The House of Bishops of General Convention has rejected a resolution that condemns violence in the Middle East after opponents criticized its language for being unbalanced, anti-Israel and un-Anglican.

Offered by the Committee on National and International Concerns, the House of Deputies endorsed a substitute Resolution B027: Peace between Israel and Palestine. The 12-part resolution called for peace in the Middle East and supported the two-state solution in resolving the crisis in Israel and Palestine.

However, the Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little II, Bishop of Northern Indiana, protested language in the legislation. He singled out Israel as the aggressor and the Palestinians as the victims in the conflict. Bishop Little said he stood not in support of the separation barrier -- the wall built by Israel to protect itself from attack -- but “to take a stand against terrorism”

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Bishop of California, disagreed. “The wall does not contribute to the lessening of suicide bombing,” he said, but a “tool” that “supports the illegal settlements” built by Israel on the West Bank.

The Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, stated that ascribing all the blame to Israel “is incorrect.”

The resolution eventually failed on a show of hands, 43 to 53.

(The Rev.) George Conger reporting from General Convention in Anaheim.