An Evangelical Presbyterian Pastor on Zionism Unsettled

David Fischler at Stand Firm has written a comprehensive and excellent critique of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network’s Zionism, “PCUSA and the Propagation of Anti-Semitism,” Fischler begins:

“The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a lot of problems, from declining membership and attendance to fleeing congregations to heresy run rampant in its seminaries and pulpits. By and large, those are internal concerns. What the rest of the Christian world should be concerned about is its growing embrace of anti-Semitism, a phenomenon recently highlighted by the publication of a so-called “congregational study resource” called Zionism Unsettled by the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN).

The IPMN–“mandated,” according to a recent press release, by the PCUSA General Assembly in 2004–has had its share of controversy. It has a disturbing habit of relying on the scribblings of known anti-Semitic writers and web sites, even having to shut down its Facebook page so as to try to scrub away its dirty laundry (it keeps popping up, over and over again, on their Twitter feed, however). Now, however, they decided to do a “greatest hits” collection of sorts, combining all of their various tropes into one handy package.

Let’s just say that reading Zionism Unsettled was right up there with plunging steak knives into my eyeballs as a fun way to spend an afternoon. Here are a few examples of why.”

Fischler spends some time exposing the lack of any true historical detail about the atrocities committed against the Jews in Palestine, the attacks by Arab states at the birth of Israel and the persecution of Jews in Arab lands. He lifts up the idea of a Jewish State of Israel and shows how off the mark Zionism Unsettled is when they refer to a Jewish “ethnocracy”. In total Fischler, who is a Presbyterian pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, exposes the character of Zionism Unsettled with its writers and publishers, and he does this with skill and historical acumen.  You will better understand the many concerns raised by those writing against Zionism Unsettled after reading “PCUSA and the Propagation of Anti-Semitism.”