Nov. 17, 2004 Presbyterian officials fired for meeting Hizbullah By URIEL HEILMAN CLEVELAND, Ohio American Jewish groups commended the Presbyterian Church USA for firing two church officials who met last month with Hezbollah members in Lebanon as they condemned an anonymous arson threat against Prebyterian churches for their perceived anti-Israel tilt. Valerie Munson, co-convener of Presbyterians Concerned for Jewish-Christian relations, confirmed Monday in a meeting at the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly that the two officials, Kathy Lueckert and the Rev. Peter Sulyok, had been fired for their meeting with the Hezbollah officials. She also said that individual churches in America were aware of but not very concerned about the arson threat, which was sent by letter to the Presbyterian Church. On Tuesday, a host of Jewish groups condemned the threat, which mentioned the church's positions on Israel and the Jews. This summer, the Presbyterian Church voted to divest from companies that do business with Israel in an attempt to influence Israeli policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians. The church also decided not to halt funding of so-called messianic churches, which target Jews for conversion. "We strongly disagree with certain positions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Israel and terrorism, but such threats are immoral and contrary to Jewish tradition and the practices of the Jewish community," said a statement from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Similar statements were issued by other Jewish groups. At a meeting Monday in Cleveland about the Presbyterian Church's positions on Israel, the Anti-Defamation League's director for interfaith affairs, Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, said he was heartened by the church's move to dismiss the officials who took part in the Hezbollah meeting. When the encounter in Lebanon took place, one Presbyterian participant had suggested that members of the Lebanese terrorist group were easier to deal with than Jewish officials. "We're glad to see that the church recognized the problems created for themselves, the United States and the Jewish community by meeting with sworn enemies of the United States, and we're glad they took this matter seriously and acted appropriately," Bretton-Granatoor said.