Here's a nice long read from a British point of view:
http://irenelancaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/05/wolf_in_sheeps_.html

" Then we saw friends from Liverpool, both Jewish and Christian and the Dean introduced the proceedings.

I have seen much of Sizer's writings and I think he realised pretty quick that with the audience not being total groupies of his, he would have to tone things down. But it was still an unsightly mix of demonisation, innuendo, half-truths, outright lies and propaganda, making use of many of the techniques used by Jew-haters throughout the ages (even though he of course stated that some of his best friends were Israeli Jews).

The first half blamed Napoleon (this was a new one on me) for starting the ball rolling, ..."

It is worth the lengthy read.

It seems incredible to me that "social justice" and "progressive politics" now entail demonizing Jews (without whom there would be neither Western concepts of justice nor liberalism, might I add) and spreading vile slanders against Israelis. The Presbyterian Church, in its efforts to do "right", has gone horribly, horribly astray--in the way that only the most well-meaning leftists can. We can only hope that this church's membership freefall continues apace and there will no longer be any Presbyterians in thirty years or so. (With all apologies to Will Spotts, etc.)

That is a great posting, Cynic.

Jonathan, let's hope that people like Will Spotts and others manage to take control of the PC(USA) and denominations like them. Remember, it's really the hierarchy, the bureaucracy, that's the enemy here, not the people in the pews for the most part.

Sol,

You're right, of course. As I've written about in the past, this issue has almost nothing to do with the people in the pews--it has to do with the hierarchy. In a way, I guess I'm a bit worn down these days by: the NATFHE boycott; the CUPE boycott; the UCC "anti-wall" resolution; the Disciples of Christ embargo; the Green Party resolutions; Jimmy Carter's atrocious op-ed's; the Reuters attack on Charles Johnson; the ongoing hostility against the Persian/Iranian Jews(from whom I descend); the UC Berkeley/UC Irvine hate fests; Columbia University's hiring practices; Harvard's hiring practices; the New York Times/Boston Globe/LA Times opinion pages; and the very existence of CAIR. I don't want to be cynical or cruel--I do, however, want to be aware.

Do people thank you as often as they should about your work here? You do the gods' work here, Solomon. Very, very awesome, as they say.

The theme behind these and other such beliefs (i.e., "pull all American troops and investments out of the rest of the world and there will be peace") is that other peoples are totally incapable of initating any action or forming any belief except in response to something we did.

This seems somehow racist to me.

We are the source of all evil, Joseph...

Jonathan, thank you. I understand your feeling. It's easy to get bogged down in the mire of negativity sometimes, but remember that there really are a lot of allies out there, and that we *are* on the right side of history here.

As a Presbyterian I wish I could say Diana Appelbaum's article was wrong. However, the more I've looked into it, the more convinced I've become that, if anything, she understates the case.

Jonathan and Sol - There are a lot of people in the PC(USA) working to change this, but I have no idea what our prospects are. It is easy for those of us who are ordinary members to "let ourselves off the hook" -- because these statements don't reflect our views. Unfortunately, the membership enables these elements of our church to make policy and profer these types of statements. I know what an uphill battle trying to change this is, but I can't say we haven't allowed it to happen in the first place (mostly by not paying attention, or by not being willing to address it).