c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ The National Council of Churches has promised to review its Middle East policy following Jewish criticism of its signing of a recent newspaper advertisement that urged the United States to prod Israel into ceding part of Jerusalem to Palestinian control.

In an interview Thursday (Jan. 23), the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary, said the review is unlikely to alter the NCC’s general support for Palestinian self-determination, which has often brought the ecumenical agency into conflict with Jewish organizations protective of Israeli positions.

However, Campbell said that by consulting with Jewish leaders in the writing of a new policy to replace the NCC’s current, 17-year-old Middle East policy statement, she hoped to improve relations between the parties.”One of the weaknesses with the ad was that there was not sufficient consultation with the Jewish community”prior to its publication, said Campbell, who called the NCC’s current Middle East policy statement outdated in view of the current peace process.

But in addition to consulting with Jewish groups, Campbell emphasized that the NCC would also seek input from the 33 Orthodox and Protestant denominations it represents, many of whom have Palestinian members. Many of the denominations also have their own statements that voice strong support for Palestinian aspirations and call for a divided Jerusalem.

Moreover, she emphasized, Palestinian, Armenian and other Christians living in Israel, the West Bank and elsewhere in the Middle East would also be consulted and also might be expected to disagree with the input received from American Jewish leaders.”Differences in points of view that will be difficult to resolve”will remain between the NCC and the Jewish community, Campbell said.

The ad in question _ published in the New York Times Dec. 21 and headlined”Christians call for a shared Jerusalem”_ prompted an angry reaction from American Jewish leaders and led to a meeting Jan. 17 in New York between NCC officials and representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella agency for some 50 national Jewish groups.

The Anti-Defamation League, echoing the sentiments of a host of leading Jewish organizations that support Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its undivided capital, called the ad”unhelpful and a potentially dangerous intrusion into the Middle East peace process and U.S. policy-making.” The ad was published by Churches for Middle East Peace, a joint lobbying effort of 15 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Unitarian Universalist churches and church-related organizations. While some 100 religious organizations signed the ad, the NCC was among the most influential.

Corinne Whitlatch, who directs Churches for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C., said the ad _ part of a campaign that included writing letters to members of Congress _ was intended to impress upon Americans the importance of”a shared Jerusalem open to all and shared by all, two peoples and three religions; Jews, Christians and Muslims.” The NCC’s commitment to review its Middle East policy was contained in a letter sent Wednesday by Campbell to Leon Levy, chairman of the Presidents’ Conference.

Levy said Thursday he was satisfied with the NCC’s response to Jewish criticism of the ad”even though we didn’t get the apology or retraction we wanted. … Hopefully this will result in more sensitivity to Jewish and Israeli concerns.” In addition to the call for dividing Jerusalem _ an issue considered among the most contentious of the many still to be resolved in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process _ Levy said Jewish groups were also upset with the timing of the ad. The Christmas season, he said, is a time of increased anti-Semitism, prompted by lingering belief on the part of some Christians that Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death.

Campbell agreed that the timing was ill-advised. Christmas, she said”does exacerbate anti-Semitism.”However, she said the NCC signed on to the ad without being aware of its eventual publication date.

Despite the ongoing differences between the NCC and Jewish groups over the Middle East, the two often cooperate on domestic political and social issues. For example, the American Jewish Committee has worked with the NCC in raising money to reconstruct black churches destroyed in the recent wave of church arsons.

As a result of the Jan. 17 meeting, the NCC and the Presidents’ Conference also agreed to work on a joint statement in support of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

MJP END RIFKIN