Dear Sir,
Your ‘Commentary’ in the November issue of EN relied too heavily on what is a highly partisan assessment of the conference organised by Cafod and Christian Aid in November 2012.
I was unable to attend it, and am not a supporter of either agency, but I have a high regard for some of the conference leaders and know they abominate anti-Semitism as much as I do. It may be true that the conference failed to give due prominence to the suffering caused to Israelis by suicide bombers and rocket attacks – perhaps because the scale of the sufferings of the Palestinian people as a whole is of a greater order of magnitude. However, EN readers should note that, first, ‘Christian Aid unequivocally condemns violence on all sides. The international community should bring the perpetrators of violence on all sides to justice’ (November 2013). Second, they also need to know that rabbi Yehiel Grenimann was invited to the conference. His statement was read out in full and included reference to ‘hateful calls from Palestinians for the destruction of Israel’ and asserted that Palestinians ‘must come to terms with the profound Jewish connection’ to the Holy Land! Finally, many compassionate Jewish people (e.g. ‘Rabbis for Human Rights’) are as troubled by the injustices suffered by the Palestinians as are some Christians.
