THE Church of Scotland revised its report on the Holy Land after
criticism from Jews and Christians.
Objections were expressed to a report by the Kirk's Church and
Society Council, The Inheritance of Abraham? The Promised
Land at an emergency meeting on 8 May with representatives of
the Jewish community in Scotland and the Council for Christians and
Jews (CCJ).
The report was due to be discussed at the General Assembly
yesterday. The CCJ had described the report as "ill-considered,
regressive, and insensitive to UK Jewish anxieties".
A joint statement issued after the meeting on 8 May, said: "We
agreed that the drafting of the report . . . has given cause for
concern and misunderstanding of its position and requires a new
introduction to set the context for the report and give clarity
about some of the language used."
The Revd Sally Foster-Fulton, convener of the Church and Society
Council said last week: "We are grateful for the dialogue that has
grown out of the questions being asked of our report. We believe
that this new version has paid attention to the concern some of the
language of the previous version caused amongst the Jewish
community, whilst holding true to our concerns about the injustices
being perpetrated because of policies of the Government of Israel
against the Palestinian people that we wanted to highlight. The
views of this report are consistent with the views held by the
Church of Scotland over many years. We are clear that the citizens
of the state of Israel have a right to live in peace and security.
We are clear that there should be a Palestinian state which also
can live in peace and security.
"We condemn anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. We will always
condemn acts of terrorism, violence and intimidation whether the
perpetrator is an individual, a community or a government."
The CEO of the CCJ, the Revd David Gifford, said: "The CCJ
exists to bring Christians and Jews together and facilitate
proceedings in a way that the various parties can talk and discuss
areas of mutual interest but different sensitivities in a way that
befits people of faith."
The outcome of the meeting, he said, demonstrated "the ongoing
need for this sort of assistance".
A revised version of the report can be read here.