quick to ask how the PLO
was chosen: with the ballot
or the bullet?
Rabbi A. James Rudin, na-
tional director of inter-
religious affairs for the
American Jewish Com-
mittee, describes the sources
of clerical anti-Israel
animosity. Some, he be-
lieves, can't accept a Jewish
state since their Messiah,
Jesus Christ, already has
come.
Many Protestants, he says,
have a viewpoint based on
:150 years of missionary
efforts in the Middle East.
Protestants have organized
orphanages, hospitals, uni-
versities (including Bir Zeit
University in Ramallah) in
the Middle East. "They take
on the coloration and ex-
treme nationalism of their
host country. These people
have a very, very deep feel-
ing, and many still live in
Lebanon and Jordan."
As an example, he pointed
to Rev. Ben Wier, a hostage
in Lebanon who, after his
release from Moslem cap-
tors, blamed Israel for the
problems of the Middle East.
Orthodox Christians, often
Arabs, have theological
problems dealing with
Judaism. "They never had a
Vatican Council II," Rabbi
Rudin says. "And the Holo-
caust was a European Chris-
tian phenomenon, not an
Arab Christian one." A
small group of Christian
clergy are blatantly anti-
Semitic, he says.
Rabbi Rudin describes
many Christian-sponsored
trips to Israel as the height
of "arrogance and oversight.
The only Jews they meet are
at passport control. They go
with Arab guides to east
Jerusalem and only visit
Arab and Christian sites.
They don't go to the Yad
Vashem Holocaust
Memorial (Rev. Wood's
group did), the Museum of
the Diaspora or any of the
Jewish experiences.
"Their guides, their hotels,
all the sources of their in-
formation are Arab," the

rabbi says. "It is not a con-
spiracy. They just don't want
to deal with Israel. Even in
their trip brochures, Israel is
referred to as 'the Holy
Land' or 'the Land of the Bi-
ble.' It is never called
Israel."
Other Christian trips to
Israel are political in nature,
the rabbi says. Participants
only meet with Arab and Pa-
lestinian nationalists and
make a conscious effort to
compile lists of human
rights violations.
"If they meet any Israelis,
they are only those who rep-
resent the far left," the rabbi
says.
Rev. Wood and other
Detroit-area clergy have the
best of intentions. Many of
those concerned with Middle
East issues have long
records as human rights ac-
tivists. The Michigan Coali-
tion for Human Rights has
an office at the Episcopal
Diocese on Woodward and
Warren, complete with anti-
apartheid posters and a
decal on the door: "Embargo
South Africa, Not
Nicaragua."
The bishop says he had
little knowledge of the Mid-
dle East before coming to
Detroit two years ago, but
was touched by the Jewish
community in Cincinnati
where he was a church rec-
tor for 31 years.
An on-going dialogue with
Cincinnati's Jewish com-
munity led to "a confronta-
tion with the way I had
unknowingly discounted
Judaism," he says.
In Detroit, he discovered
the large Arab community.
He lives in the Palmer Park
area and pledged "to build
bridges and openness" with
the Arab community.
"My personal hope is that I
can be believable as someone
concerned about cultivating
peace in the Middle East.
Even though we are distant
from some positions, we
want a dialogue because we
care about each other," Rev.
Wood says.
"I won't participate in

anything that will polarize. I
want to be more sensitive to
my neighbors."
Rev. Wood came back from
Israel believing that the
peace dialogue there "is
richer" than within the Jew-
ish community in the United
States. "Part of the resolve
of Christian folk in valuing
our Jewish heritage is our
remorse and guilt about the
Holocaust and our remorse
and guilt about being quiet,
deaf and dumb at that time.
"Out of that guilt is born
an appropriate concern for
the new life of the Jewish
community and our ability
to be critical of that com-
munity."
Alluding to the Holocaust,
the creation of Israel, and

Middle East tensions, the
bishop describes himself as a
participant. "Maybe I can be
catalytic or helpful in that,
and bring Arabs and Jews
together."
With his concerns about
the Middle East, the bishop
has relied on several persons
within his diocese for infor-
mation. Rev. Ervin Brown
III of Christ Church in
Detroit has a largely Syrian
congregation. Rev. Hugh
White is his special assistant
for social concerns, and Bet-
sy Barlow of Ann Arbor
planned a workshop for the
diocese two years ago on Pa-
lestinians and the ter-
ritories.
Ms. Barlow conducts
workshops for the Univer-

■ Reverend Wood's tour

visited "the Holy Land"
and "the occupied
territories."

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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