Boycott not anti-Semitic

Jack Abel (June 25) seems a bit confused. Maybe I can help.

The state of Israel is a man-made institution, not a person. It has no race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, feelings, hopes, wants or needs, like a person does. Presbyterianism is a sect of Christianity, not a religion, so his analogy to the Jewish religion judging another faith is moot.

The Presbyterian Church deciding to divest in businesses that profit from the continued oppression in the Palestinian territories cannot by definition be anti-Semitic, as those businesses aren’t a Semite (any person who descended from the Hebrews, Arabs and Phoenicians). Was the West’s economic boycott of South Africa during apartheid anti-Christian because the Afrikaners were a majority Reformist?

The Presbyterian Church has 1.8 million members. Is Abel implying that these 1.8 million people hate the Jewish people? That is a stretch. If John Calvin were alive today, he would probably be banging on the inside of his coffin, yelling, “Get me out, I’m not dead!”

Ryan Bareither

Fairfield, Wash.