IJCIC Deeply Disappointed by WCC Statement on Archbishop Atallah Hanna
NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) is deeply disappointed that the World Council of Churches (WCC) has supported Archbishop Atallah Hanna's recent baseless accusations against the State of Israel. There is no evidence that Israel tried to poison him, as he alleges, or that there was any "violence" done against him, as WCC seems to assume. In light of the disputed accounts of the source of his illness, it would have been appropriate to urge Israeli law enforcement agencies to vigorously investigate the matter and ensure full protection for all. IJCIC calls for such a thorough investigation.
Archbishop Hanna is not merely "a strong critic" of Israel, as the WCC stated. He has called for the creation of a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea." The archbishop has declared that "Zionism is a racist, terrorist movement," and referred to the Israeli government as "money changers in the Temple." An individual like Hanna who espouses these views should not automatically be believed when he makes accusations against Israel without evidence.
IJCIC is the recognized representative of world Jewry in its dialogues with the Vatican, Ecumenical Patriarchate, and World Council of Churches. The consortium of 11 Jewish organizations was founded in 1970, in response to the dramatic, positive transformation of Christian attitudes toward Jews and Judaism, notably the Roman Catholic Church's Nostra Aetate.
IJCIC member organizations include American Jewish Committee (AJC), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith International (BBI), Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), Israeli Jewish Council on Interreligious Relations (IJCIR), Rabbinical Assembly (RA), Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), and World Jewish Congress (WJC). Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, is the current Chair of IJCIC.
SOURCE International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations
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