Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

British clergyman accused of antisemitism is barred from Church of England through 2030

Stephen Sizer once shared an article claiming Israel was behind 9/11

(JTA) — Stephen Sizer, a retired British vicar who once claimed Jews and Israel were behind 9/11, was banned from the Anglican ministry for 12 years on Monday.

Over the course of more than two decades as priest and academic in southern England, Sizer made a name for himself as an outspoken opponent of Christian Zionism, completing a Ph.D thesis and writing several books on the topic. 

“It is irresponsible to believe that God will bless Christians materially if they support the largely secular State of Israel,” he wrote in his 2007 book “Zion’s Christian Soldiers.” 

The British Jewish community welcomed the church tribunal’s decision. 

“Given that he indulged in ‘antisemitic activity’ and caused grievous offence to the Jewish community over a number of years, this is the correct decision,” said Marie Van der Zyl, president of the Board of deputies of British Jews, which lodged the initial complaint against Sizer, in a statement. “I am grateful to the Tribunal for hearing our evidence and look forward to a continued strong and close relationship with the Church of England in the coming years.”

Sizer has admitted to having spoken at a 2008 conference alongside Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben and once wrote on Facebook that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a victim of “the hidden hands of Zionism.” The offense that led to his suspension involved posting a link on Facebook to an article titled “9/11/Israel did it” and later saying that the conspiracy theory should be “considered.”

Sizer’s ban is set to last until 2030 because he was initially suspended in 2018 after the complaints were filed and the 12-year ban announced Monday includes the time already served.

“It is clear that the behaviour of Stephen Sizer has undermined Christian-Jewish relations, giving encouragement to conspiracy theories and tropes that have no place in public Christian ministry and the church. I renew my call for the highest possible standards among ordained ministers of the Church of England in combating antisemitism of all kinds,” wrote the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest Clerical official in the Anglican church since it split with the pope in the 16th century under Henry VIII, in a statement.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.