Bernie Farber
By PAUL LUNGEN, Staff Reporter
TORONTO ? The relationship between Canadian Jewish Congress and the United Church of Canada remains strained even after a church spokesperson further distanced the Protestant
body from a Jewish anti-Zionist organization and said it would meet with Congress to discuss their differences.
Bernie Farber
Last week, United Church spokesman Bruce Gregersen said a letter to Congress would be sent this week
responding to Congress' request for a meeting.
He acknowledged that providing a $900 grant to Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) was a mistake and that the church regretted doing it. ?IJV is not an organization that we [the national church]
choose to partner with for any future activity,? he said.
Congress CEO Bernie Farber did not appear satisfied with that response. He said, ?it shouldn't take two months to say let's get together,? referring to Congress' letter outlining its concerns and
requesting a meeting. In addition, a statement distancing the United Church from IJV ?was never made by the [church's] moderator. It should have been done before.
?They need to put forward a policy by the national body. If they do that, it would be a huge step forward.?
Last summer, as the United Church met at its national conference, reports revealed it had provided IJV with a
startup grant. IJV is harshly critical of Israel, and one of its latest postings on its website, an article from Israel by Nurit Peled Elhanan, paints the country as ?evil, malevolent and
conspiratorial,? Farber said.
The United Church, he said, continued to link to IJV's website even after pronouncing its regret about funding it. In addition, the United Church co-sponsored with IJV a speaking engagement by an
anti-Zionist lecturer.
Farber said ?despite our being faith partners with [the United Church] and others for 30 years, there is I suppose an expectation we have that we will not make common cause with groups that
disparage our partner groups, that are hostile to the mainstream of each other's communities and gives them neither comfort nor support.
?Despite that, the [United Church] continues to have a relationship that is antithetical to the Jewish community' No one should be under the illusion that the relationship with IJV is
without serious consequences.?
Farber said that in early November, Congress president Mark Freiman sent a letter to the moderator of the United Church asking for a meeting. ?We've received no substantial
response.
?We wanted to talk as friends and partners do and to this day we have been ignored.?
Asked about the United Church publicizing IJV views, Gregersen said the national church doesn't have the power to instruct regional bodies and committees to stop Internet links to
IJV.
As for the national church, Gregersen said its position is that ?the IJV is not an organization that we choose to partner with for any further activity.?
He said the United Church had previously responded by e-mail to Congress. ?We sent Bernie Farber a message that [church general secretary] Nora Saunders was out of the country and we'll respond
when she returns.? Farber said he never received that message.
Gregersen said the United Church had granted Congress a privileged position at last summer's national conference, giving it the right to address the assembly as honoured
visitors.
?From our perspective, the relationship with Congress is a still a valued relationship. We know it has been strained for various reasons' We'd be prepared to talk about it.?
For its part, the United Church has its own concerns including Congress' reaction to the labeling of Kairos, an ecumenical church group, as anti-Semitic.
Gregersen suggested the United Church and Congress should ?find something to do that is positive and gives us common ground and is a shared activity.? He suggested joint projects promoting
?ecological justice.?
But Farber said that the two groups would not be ?getting together until the issue is
resolved.?
