A Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) protest against Israel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is urging its members to contact the Methodist Church of Britain to persuade them not to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

The media watchdog’s campaign comes in response to a recent survey posted online by the Methodist Church of Britain. The 14-question survey asks respondents a series of questions on their view of the BDS movement and whether or not the Methodist Church should be involved.

CAMERA Christian Media Analyst Dexter Van Zile believes the survey is biased against Israel and designed to produce a pro-BDS outcome.

“There is no acknowledgment that maybe the Palestinians have done anything wrong. Israel or Israeli is mentioned at least 10 times in the list of questions. It’s a kangaroo court that presumes Israel’s guilt,” Van Zile told JNS.org.

The Methodist Church of Britain has a history of involvement in the BDS movement. In 2010, it approved a boycott resolution targeting products produced by Israeli companies in the West Bank. But the church received significant pushback over the resolution, including a lawsuit by one of its preachers, David Hallam, who claimed the resolution was “discriminatory” and a “misuse of church funds,” The Telegraph reported.

As a result, the church said it is seeking to open a debate over its position on the BDS movement. According to the church’s website, the survey is a result of motion passed during the July 2013 Methodist Conference that “requests the production of a briefing on the arguments for and against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

CAMERA’s Van Zile told JNS.org that the Methodist Church of Britain “has been targeting Israel with a lot of criticism while remaining relatively silent about the misdeeds of its adversaries.”