A decision by the Church of Sweden to call on ecumenical organisations of the world to consider investigating Israel as an “apartheid state” has been condemned by the country’s leading Jewish organisations and senior members of the church itself.
In its formal decision, the General Synod, which is the church’s decision-making body, has commissioned its Central Board to raise the issue of scrutinising the “implementation of international law in Israel and Palestine, also from the perspective of the United Nations convention on apartheid and the definitions of apartheid in the Rome Statute”.
The Jewish Central Council believes that Church Council basically labelled Israel an “apartheid state” has damaged the relationship between the church and the Jewish congregations. The Jewish Youth League went so far as to call the decision “disgusting”, the church newspaper
Kyrkans tidning reported.
Jewish Central Council chairman Aron Verständig argued that the decision focuses unilaterally on Israel, and this is not the first time this has happened.
Jewish Youth League chairman Benjamin Blecher called the decision “absurd”.
These opinions were shared even among the Swedish clergy.
Bishops Åke Bonnier and Sören Dalevi
penned an opinion piece called “We are appalled by the Church Council's decision,” in which they emphasised that wholly 103 members chose to vote against.
Bishop of Stockholm Andreas Holmberg
argued to the religious newspaper
Dagen that there is risk that the decision will contribute to anti-Jewish sentiments.
Pastor Patrik Pettersson went so far as to call it unacceptable for representatives of the country's leading political parties to have made “anti-Semitic thought models part of what the Church of Sweden claims to stand for”.
Last but not least, the church’s head, Archbishop Antje Jackelén said she was personally opposed to the decision, adding that she herself wouldn't use that word in that context.
Nevertheless, the Church of Sweden, which has been active in the Middle East region for many years, publicly supports a two-state solution based on the armistice demarcation line before the 1967 Six-Day War, and has repeatedly called on Israel to end its “occupation of Palestine”.
Swedish-Israeli relations have in recent years been marred by several diplomatic spats. In 2009, a row erupted after the Swedish daily Aftonbladet claimed the Israel Defence Forces had engaged in organ harvesting from dead Palestinians. Israel called on the Swedish government to condemn the article as a “manifestation of anti-Semitism” and a modern “blood libel”, which the Swedish government refused, citing freedom of the press.
In October 2014, the then-newly elected Swedish government of Stefan Löfven announced it would recognise the state of Palestine, emphasising that the conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution. This triggered an Israeli backlash, as diplomats were recalled and visits were cancelled.