Terry Glavin's must-read....

Terry's commentary on the United Church vs. Israel is a must-read...

The United Church of Canada is currently busy with its triennial symposium, I think they call it, and church delegates are considering a motion which initially contained some gruesome and antique insinuations about dual Jewish loyalties and bribes and such like, and while the uglier bits were erased so as not to give anyone offence the motion still calls upon churchgoers to Renounce Israel And All Her Works.

My pal Bernie Farber is understandably annoyed by all of this. I'm thinking it could be a lot worse, even if the Jewish Tribune doesn't seem to think so. But there's something else, and it's far worse than what has been publicly reported. By calling for a "boycott of Israeli products and companies supporting the Zionist policies of Israel," the motion would oblige the members of the United Church to specifically refrain (see page 78, pdf) from buying the products and services of:

"Ambi Pur, AOL Time Warner, Aoste, Apax Partners & Co. Ltd., Aramis, Arsenal FC, Auchan, Bali, Ball Park, Biotherm, Banana Republic, Bryan, Buitoni, Café Pilāo, Calvin Klein, Carnation, Carrefour, Caterpillar, Champion, Clinique, CNN, Coca-Cola, Danone, Delta Galil, Dim, Disney, Donna Karan, DYNK, Estée Lauder, Express, Expo Design Center, Evian, Fruitopia, Gap, Garnier, General Electric, Georgia Lighting, Giorgio Armani, Gossard, HarperCollins, Hanes, Helen Rubinstein, Henri Bendel, Hema, Hillshire Farms, The Home Depot, Huggies, Hugo Boss, ICQ, IBM, Intel, Intimate brands, J. Crew, JC Penney, Jimmy Dean, Johnson & Johnson, Jo Malone, Just My Size, Kimberley-Clark, Kia Ora, Kiwi, Kleenex, Kotex, Lancôme, La Roche-Posay, Lea-Perrin, L’eggs, Lerner New York, Lewis Trust Group Ltd., Libby’s, Lilt, The Limited Inc., Lindex, L’Oreal, Loveable, MAC Cosmetics, Maggi, Maison Café, Marks & Spencer, MAST Industries, Inc., Matrix, Maybelline, McDonald’s, Nestlé, News Corporation, News of the World, New York & Company, New York Post, Nokia, Nur Die, Nursery World, Outerbanks, Origins, Perrier, Pickwick, Playtex, Prescriptives, Pryca, Ralph Lauren, Redken, Revlon, River Island, Santex, Sara Lee, Schweppes, Selfridges, Sky, Starbucks, Structure, The Sun, Sunkist, Superior Coffee, Tchibo, Timberland, Time, Tommy Hilfiger, Twentieth Century Fox, Vichy Laboratories, Victoria’s Secret, Villager’s Hardware, Vittel, The White Barn Candle Co., and Wonderbra."

Sweet Jesus Christ on a horse, one might reasonably exclaim. The motion proposes that as Christians, they should shun all that stuff as somehow trafe. This is rather more dismal and austere than giving up the drink for Lent and having to go without fish on Fridays, it seems to me.

But, read the whole thing....

And, have a look at Terry's blog - one of the best in Canada...