Liberal Methodists Lobby Against ‘Genocidal’ Israel for General Conference

Prominent liberal caucus groups operating within the United Methodist Church are seeking to condemn Israel at the denomination’s governing General Conference scheduled to convene April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, NC.

Among the proposals the groups addressed is a resolution on antisemitism submitted by past UMAction Director John Lomperis, which United Methodist Kairos Response (UMKR) Communications Director M. Theresa Basile urged online seminar participants to oppose.

“For many years he’s been dedicated to tearing down advocacy for Palestinian rights and many other forms of peace and justice ministries in our church,” Basile alleged at the February 22 webinar co-hosted with the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA). “And it should be noted also that this person [who] has submitted [the resolution], John Lomperis, is no longer a member of the United Methodist Church. He has joined a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.”

[Editor’s Note: Lomperis served as an elected General Conference delegate from Indiana. On February 7 the Global Methodist Church announced that Lomperis will serve as General Conference Business Manager for the new denomination.]

Titled “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Legislation for the United Methodist General Conference,” the webinar was a call to action to renew, support, or reject various proposed resolutions at the upcoming General Conference. The discussion featured a panel including Basile, UMKR Steering Committee Chair Lisa Bender, and Defense for Children International Palestine Advocacy Officer Miranda Cleland on Israel-Palestine related resolutions.

Moderated by Bender, the webinar featured uniformly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli perspectives.

Bender encouraged General Conference delegates to renew three “critical, foundational resolutions about our stand on Palestine-Israel” as they “state the foundational positions of the United Methodist Church” that are set to expire this year. Basile spotlighted resolutions on “The Opposition to Israeli Settlements and Palestinian Land” and the “United Nations Resolutions on the Israel-Palestine Conflict.”

Basile endorsed that UN Resolutions on the Israel-Palestine conflict are the “most consistent and universal demand among advocates for justice in Palestine” clear through “so many aspects of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians violate international law and have done so since Israel was founded.”

“We’ve never seen that more vividly than in the recent months,” Basile insisted, claiming a “terrifying and genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza which is happening.” 

Bender implored delegates to support two resolutions titled “Child Incarceration” and “Addressing Israeli Detention of Children.”

“As Israeli forces carry out genocide in Gaza, we know that Israeli forces are detaining and torturing Palestinians, including children in Gaza, but unfortunately most of that is happening in North Gaza where almost no human rights organizations have any access or ability to document those experiences,” Cleland insisted. “So, I just wanted to say that as something that we currently don’t have any data on but acknowledges is most likely happening.”

Disturbed that the “U.S. plays a role in empowering Israel’s impunity,” Cleland described U.S. funding of the Israeli Defense Forces, “and as Israel right now, it’s carrying out genocide in Gaza. [U.S. President Joe] Biden has fast-tracked more weapons and more military funding, bypassing Congress to send more money and more weapons to the Israeli military that we know that they’re using to kill Palestinian children and their parents,” Cleland charged. “This is totally unacceptable use of our U.S. tax dollars, especially as we live in a country where people struggle to access affordable health care, and housing.”  

Basile challenged the use of an unspecified website as a source for the resolution, “Confronting 21^st Century Anti-Semitism”, characterizing it as “a disreputable and offensive Israeli website” that is being endorsed by the proposed resolution and submitter (Lomperis), despite being “filled with propaganda and malicious misinformation.”

“The resolution professes to protect the right to criticize Israel. But then it turns around with this statement: ‘It would also be morally irresponsible and intellectually dishonest to ignore anti-Semitism when it is expressed in criticism of the world’s only Jewish state.’” 

Exasperated, Basile recounted, “Accusing activists of anti-Semitism has become a much used and dangerous tool, to condemn and silence advocates for Palestinian human rights. The same time it decreases our society’s understanding of true anti-Semitism, which we do need to be alert for and to oppose wherever it appears. Our church should not support dangerous misuse of these charges of anti-Semitism and we shouldn’t be encouraging misunderstanding of such an important subject”

The resolution, “Petition on the Acceptance of a Working Definition of Anti-Semitism”, would have the UMC adopt the definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). 

For Basile and others, the core of the definition is acceptable until it includes examples of what anti-semitism looks like in practice. 

“It includes in those examples criticism of Israel specific views and statements about Israel that many human rights activists would consider legitimate or to have some merit,” Basile insisted.

The UMKR official praised a letter petitioning the UN Secretary General to reject this definition of antisemitism, making note that the United Methodist Church Board of Global Ministries was among the signatories.

“It would be a terrible witness for the world to see that our church has adopted this resolution,” Basile insisted. “We have many statements and tools on hand. To do the good work of opposing and dismantling racism in our church, in our society.”