{"id":9511,"date":"2022-06-16T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohelet.org.il\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T09:05:10","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T09:05:10","slug":"israel-armenia-and-presbyterians","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, whose annual General Assembly begins this weekend, has long been pugnaciously anti-Israel. It routinely passes resolutions accusing the Jewish state of \u201csettler colonialism,\u201d \u201capartheid,\u201d and \u201cillegal occupation.\u201d Yet the PCUSA has a long-established program dedicated to supporting settlements in occupied territory\u2014and funds a variety of pro-settler charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCUSA\u2019s approach to the Israel-Arab conflict lies at the crossroads of liberation theology and replacement theology, the ancient doctrine, frequently invoked by anti-Semites, that God\u2019s covenant with the Jews has been annulled in favor of others. Since 2014 the church has pursued a boycott of Israeli businesses. It also calls the Jewish state\u2019s presence in biblical areas a \u201cviolation of international law\u201d and \u201csin against God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area once part of Soviet Azerbaijan, settlements apparently aren\u2019t a problem for the PCUSA. The area had a mixed Armenian-Azeri population until 1994, when Armenia occupied the region after a protracted war. Many Armenians regard Karabakh as part of their historic homeland, but the United Nations and the U.S. consider it occupied Azeri territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Azeri population fled during the war and hasn\u2019t been allowed to return. At the same time, the Armenian leadership in Yerevan has encouraged the movement of settlers into the occupied territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCUSA is the primary sponsor of the Jinishian Memorial Foundation, an Armenian charity that leads projects to support \u201cArtsakh,\u201d the traditional Armenian name for Karabakh. In some brochures, the Presbyterian group describes it as the \u201cRepublic of Nagorno-Karabakh,\u201d the name of the self-proclaimed Armenian puppet state that enjoys no international recognition. It funds a variety of economic and welfare projects in Armenian settlements. The foundation advertises tours for donors interested in \u201cexploring and enjoying Armenia and Artsakh.\u201d Many of the projects are not unlike those supported by Jewish charities in the West Bank. Those charities\u2019 tax-deductible status has long been a particular target of progressives, who certainly won\u2019t extend their efforts to the PCUSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hypocrisy is individual as well as institutional. The head of the PCUSA\u2019s \u201cIsrael\/Palestine Mission Network\u201d\u2014its permanent office of Israeli delegitimization\u2014is herself a vocal supporter of the Armenian occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCUSA also offers political support for the settlements. In September 2020, another round of war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia, with Baku ultimately recapturing parts of Karabakh. Ignoring the \u201coccupied\u201d status of the territory, the PCUSA came out fully behind Armenia. Jinishian launched a campaign to help the breakaway region, in partnership with Armenian settler organizations, under the slogan \u201cWe Are Our Borders; All for Artsakh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCUSA is fully within its rights to support Armenian settlements. Nothing in international law requires boycotts or sanctions against such communities. It is understandable if, as Christians, the PCUSA\u2019s members are touched by the plight of one the most ancient churches in Christendom. It shouldn\u2019t be a crime for members of a particular ethnic group to live in part of its historic homeland, and surely the PCUSA would be scandalized if third parties boycotted Armenians for returning to Karabakh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet that is exactly what the PCUSA urges when it comes to the Jewish state. It has made Armenian nationalism a funding priority while treating Zionism as a horrible crime. The PCUSA is far from alone. As I have written in these pages<\/a>, vocal critics of Jewish settlements in the Holy Land on the far left, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib and senior officials at Human Rights Watch and CodePink, have been active supporters of Armenian settlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCUSA says anti-Semitism doesn\u2019t drive its obsession with the Jewish state. Instead, it acts under pretense of upholding international law, which it claims Israel violates by allowing Jews to live in parts of the West Bank. Doubtless the PCUSA\u2019s role in supporting settlers in occupied territory will not lead it to disavow its Karabakh projects. Nor will it drive a wedge between the denomination and the many other progressive \u201canti-occupation\u201d groups with which it makes common cause. This highlights how \u201csettlements\u201d and \u201cillegal occupation\u201d are not general terms of international applicability. Rather, they are part of special vocabulary, a kind of neutral euphemism, designed to discuss only one particular people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The church sees itself as progressive, but its views on Israel are a throwback to something very old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First published in The Wall Street Journal<\/a> (“Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians”, Jun 16, 2022).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An American church has a glaring double standard when it comes to settlements in the West Bank and Nagorno-Karabakh.","protected":false},"featured_media":9512,"template":"","article-category":[525],"custom-tags":[41],"ppma_author":[60],"class_list":["post-9511","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-category-publications","custom-tags-international-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIsrael, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An American church has a glaring double standard when it comes to settlements in the West Bank and Nagorno-Karabakh.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kohelet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kohelet.org.il\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-25T09:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh-1024x585.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@koheletforum\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/\",\"name\":\"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-16T13:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-25T09:05:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/\",\"name\":\"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-\u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea-\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea-SVG.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-\u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea-\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea-SVG.svg\",\"width\":292,\"height\":459,\"caption\":\"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kohelet.org.il\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/koheletforum\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet","og_description":"An American church has a glaring double standard when it comes to settlements in the West Bank and Nagorno-Karabakh.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/","og_site_name":"kohelet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kohelet.org.il\/","article_modified_time":"2024-06-25T09:05:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":585,"url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh-1024x585.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@koheletforum","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/","name":"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians - kohelet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png","datePublished":"2022-06-16T13:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-25T09:05:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Nagorno-Karabakh.png","width":1400,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/israel-armenia-and-presbyterians\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/","name":"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea","url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-\u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea-\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea-SVG.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-\u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea-\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea-SVG.svg","width":292,"height":459,"caption":"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05e7\u05d4\u05dc\u05ea"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kohelet.org.il\/","https:\/\/x.com\/koheletforum"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/9511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-category?post=9511"},{"taxonomy":"custom-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom-tags?post=9511"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=9511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}