Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Jewish Advocate Reports: Pro-Israel rally to demonstrate against weekend Sabeel event
Scores of local organizations are planning to rally outside the Old South Church in Boston this Friday in response to a weekend conference sponsored by Sabeel, the controversial Christian Palestinian human rights group.
The conference, "The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel: Issues of Justice and Equality," will feature Sabeel leaders and the Reverend Desmond Tutu, who, along with Sabeel, has been criticized for his portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More than 50 organizations plan to join in Friday’s demonstration.
"We respect the right of the Old South Church to have the conference because we believe in freedom of speech, but we absolutely denounce the message," said Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. "The public needs to understand that [Sabeel] is anti-Israel and against Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state."
The JCRC has teamed up with religious and human rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the United Assembly of God of Framingham, to demonstrate against this weekend’s event.
"They have a right to demonstrate," said Nancy S. Taylor, senior minister at Old South Church. "The people rallying outside the event have legitimate concerns, and the people speaking inside have legitimate concerns. There is more than one truth."...
Oh good grief.
The Boston Globe(!) has given Dexter Van Zile op-ed space today: Hate at the altar
This is not peacemaking; it is demonization. Such language might have been tolerable in the Old South, but not today.
Not in Boston's Old South.
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"There is more than one truth." - Rev. Nancy S. Taylor
I'm curious how that squares with the "gospel of Christian love" comment below.
Or is that "gospel" just one of the many conflicting, contradictory, and convenient truths embraced by this congregation?