Mideast visit called ill-advised (Presbyterians and Hezbollah)

Chicago Tribune ^ | Dec 23, 2005 | Gary Washburn

[Presbyterian Reporter]

The pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church has sent a letter to Chicago's 50 aldermen formally distancing himself from the decision of a denomination leader to meet with representatives of Hezbollah, an anti-Israeli group with terrorist ties. The City Council last week passed a resolution condemning the meeting and expressing "dismay" with Rev. Bob Reynolds, head of the Chicago Presbytery. Reynolds was part of a church group that met with Hezbollah leaders during a trip to the Middle East last month. During the debate on the resolution, two aldermen also threatened to oppose a zoning change sought by Fourth Presbyterian Church that would permit development of a proposed condominium tower on a parcel owned by the church just behind its building on North Michigan Avenue. "Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, while a member of the Presbytery of Chicago, had no ecclesiastical or financial involvement with the trip and the visit," Rev. John Buchanan, the church's pastor, said in his letter to the aldermen. "My personal view is that the visit was ill-advised, and I have apologized to leaders and friends in the Jewish community for the pain it has caused." Buchanan said that Reynolds "is a respected, faithful servant of the church," but asserted that "his decision to participate in the visit was his alone." Buchanan also said that he is opposed to a proposed plan by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from U.S. companies that prolong the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories through their products and services.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

John Buchanan is the editor of Christian Century. In addition to his duties as Pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church USA in Chicago.

Christian Century, the flagship magazine of mainline American Protestantism. Year in and year out, few respected American journals are as consistently critical of Israel as the Century, in whose pages ongoing Palestinian violence is treated as Israel’s karmic due. One has to wonder why a magazine that is so intelligent and finely nuanced on so many other issues is so myopic about Israel.

Presbyterians, mainline Protestants in general and the Century in particular have long listened to Palestinians with an open heart. What the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activist core within the mainline churches has not done is listen to Jewish arguments with an open mind. The pages of the Christian Century are an appropriate venue for furthering this long overdue process.

Ira Rifkin

[Andy Ross]

"...with representatives of Hezbollah, an anti-Israeli group with terrorist ties."

Terrorist *ties*? That's like saying Larry Flynt has 'ties' to the smut business.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

The quote from Ira Rifkin was taken from his commentary about the magazine "Chistian Century" at this url:

http://jewishweek.org/news/newscontent.php3?artid=10393

[PAR35]

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See a related story here:

http://www.layman.org/layman/news/2005-news/chicago-presbyterys-visit-with.htm