NEWS
Kirk calls for action against anti-semitism
The Church of Scotland’s Church and Nation Committee will recognise "with anxiety" the continued evidence of anti-semitism in Europe, including in Scotland. The committee will "condemn unreservedly" such acts, and the attitudes which lead to them.
The report to this year’s General Assembly, to which the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities contributed, begins by commemorating "with sorrow and thanksgiving" the liberation 60 years ago of Auschwitz and the other Nazi concentration camps. 
It calls for greater sensitivity towards the needs of Scotland’s Jewish community, and points to the ongoing reality of attacks on Jews.
The report "acknowledges with sorrow the Church’s complicity in much of the history of anti-semitism throughout Europe", and lends its voice in opposition to the pernicious arguments of "Holocaust deniers". 
In particular, the Kirk - which has made clear statements itself, condemning actions of the Israeli government - will ask that everyone who criticises Israel’s policies does so in ways which cannot be seen to be critical either of all Israeli citizens or of Jewish people in general: "It is a matter of concern when language is used thoughtlessly, encouraging the misconception that ‘Israelis’ and ‘Jews’ are the same, and that all Jews support the actions of the Israeli government.
"Vigilance is still needed. Condemning anti-semitism must be part of a wider condemnation of attacks on any religious or racial groups."
Ends
GA\08\04\05
25 April 2005