The Christian Broadcasting Network said Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions activists share blame for the shooting that killed four
Israelis in Tel Aviv, saying in a statement condemning the attack that
the movement encourages “violent anti-semitism.”
Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire
Wednesday (June 8) in a trendy shopping and dining market, killing two
women and two men and wounding six others. It was the deadliest single
incident in Israel since an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in November
2014 killed five people.
CBN, the
broadcasting organization launched by televangelist Pat Robertson,
issued a statement Thursday condemning the violence, mourning the deaths
of those who were killed and saying it stands with Israel.
It also linked the shooting to the movement that encourages boycotts,
divestment and sanctions as a way to pressure Israel to give up
territories it occupied in the 1967 war.
“This latest terrorist attack is a direct result of incitement within
the Palestinian community in the West Bank and points to the
encouragement of violent anti-semitism by the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanction movement,” the statement said.
BDS activists describe their movement as a peaceful effort, inspired by the anti-apartheid campaigns against South Africa.
The CBN statement comes as mainline Protestant denominations have
increasingly been asked to consider sanctions put forward by BDS
activists, with mixed results.
The United Church of Christ in 2015 and the Presbyterian Church (USA)
in 2014 both voted to divest from companies they consider complicit in
the occupation. By contrast, the Episcopal Church has rejected such
efforts, and the United Methodist Church General Conference recently
recommended the denomination cut ties with a group founded to end the Israeli occupation.
“Every act of aggression against the Jewish people will only fortify
our resolve to support their right to have a Jewish State in the land of
their forefathers,” CBN said in its statement.
The gunmen in Wednesday’s shooting came from near Hebron, in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank. No group immediately claimed responsibility
for the attack, but Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups have
praised it.
Material from Reuters was used in this report.
Courtesy: Religion News Service
No comments:
Post a Comment