A first hearing on those four resolutions is scheduled with the bishops' and deputies' committees on Social Justice & International Policy. Additional hearings are likely in the coming weeks as the parallel committees deliberate on whether to recommend the resolutions for approval by the House of Bishops and House of Deputies when they meet June 23-28 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Three of the apartheid resolutions were proposed originally for consideration by the 80th General Convention in 2022 but were deferred until this year's meeting. A010, for example, would acknowledge that Israel "has passed laws that discriminate against its non-Jewish citizens, particularly Palestinians." That resolution, along with A011 and A012, would put the church on record for the first time in labeling such a system as "apartheid."

This is not the first time Israel has been accused of apartheid. Amnesty International in 2022 accused the state of Israel's treatment of Palestinians a crime against humanity and said it was illegal under international law. The rights group says Israel's "oppression and domination" of Palestinians amounted to apartheid.

More recently South Africa made the same charge. South Africa argued at the United Nations' top court that Israel is responsible for apartheid against the Palestinians and that Israel's occupation of land sought for a Palestinian state is "inherently and fundamentally illegal." Israel rejected such claims.

But the notion of apartheid runs deep. Libelling Israel as an "apartheid state" is the unconscionable agenda of the UN Human Rights Council commission of inquiry, which is working hand-in-glove with NGOs in a veritable axis of evil determined to bring about Israel's destruction; writes Melanie Phillips a British Jewish newspaper columnist.

"The accusation of Israeli apartheid is risible, and anyone with a functioning brain can see at a glance that Amnesty has produced a report as ludicrous as it is malevolent.

"It's ludicrous to claim apartheid is enforced against the Palestinian Arabs living in the disputed territories of the "West Bank" -- because they aren't even citizens of Israel.

"It's ludicrous to claim apartheid is enforced against Israel's Arab citizens because they have full civil and religious rights. An Arab Islamist party, for heaven's sake, holds the balance of power in Israel's ruling coalition. An Arab judge sent a previous Israeli president to jail."

In South Africa black and white lived under one political roof, that is not the same in Israel. Palestinians live under multiple roofs including West Bank and Gaza.

The Episcopal Church has bought into the apartheid lie even though its Arab Anglican allies live under the safety umbrella of Israeli laws, protecting them from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority who would happily mete out to them the same punishment they showered on 1200 Israeli Jews.

A fourth resolution, D003, was newly proposed this year by the Rev. Boyd Evans, a deputy from the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. It makes a similar case, "that Israel's entrenched discriminatory rule over Palestinians amounts to the international wrong of apartheid.

The Episcopal Church's positions and policies toward the decades-long and ongoing conflict in the Holy Land typically generate some of the most contentious debates when bishops and deputies gather for the triennial churchwide meeting. This year's General Convention comes as Israel faces intense global scrutiny for its handling of its war with Hamas, writes ENS.

And what exactly should Israel do about Hamas? Stand on the edge of Rafah, announce a ceasefire, open some bottles of Mogen David and head home? That is not going to happen.

Israel has no option but to eliminate the terrorist cabal. Why should Israel play nice while Hamas holds 130 mainly Israeli hostages underground in tunnels, like pawns on a political chessboard? Why allow even a remnant of Hamas to live to fight another day, especially as Hamas has publicly stated that the extermination of Israel is their single goal.

Some of the resolutions proposed to the 81st General Convention address these latest developments. D007, a deputy-proposed resolution, would condemn Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, as well as "the ensuing military aggression by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza."

"No lasting peace can be achieved nor justice established until Israel's military occupation and control over Palestinians comes to an end and Palestinians and Israelis have equal rights, freedom, and self-determination," the resolution says, as proposed by Tieran Sweeny-Bender, a Diocese of Olympia deputy. It also seeks to pressure the U.S. government on a range of policy goals, from a cease fire in Gaza to negotiations toward "a future based on equal rights, freedom, and self-determination for all people."

This is tantamount to capitulating to Hamas and its other proxy brethren led by Iran.

Other proposed resolutions offer broader perspectives on the conflict. D013 would underscore "no military solution" while acknowledging the historical scope of the conflict and renewing calls for a lasting peace that includes creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Resolution D004 would label Palestinians as "among the indigenous people of the lands of Palestine and Israel lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River." The resolution does not mention the Jewish people, who also claim to be indigenous to the region since the reign of Ramses. And they want Israel to buy this nonsense?

Today, Israel faces not just the wrath of its genocidal enemies -- from Hamas to Iran and its other proxies. It also has to contend with liberal mainline American denominations like The Episcopal Church as it seeks to isolate Israel from the West.

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