By Kathleen Kern

A non-Mennonite friend recently e-mailed me her concern about an article in a Jewish paper based in her region of New Jersey that vilified a recently opened Ten Thousand Villages store, and by extension, Mennonite Central Commitee.

The news did not upset me as much as it would have 12 years ago. In 1995, when I began working in the West Bank with Christian Peacemaker Teams, and speaking about what I witnessed there, one American Jew told me dismissively, “Quakers and Mennonites have always been anti-Semitic.”

This remark pierced my heart. Herald Press had recently published my book, We Are the Pharisees, which detailed 1,000 years of murderous treatment of Jews by Christians and examined how Christians had used Jesus’ teachings on the Pharisees to justify pogroms and genocide. I really wanted Jews to think well of me.

Today, I have many more Jewish friends and family members than I had in 1995 — largely because of my work in the West Bank — and thus feel less upset when attacks on Mennonites for supporting the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis fly from partisans of Israel.

(I use the term “partisan” rather than “pro-Israel,” because many Israelis believe that being pro-Israel means also supporting the human rights of Palestinians.)

Nevertheless, I looked at the article in question, which claimed: “Ten Thousand Villages is owned by a large Mennonite organization that accuses Israel of apartheid, advocates a one-state solution and supports organizations that accuse the Israeli government of metaphorically crucifying Jesus, blame Israel for suicide bombings and refer to the existence of ‘Israeli concentration camps.’ ”

The criticisms of MCC in the article really relate to the fact that MCC regards the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as illegal, according to international law, acknowledges that the 1947-48 Israeli war for independence drove thousands of Palestinians from their homes, and maintains that violent oppression results in violent resistance.

Since most of the rest of the world, including many Jews, agree with these positions, the article resorts to smear tactics, such as guilt by association.

These include an attack on Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian organization, whose director, Naim Ateek, recently came under fire for comments he made at a conference in which he “figuratively” said Jews were “Christ-killers.”

I know Ateek, and know that he cares about the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians. Thus, when I looked up sources for what he actually said, I was not surprised to find that he applied crucifixion imagery to both peoples: “As we approach Holy Week and Easter, the suffering of Jesus Christ at the hands of evil political and religious powers 2,000 years ago is lived out again in Palestine. The number of innocent Palestinians and Israelis that have fallen victim to Israeli state policy is increasing.”

I could rebut the other charges against MCC in the article, but it would take many more words than I am allotted for this column.

I hope the Ten Thousand Villages store in New Jersey does not close because of a Jewish boycott. I hope Jewish customers who care about supporting artisans in developing nations will continue to shop there. And I hope my Jewish mother-in-law likes the Ten Thousand Villages soaps in the brocade bag I bought her for Chanukah.