Methodist preacher to sue his own church over Israel bias -Robert Mendick
[A] legal dispute has been prompted by a controversial resolution passed at the Methodist Conference which called for a boycott of Israeli goods. If the legal action is successful, it would likely bring to an end all similar campaigns that boycott Israeli goods and services.
David Hallam [pictured], who preaches in Methodist churches around Birmingham, has accused his own church of wasting funds to pursue a vendetta against Israel. There are no Methodist churches in either Israel or the Occupied Territories.
Mr Hallam, 62, a former labour MEP, said: "What I object to is money which I am putting on the collection plate on a Sunday being used to fund a political campaign against the Jewish state. This is both discriminatory and a misuse of a charity's funds."
"The Methodist Church seems to think it has a God given right to tell Jews how to run their affairs. It is very disturbing we are getting involved in a territory where we don't have any members or churches."
Mr Hallam has recruited Paul Diamond, a barrister with expertise in human rights law and religious law, to bring the case. By singling out Israel, rather than other countries with often worse human rights records, Mr Diamond will claim the church is being deliberately prejudiced against the Jewish state. Mr Diamond will argue that the Methodist resolution passed in the summer is in breach of European human rights law and a wide-ranging European Union directive on racism.
The resolution so angered the Board of Deputies, the organisation that represents British Jewry, that it broke off all contact with the leadership of the Methodist Church.
The Board issued a statement at the time suggesting that the Methodist church should "hang its head in shame".
[Telegraph-UK]
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