The Presbyterian Church (USA), which has lost approximately 1 million members over the past 25 years, is preparing to debate a number of resolutions regarding Israeli policies at the church's upcoming General Assembly. One resolution calls for the church to convict Israel of the crime of “apartheid” while others call on the church to rebuke Caterpillar for continuing to sell products to Israel.

The information delegates will use to inform their decision comes from a number of sources which ominously enough, have exhibited a troubling hostility toward Israel. For example, the Israel/Palestine Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has hosted a blog which linked to an obviously anti-Semitic video titled “I AM ISRAEL” that accused Israel of controlling American foreign policy.

While IPMN's website attracted some negative attention to the PC(USA), it will soon become a sideshow to another controversy after the publication of a lengthy report by the denomination's Middle East Study Committee, created by a vote of the General Assembly in 2008.

This report, which includes a historical analysis that demonizes Zionism, omits important information about Arab violence against Jews in the first half of the 20^th century also includes a letter to American Jews that seeks to undermine the legitimacy of mainstream Jewish leaders in the U.S.

“Presbyterian report affirms Israel's right to exist, criticizes occupation of Palestinian lands,” Courier-Journal.com (Louisville), March 5, 2010.

“Jewish Group: PC(USA)'s Israel Proposals Will Damage Relations,” Christian Post, Feb. 23, 2010.

“Gearing Up for Another Season of Anti-Zionism in the PC(USA),” Snapshots, (CAMERA's blog), Feb. 20 2010.

“Middle East study team nears release of its final report,” Presbyterian News Service, Feb. 2, 2009. This article, published before the report was released, provides interesting detail about the committee's deliberations regarding Israel's right to exist.

Numerous CAMERA articles about the PC(USA) can be found here.