The relative silence of Canadian Protestant churches during the Holocaust and their critical attitude toward the State of Israel stemmed mainly from Christian teachings about Jews and Judaism. The very existence of Israel contradicted a fundamental tenet of Christianity, and churches faced the difficult task of finding a way to reconcile the permanent existence of a Jewish state with their theology. In The Holocaust, Israel, and Canadian Protestant Churches Haim Genizi distinguishes between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitic attacks on its legitimacy and right to exist. Genizi pays particular attention to the controversy surrounding A.C. Forrest, editor of the influential United Church Observer, which constantly criticized Israel's policies and strongly supported the Palestinian cause, a position that led to a serious dispute with the Canadian Jewish community. Genizi also deals with the complications and ambiguities of the geopolitics of the Middle East and examines the dilemmas they pose for both the Christian and the Jewish conscience.
The conflict over resolutions condemning Israel for accepting apartheid and maintaining systematic racial cleansing, adopted in the international conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, in late 2001, shows how explosive the controversy over the Israel-Palestinian crisis remains.