Over the summer, two prominent U.S. churches—the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ—adopted resolutions condemning the Jewish state for its real or imagined treatment of Palestinians. Both resolutions draw heavily on a document, produced by Palestinian Christians in 2009, called Kairos Palestine. Taking its name from the Greek word meaning “an opportune moment,” this document is nothing more than anti-Israel propaganda. Robert Leikind explains:

[Kairos Palestine] reduces the complex, painful history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a single word: “occupation.” Information that might contradict [its] far-reaching [conclusions] is ignored. Gone from the historical narrative are Arab armies massed at Israel’s borders poised to destroy the country; . . . acts of terror that have caused thousands of Israeli casualties; thousands of missiles that followed Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza; and repeated calls by Palestinian religious, civic, and political leaders to reject peaceful coexistence with Israel on any terms. . . .

Kairos Palestine’s argument is not only political but also theological. It declares that “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity.” Israel, it states, is the “enemy” who stands in opposition to God himself. Its “occupation,” according to Kairos Palestine, “is an evil that must be resisted.”

The document portrays the struggle between Palestinians and Israelis as one between “good” (Christian, Palestinian) and “evil” (Jewish, Israeli), between those who lift up God’s name and those who profane it. Palestinians and Israelis are each assigned their roles in this carefully choreographed drama, which, regrettably, bears a striking resemblance to storylines used to demonize Jews in past eras.

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.