We read with relief that the Church of England has upheld the case against the Revd. Dr Stephen Sizer, brought by Mrs. van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews before the Bishop of Winchester’s ‘Disciplinary Tribunal’. Whilst we appreciate their efforts, we are saddened that the first complaint brought by Rabbi Arkush in 2012 was dealt with informally. However, Revd. Sizer has now been found guilty of ‘conduct unbecoming’ in that he engaged in antisemitic activity.  

We are heartened by the Anglican Church’s adoption in 2018 of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Justin Welby writing on the subject of antisemitism declared: 

“It is a shameful truth that, through its theological teachings, the church, which should have offered an antidote, compounded the spread of this virus. The fact that antisemitism has infected the body of the Church is something of which we as Christians must be deeply repentant. We live with the consequences of our history of denial and complicity… All humans are made in the image of God. Antisemitism undermines and distorts this truth: it is the negation of God’s plan for his creation and is therefore a denial of God himself.”¹ 

Chosen People Ministries stands with the Word of God which teaches that Israel, as the people of God, is God’s inheritance² and to them He has promised the land of Israel. It is God who has set their borders³ and, in Deuteronomy 1:8, God tells His people to take possession of what had been promised to their forefathers in the Abrahamic covenant. This land is theirs forever and the Lord demonstrates His commitment to His covenant by adding that should they be banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord will bring them back.⁴ After the exiles, He brought them back and He has done so again after the Holocaust.  

Antisemitism, in all its forms, must be vigorously countered by those who claim to believe in and live according to the Bible. The stigmatisation of Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ has become an accepted and often repeated trope, opening the door to the claim Israel and Israelis are racist. This is the message that Sizer has been promoting and it must be repudiated. 

Christians who claim to belong to God, must learn to love and value what He loves and that includes both the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Therefore, we stand with the Jewish community in finding Sizer’s position on Israel and his opinion that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition on antisemitism, which was formally accepted by the Church of England in 2018, has a ‘chilling effect on freedom of speech’⁵ to be appalling and profoundly offensive. 

The tribunal, while not finding him to be antisemitic, did accept that he engaged in antisemitic behaviour and that he had ‘provoked and offended the Jewish Community’.⁶ 

The scriptures call upon both Jews and Christians to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.⁷ It is a prayer that seeks to bless the land of Israel and all who live there, Jews, Palestinians, and Christians with Shalom. It asks God for peace both physically in the land and spiritually in the hearts of those who seek Him.

¹ Justin Welby: ‘Lessons Learned? Reflections on Antisemitism and the Holocaust’; 2016, https://www.het.org.uk/news-and-events/575-antisemitism-booklet  

² Deuteronomy 32:9 

³ Genesis 15:8 | Joshua 1:4 

⁴ Deuteronomy 30:4 | Zechariah 10:10 | Obadiah 1:20 

⁵ https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Tribunal%20Determination%20%28Sizer%29%206%20December%202022.pdf 

⁶ https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Tribunal%20Determination%20%28Sizer%29%206%20December%202022.pdf 

⁷ Psalm 122:6