PRESS RELEASE
May 19, 2013
Contact:
Lenny Ben-David
NGO Monitor
054-216-8155
lenny.bendavid@ngo-monitor.org

Church of Scotland's "revision" is no step forward
Church should cut ties with religiously intolerant Sabeel organization

Jerusalem - The Church of Scotland's "revision" of its April report "The
Inheritance Of Abraham? A Report On The 'Promised Land'," is insufficient
and continues to rely on the anti-Israel group Sabeel, said Jerusalem-based
research institute NGO Monitor.

"The revised report is the same tainted wine in a new bottle," said Yitzhak
Santis, NGO Monitor's Chief Programs Officer. "Though some of the more
hurtful language was removed from the main body of the report, much of its
original offensive theology and ideology remains."

"The revision contains a patronizing attitude toward legitimate Jewish
concerns of being disparaged, describing the original report's reception as
'the words we have chosen may have been misunderstood, which created an
anxiety in the Jewish Community,'" Santis continued. "There was no
misunderstanding of the Church's message. It was aggressive and insulting."

The most touted changes are in the introduction, which the Church describes
as filling the need "to set the context for the report and give clarity for
some of the language used."

However, NGO Monitor notes that the Church of Scotland continues to rely
heavily on the non-governmental organization (NGO) Sabeel Ecumenical
Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Sabeel is an official partner of
the Church of Scotland. Sabeel promotes the Palestinian Liberation Theology
of its founder Rev. Naim Ateek, which embraces "replacement theology," the
teaching that national Israel has forfeited its status as the people of God,
and the church is now the true Israel that has permanently replaced the
Jewish people. Echoes of Ateek's belittlement of Judaism and replacement
theology remain in the Church of Scotland's "revised" report.

"Rev. Ateek promotes classic anti-Jewish tropes including deicide imagery
and replacement theology," continued Santis. "On the one hand, the report
declares 'we reject racism and religious hatred' and 'condemn(s)
anti-Semitism,'" Santis said. "But if the Church of Scotland is serious in
its rejection of religious hatred, there is no better place to start than
with this report. We call upon delegates to the church's General Assembly
not only to reject this document's own religious intolerance, but to
immediately end its partnership with Sabeel and its hateful message."

NGO Monitor (www.ngo-monitor.org), based in Jerusalem, provides information
and analysis, promotes accountability, and supports discussion on the
activities of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) involved in Middle East
politics and human rights affairs.
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