The report concludes that Christians should not support exclusive Jewish claims to the land of Palestine or use the Bible to “settle contemporary conflicts over land”.
The pro-Israel Jewish groups have condemned the Church report for denying Israel’s right to exist. The Jewish Board of Deputies vice-president Jonathan Arkush said: “I am at a loss for words that the Church of Scotland should have delivered such a slap in the face to the Jewish community“.
In May 2012, Church’s General Assembly in Edinburgh, adopted a resolution urging the Church to lobby Zionist-occupied British government to “end inhumane blockade of Gaza and related Jewish violence against native Muslims and Christians“. The resolution also suggested that the Church may stop its support for the so-called “two-state” solution to the Jewish occupation of the Holy Land. The convenor of the assembly, Rev. Ian Galloway, said: “There could never be a truly balanced view between Israel and Palestine“.
In May 2011, the General Assembly stopped passing a resolution calling for boycott of Israeli goods from illegal Jewish settlements due to threats from the Zionist regime. The Church of Scotland with 450,000 followers – has assets and staff in Israel-Palestine, and the Kirk’s Church and Society Council convenor, the Rev. Ian Galloway, said that it was “impossible to assess the risk” posed to them by Tel Aviv if the call for a ban of goods from the occupied territories was passed.
In October 2010, Synod of Bishops conference on Middle East at the Vatican had declared that the Bible never promised Holy Land to Jews.
Earlier this year, Rev. Isaac Poobalan’s decision to allow Muslims to pray inside the Aberdeen church’s main hall and chapel every Friday due to lack of space, had offended many Zionist Christians and Jews.
Scottish Church supports an independent Scotland and demands that its furure constitution should enshrine it as a national church.
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