To: The World Council of Churches February 26, 2005

I am so very sad that your church is persisting in pushing forward your divestment plan against Israel.

We, in Israel, feel ourselves very much under siege. We have suffered no less than 24,000 terror attack attempts in the latest round of Palestinian violence since Israeli PM Ehud Barak offered Arafat very generous and, from an Israeli perspective, very painful concessions. Since this bout of terror my small town of Netanya alone has experienced 12 "successful" terror attacks leaving 50 dead and over 400 injured. During this desperate period we received no approach, no consolation, no gesture of support or comfort, from your church.

You use Luke 19:42 as your clarion call to divest from Israel. I looked it up. This refers to Jesus's first sight of Jerusalem and his stated fears of a siege against the Jewish capital. You, with your divestment, are assisting in the very action that Jesus spoke against in Luke 19:42. Could this be based on your churches belief in replacement theology?

Judaism and Christianity have a common enemy who, even today, is active in destroying both our faiths. We must act in harmony against a peril that endangers us all.

It would be fitting for your church to show even-handedness by giving succor and support to the hundreds of terror victims in my small town.

Barry Shaw
Netanya Terror Victims Fund
Netanya, Israel