Brian J. Brown, a Methodist minister who was banned in his native South Africa in 1977 for anti-apartheid work, writes that apartheid in Israel/Palestine is in many ways more brutal than it was in his country, including checkpoints and barriers and expulsions. His new book says that recognition of that apartheid and total opposition to it is mandatory for any person or church that claims to follow Christian teachings.

One year after Chicago Episcopalians knocked down a resolution condemning Israeli apartheid by a sizeable margin, its convention approved a similar resolution by 72 to 28 percent. The turnaround is a measure of the dramatic rise in American awareness of the Israeli system, and reflects the judgments of two leading human rights organizations earlier this year.

“We reject Israel’s apartheid system of laws and legal procedures,” the United Church of Christ stated at its general synod, in a resolution approved by 83 percent of members despite an appeal by the American Jewish Committee that the resolution should mention “Israel’s relentless pursuit of peace for 73 years.”