Lake Merritt United Methodist Church Hosts Hate speech

Today the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland is hosting a talk by Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is an ex-Israeli who now resides in the UK; he has renounced not only being Israeli, but his membership in the Jewish people and now writes and promotes classically anti-Semitic remarks. Gilad was invited as part of a fundraiser for the Free Gaza Movement, to help raise funds for a US boat to Gaza.

Atzmon has left a long slime trail of hate across the web. He has been documented saying:

"I'm not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act.'"

"It is about time we internalise the fact that Israel and Zionism are the ultimate Evil with no comparison."

"To regard Hitler as the ultimate evil is nothing but surrendering to the Zio-centric discourse. To regard Hitler as the wickedest man and the Third Reich as the embodiment of evilness is to let Israel off the hook."

""Throughout the centuries, Jewish bankers bought for themselves some real reputations of backers and financers of wars, and even one communist revolution. Though rich Jews had been happily financing wars using their assets, Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, found a far more sophisticated way to finance the wars perpetrated by his ideological brothers Libby and Wolfowitz."

" The 'Elders of Zion' syndrome: Zionists complain that Jews continue to be associated with a conspiracy to rule the world via political lobbies, media and money. Is the suggestion of conspiracy really an empty accusation?
The following list is presented with pride in several Jewish American websites.
Jews in Bush's Administration (a list of some 30 names follows¦)
Let me assure you, in Clinton's administration the situation was even worse. Even though the Jews only make up 1.9 per cent of the country's population, an astounding 56 per cent of Clinton's appointees were Jews. A coincidence? I don't think so."

"I would suggest that perhaps we should face it once and for all: the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus who, by the way, was himself a Palestinian Jew....Why is it that the Jews who repeatedly demand that the Christian world should apologise for its involvement in previous persecutions, have never thought that it is about time that they apologised for killing Jesus?"

San Francisco Voice for Israel will hold a vigil outside the church from 4-5. Please join them in solidarity, to remind Oakland that there should be zero toreance to anti-Semitism in our community

Please give the Church a call. (510) 465-4793, or send them an email pastor@lakemerrittumc.org Remind them that virulent anti-Semitism is unacceptable regardless of one's position on the Israel/Palestine issue.