Image by Getty

WASHINGTON — A Presbyterian group that works with Jewish groups to counter anti-Israel activity within the church published a pamphlet aimed at stopping the church from abandoning support for the two-state solution.

“Two States for Two Peoples,” released this week, comes “as activists from the global Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement are working toward persuading the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. to drop its support for the two-state solution when the denomination holds its biennial meeting in Portland, Oregon, in June,” Presbyterians for Middle East Peace said in announcing the book.

Jewish groups specializing in interfaith dialogue, led by the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, worked with Presbyterians for Middle East Peace at the church’s 2012 biennial to successfully deflect a bid to divest the church from three companies that dealt with Israel’s army.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Backers of divestment, however, succeeded in 2014 in getting the church to divest from the three companies, although an amendment to the resolution explicitly rejected BDS, which advances a much broader divestment strategy.

The 2014 debate was characterized by unusual bitterness, precipitated in part by the publication of an anti-Zionist tract by a group within the church that backs divestment.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount