, the media, and American politics – and blaming Israel for the American housing and economic crisis. IPMN-PCUSA’s communications chair also posted her opposition to a two-state solution and the existence of a Jewish state, something which she terms “anachronistic.” The same IPMN leader, Noushin Framke, clicked “like” on the Obama cartoon with the Jewish stars and another post that Hamas should keep Israeli Gilad Shalit hostage until Palestinians are granted a right of return.

Presbyterian leaders were given multiple warnings about the problem before the JCPA went public with its concerns. Starting in 2009, CAMERA corresponded regularly with the denomination’s leaders in Louisville about this problem, but they did nothing even as the IPMN-PCUSA’s Facebook page became a focal point for anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic imagery and commentary. (For example, take a look at the comment beneath the Obama cartoon. Other examples can be seen here and here.)

Eventually, the JCPA started gathering a collection of the hateful postings on the IPMN’s Facebook page for a report about the organization. The JCPA then started to distribute a draft version of its findings to members and leaders within the denomination, which apparently prompted the IPMN-PCUSA to delete its Facebook page.

The IPMN-PCUSA has responded badly to the JCPA’s scrutiny.