‘Anti-semitic’ vicar accused of spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories

AN “ANTI-SEMITIC” vicar faces being thrown out of the Church of England after being accused of spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories and sharing platforms with Holocaust deniers.

The Rev Dr Stephen Sizer, 68, did not deny his actions, but said they were not anti-semitic.

He argued they were political and aimed at the state of Israel, not Jewish people. However, at a Clergy Disciplinary Measure hearing – the first of its kind to be held in public – he faced 11 separate claims of anti-semitism.

These began in 2005, when he participated in a conference run by the Islamic Human Rights Commission entitled “Towards a New Liberation Theology”. The charges are spread over more than a decade, until 2018.

Nicholas Leviseur, presenting the case, said: “The first allegation is that Dr Sizer’s actions were unbecoming or inappropriate to the office of a clergyman, that he provoked and offended the Jewish community. The second is engaging in anti-semitic activity.”

Dr Sizer was ordained in 1984 and has a PHD in Christian Zionism. He is the former vicar of the Anglican parish of Christ Church in Virginia Water, Surrey.

The complaint has been brought by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Marie van der Zyl, its president, said: “There is a whole series of behaviours in the complaint that you cannot say are not anti-semitic... It is so hurtful, especially the stuff about the Holocaust. It’s really awful. If my grandfather could see this.”

Yesterday, Mr Leviseur told the hearing at St Andrew’s Church, Holborn, London, that throughout the indictment period, the vicar had shared platforms with Holocaust deniers and a Hezbollah commander.

He also shared allegedly anti-semitic material on social media, including posting a link to an article in 2010 called “The Mother of All Coincidences” which sought to blame Israel for the 9/11 attacks. Five years later, he posted a link to another article on the same theme entitled “911/Israel did it”.

Stephen Hofmeyr, who represented Dr Sizer, said he has long been a vocal critic of the state of Israel and of Christian Zionism, which he said promotes the idea that Jews having a home will help the coming of the messiah.

Mr Hofmeyr told the hearing: “There is a distinction between anti-semitism and anti-zionism. The former is directed against Jewish people, the latter is against the movement to establish a Jewish state in the Middle East... If his words or conduct have been antisemitic, he accepts that will amount to misconduct.”

The Bishop of Winchester, in whose diocese Dr Sizer’s church is, suspended the priest from his ministry in 2018 pending the hearing’s outcome. Dr Sizer denied 11 charges of anti-semitic behaviour. The hearing continues.