Sizer to speak in Oklahoma City this weekend as part of the “Christ at Checkpoint” conference; Movement supported by BDS movement.
The anti-Israel organization “Christ at the Checkpoint” will be hosting a popular anti-Semite and anti-Israel activist, Dr. Stephen Sizer, in Oklahoma City this week.
The conference, which has been held since 2010, is organized by Bethlehem Bible College, an Evangelical, non-denominational Christian college located in the West Bank that is funded by varied organizations in the United States. The conference has been largely funded by the United Methodist Church Foundation in Oklahoma.
The church claims its mission is to “Train people to serve Christ in the world, advocate a Palestinian evangelical perspective and model Christ through community development.” The church, however, is known for its anti-Israel agenda and members of the church frequently call for Christians in the United States to not fund or support Israel. It has used rhetoric of hate and anti-Semitism to spread its message while hiding behind its efforts in the West Bank with Palestinian Christians. It has also been a strong voice for the BDS- Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement.
Dr. Stephen Sizer, a former priest of the Church of England, is a known anti-Semite who has based his philosophy and advocacy in opposition to Christian Zionism. He has used his role in academia to spout hate and anti-Israel rhetoric, targeting Christian communities and using anti-Semitism to monetize his theories. Sizer is most infamous for conspiracies claiming Jews and the State of Israel were behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sizer has participated in anti-Zionism and anti-Israel conferences and events in Iran and frequently speaks at events and churches defaming Israel and the Jewish people.
The BDS movement started in 2001 during the “Durban strategy” which was adopted following the UN Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa. The movement advocates for a Palestinian “Law of Return”, calling for Palestinian refugees the same right as Jews to immigrate to Israel. The movement also sees the State of Israel as an apartheid state and any and all Israelis living in the West Bank as settlers and occupiers.
The movement’s main economic strategies have been to gradually advocate and pass boycotts or labeling of Israeli products from the West Bank, several cases of goods in Europe labeled or boycotted as “from occupied territories of Palestine”. The movement is focused on the boycott of Israeli goods, academia, sport and culture.
The BDS movement refers to Israel’s creation and presence in Palestinian territories as “colonization, apartheid and occupation” constantly referring and comparing Jewish immigration and the creation of the State of Israel as to that of European colonization.
The movement has become most popular amongst celebrities and academics, who have called for an all-out boycott of anything Israeli- from performing in Israel, to using or purchasing Israeli goods, to even removing Israelis and Jews from classrooms.
The United States recently passed legislation creating measures to punish companies or individuals affiliated with the BDS movement. The Foreign Affairs Committee legislature “prohibits U.S. companies from participating in boycotts promoted by international organizations, like the U.N., that target U.S. partners, like Israel.”
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