The February 2007 issue of The Lutheran, the denominational magazine published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), confirms a troubling aspect about a Lutheran-sponsored conference in Germany last November: Conference organizers explicitly decided not to invite any Israelis to an event where Israel’s security barrier was condemned by Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh, who was elected to his post with support from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

If Israelis had been invited, they might have challenged Batarseh about his political obligations to Hamas and Islamic Jihad—two groups dedicated to Israel’s destruction and which have perpetrated many of the terror attacks the barrier was built to prevent.

Moreover, if Israelis were present, they could have also challenged Batarseh about his affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group responsible for numerous murderous attacks and designated by the United States and Europe as a terrorist organization...

...With no Israelis present, apparently nobody suggested that that Palestinians might actually be paying the price for terrorism by groups with which Batarseh is affiliated—the PFLP, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It was suicide bombings and other murderous attacks by these and other Palestinian groups that led to Israel's decision to build the security barrier...

...Also noteworthy is that Germans from both sides of the Berlin Wall and the residents on both sides of the Mexican-American border were present at the conference...