The Israel Law Center charges that the Presbyterian Church has illegally operated by maintaining illicit ties with Hezbollah.
Shurat Hadin (The Israel Law Center), an NGO that combats terrorism through the use of international law, otherwise known as Lawfare, has filed a complaint against the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), citing violations of the US tax code for unlawful political lobbying and contact with Hezbollah, the Jerusalem Post reports.
“It is high time the IRS took a long look at the Presbyterian Church and investigated its meeting with the designated-terrorist organization Hezbollah, its lobbying activities, and its anti-Israel divestment policies,” Shurat Hadin spokesman attorney Robert Tolchin told Jpost.
“The PCUSA is obsessed with attacking the Jewish state and has moved far from the activities which it presented to the IRS to secure its tax-free status in the United States.”
According to Shurat Hadin, PCUSA violated its own mission statement by engaging in political advocacy and “taking positions on the geo-political dispute between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis.”
Shurat Hadin has provided the IRS with “documentary and video evidence showing PCUSA delegates meeting with the US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah, publishing anti-Semitic materials, enacting a racist policy to divest from American companies doing business with Israel, lobbying the US Congress, and distributing political advocacy materials in violation of its tax-exempt status as a religious organization,” Jpost reports
Shurat Hadin further noted, “There is no mention in PCUSA organizing documents that it perceives fulfilling Christ’s work by meeting with and endorsing statements of a US-designated terrorist organization found to be responsible for the death of United States civilians and marines.”
A History of Presbyterian Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Activity
The Presbyterian Church has a long history of anti-Israel activity and collaborations with the BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) movement.
This past June they voted to divest and boycott companies that conduct business with Israeli firms situated in Judea and Samaria. In essence, such a resolution is harmful to the Palestinians themselves, who work at these companies. Causing the shutdown of these ventures would cause the Palestinians to lose their source of income.
Responding to this resolution, former US Governor Mike Huckabee stated that he was “embarrassed” for them. “I wondered who could be behind such an absurd decision,” he said, adding that he knows of individuals and member churches that are moving away from the denomination as a result.
NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog which tracks NGOs, published a paper in June following the resolution, showing that the Presbyterian Church’s decision was actually heavily influenced by anti-Semitism.
NGO Monitor shows that the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), which works within the Presbyterian Church, is the main advocate within the church on behalf of the BDS campaign. Numerous postings uploaded to this site by IPMN members over a period of two years demonstrate an ongoing pattern of expressions of anti-Semitism, including: “Zionist controlled America [has a] desperate lust” for war with Iran:, and “Jewish interests” are “corrupting” the US government, and the media is “owned” and “operated” by these same “Jewish interests.”
Author: United with Israel Staff
(With files from Jpost)
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