Church of England to investigate priest’s postings

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NEW YORK (Press Release) –The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has welcomed a decision by the Church of England to launch a formal investigation into online comments by the Rev. Stephen Sizer, who posted a link on Facebook to an article titled, “9-11 Israel did it.”  Rev. Sizer, vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water, was previously the subject of an investigation for similar anti-Jewish posts on social media.

“We are encouraged that the Church of England has responded quickly to yet another outrage by Rev. Sizer,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “Despite his words to the contrary, Rev. Sizer’s repeated behavior raises concerns that he has not renounced his anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views.  We hope the Church will take decisive action to ensure that he does not get a free pass to spread anti-Semitism.”

A 2012 investigation of Rev. Sizer concluded with a “conciliation report” that explicitly stated that links to websites should be “carefully monitored.”  In October 2014, Rev. Sizer attended the 2nd New Horizon conference in Tehran, Iran, which included the par­tic­i­pa­tion of sev­eral anti-Israel activists, anti-Semitic con­spir­acy the­o­rists and Holo­caust deniers.

The Diocese of Guilford, where the Rev. Sizer is licensed, launched the current investigation in response to complaints. According to news reports, when speaking to a reporter about the link, he said; “I would welcome articles you can recommend refuting the allegations.” The notion of Jewish or Israeli involvement in 9/11 is an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that has found broad acceptance in wide swaths of the Muslim and Arab world and among a variety of conspiracy theorists.

Rev. Sizer has since removed the link on Facebook and issued an apology.

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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League