An Open Letter to Toronto Conference Commissioners to General Council 41
The following letter indicates the support of members and adherents of West Hill United for the Working Group on Israel/Palestine Policy's recommendations to the United Church that it boycott any and all products coming from illegal Israeli settlements. It was read within the gathered community on Sunday, August 5, 2012. You are encouraged to share it with the General Council Commissioners of your own conference.
Dear colleagues and friends,
As you prepare to engage with the many issues that will come before you in Ottawa at our 41st General Council, you must be aware that many share your deep concern for the United Church and for the many ways in which it is called to live out its mandate and vision in an increasingly complex world. As a denomination whose roots are deeply embedded in the soil of justice, we hope to encourage you as you wrestle with difficult issues and offer your own understandings and truths to the debates that will ensue.
We wish also to invite you to carry with you our concerns for the people of Israel and Palestine. The conversation regarding the recommendations of the Working Group on Israel/Palestine Policy has been flying past the doors of the General Council meeting before that meeting had even begun. Nevertheless, we hope that, in the true conciliar nature of our structure, the issues brought before us by that Working Group will be held in the tension of their challenging ideals and considered with concern and care both for the State of Israel and for the people of Palestine.
We were especially moved by the words of the Working Group as they sought to focus the issue. “Without dignity for all the peoples of the land, and for the land itself, justice and peace cannot flourish.” “Peace with justice, human rights, and international law will form the foundation of any peaceful resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. All of these principles, however, rest on a commitment to human dignity, and none will have lasting force without acknowledging the dignity of all people who are involved in this conflict.” “Palestinian Christians have ... called on the Christian community throughout the world to confront Christian Zionist false teaching..’ through which “biblical prophecy becom[es] a ‘word of stone…used as a weapon in our present history in order to deprive [Palestinians] of [their] own land.’”
We agree with the Working Group that “The United Church should continue to uphold and defend the legitimacy of the state of Israel, and ensure United Church policies do not undermine Israel’s existence.” We believe that its recommendations related to boycotting any and all products produced in the illegal settlements challenges Israel to end the continuing seizing and illegal occupation of Palestinian land and to return to a table to negotiate agreements that will respect the dignity of all. We support such a boycott along with the distinguished voices of Bishop Desmond Tutu and Rabbi Michael Lerner.
As you begin your conversations and join the roster of those who have carried and will continue to carry this denomination to the bleeding edges of many challenging political and moral debates, we hold you in our hearts. Yours is a demanding task but we hope you are sustained by the knowledge that others have bravely approached, engaged, and acted decisively in regard to difficult issues before and that we believe you will do it with courage and grace. After all, “You are the light of the world.”(Mt 5:14).
With deep respect,
gretta vosper
West Hill United Church