Rev Stephen Sizer, a pro-Palestinian campaigner who posted a link on his Facebook page to an article entitled "9-11/Israel did it" has been disciplined by his diocese and asked to suspend his use of social media.
The article he linked to attempted to make connections between wealthy American Jews and the 9/11 attacks. Sizer asked online: "Is this anti-Semitic?.. It raises so many questions."
An outcry followed the post, with the Church of England condemning the link as "unacceptable" and a matter of "deep sorrow and shame". The vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, called on Sizer to remove the link, which he did. Arkush said: "Posting, and giving approval to, an article which in effect accuses Jews of responsibility for the 9/11 atrocity is unquestionably anti-Semitic, just as it is beyond absurd."
Sizer announced that he would be withdrawing from the use of social media, saying: "I very much regret and apologise for the distress caused by the reposting on Facebook of a link to an article about 9/11 from Wikispooks. It was particularly insensitive in that last week coincided with Holocaust Memorial Day. I removed the link as soon as I received adverse feedback, and realised that offence had been caused.
"I have never believed Israel or any other country was complicit in the terrorist atrocity of 9/11, and my sharing of this material was ill-considered and misguided."
