Anglican bishop who aided PCUSA in Mideast debate faces ‘mushrooming’ charges
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, December 15, 2006
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem – whom Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders have frequently called upon to shore up their pro-Palestinian arguments against Israel – is facing “mushrooming” charges of nepotism and graft as a result of an Anglican inquiry, according to The Jerusalem Post.
PCUSA photo of El-Assal El-Assal, who was a prominent and long-time member of the Progressive List for Peace, an organization of Arab and Jewish peace activists, was a resource to the PCUSA in the workup of the 2004 General Assembly resolution that called for divestment of denominational funds in corporations that do business with Israel.
That recommendation was modified substantially by the 2006 General Assembly after both Jewish and Christian groups said the PCUSA was anti-semitic in its Mideast partisanship.
According to The Post, opponents of the bishop want him to resign immediately. The newspaper said it had received a copy of a 35-page report that “concluded that El-Assal arranged to have a tender for the insurance policy of employees of the church’s two schools here issued to a company that promised to give half the commission to his son-in-law.”
The six-member Anglican inquiry committee held five public meetings and listened to more than 60 hours of testimony before writing its report.
“There was no doubt that the bishop’s tactics and behavior … had a dramatic combination of nepotism and violation of trust, particularly in not consulting those responsible in the Church institutions such as the boards of the School,” the report states.
El-Assal weighed in recently in a debate over curriculum for Arab-Israeli Christian students in Israel. The curriculum was developed by Catholic, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican churches for Israel’s Ministry of Education. Evangelicals in the Mideast complained that they were not part of the process and that the curriculum was unacceptable.
El-Assal was quoted by Christianity Today on Nov. 17 as saying that the curriculum advisory committee did not include evangelicals because “they are not counted as members of the mainstream Christian fellowship.” He said evangelicals are also often perceived as having “a different agenda, more to do with Zionism. Our position on peace and justice – evangelicals want nothing to do with it or they have eschatological views about it.”
El-Assal has been widely quoted by the PCUSA as an authoritative spokesman on Israeli-Palestinian affairs. A Google search of the denomination’s Web site turned up 19 articles or features in which El-Assal was prominent.
In 2003, El-Assal signed a letter opposing Israel’s separation wall that was built to prevent suicide bombers from murdering Israeli citizens. Although the barrier has substantially reduced such attacks, the PCUSA has also opposed it.