The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (ScoJec) wrote to the Church of Scotland, urging them to disassociate from the Balfour Project, established by Stephen Sizer and endorsed by the Church of Scotland.
Sizer had originally blogged about the project without detailing his own involvement. ScoJeC provided a dossier for the Church of Scotland, detailing the Reverend’s track record of antisemitism. On top of all this, remember, Sizer supports protests outside of synagogues on high holy days. Not the ideal person to organise religious discussions about Israel.
The Church of Scotland replied, saying it found the Jewish letter “disturbing“. Of course the Church of Scotland is disturbed by the complaint made by Scottish Jews – and so it ignored all the evidence presented. (A familiar story – ask Rev Nick Howard).
The Balfour Project promotes the work of Karl Sabbagh, a supporter of Gilad Atzmon, who thinks that there will not be peace in the Middle East until “there is no such thing as a Jew.” In the book Sabbagh endorsed, Atzmon claimed that Fagin and Shylock accurately represent Jewish identity, the credit crunch was caused by the Jews, the Holocaust is a religion, and Hitler may be proved right about the Jews.
Ignoring obvious concerns, the Church of Scotland will continue to campaign alongside Sizer and Sabbagh.
