The Programme to Combat Racism was a political programme of the World Council of Churches during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It funded a number of liberation movements while those groups were involved in violent struggle, including UNITA and the MPLA in Angola; FRELIMO in Mozambique; SWAPO in South West Africa/Namibia; the Patriotic Front in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe; and the ANC and Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa. According to Rachel Tingle, between 1979 and 1991 the PCR gave a total of $9,749,500 to such groups.
This caused much controversy in the past among member churches. A Time Magazine article had the title "Going Beyond Charity: Should Christian cash be given to terrorists?”. Further examination of WCC's political programme appeared in Amsterdam to Nairobi - The World Council of Churches and the Third World by Ernest W. Lefever.
The Programme to Combat Racism was changed and concerns addressed through the “Special Commission
Further criticism was also been cited by the Christian right. In the U.S., important elements in such WCC member groups as the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese were upset.
Accusations of Anti-Zionism
The council has been described by some as taking anti-Zionist positions in connection with its criticisms of Israeli policy. They believe the council has focused disproportionately on activities and publications criticizing Israel in comparison with other human rights issues. The council members have been characterized by Israel's former Justice minister Amnon Rubinstein as anti-Zionist, saying "they just hate Israel."
The World Council of Churches has rejected this accusation. In 2005, the General Secretary of the WCC, Samuel Kobia, stated that anti-Semitism is a "sin against God and man" and "absolutely irreconcilable with the profession and practice of the Christian faith," quoting from the first assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam in 1948.