In June, three more U.S. churches to consider ending financial support for Israeli occupation

posted on: Jun 6, 2015

Faith in the peace process is at an all-time low after the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the extremism of his new government. With even President Obama admitting that the door on negotiations is all but closed, Christian activists are opening new windows to expose Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

“Understanding Netanyahu’s intent and policy is not guess work at all, it is consistent with the historical record for any who bother to look,” said Rev. Dr. Jeffrey DeYoe, moderator of the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA). “Talk of a two-state solution, even with Netanyahu resurrecting that language after being elected, is a cynical delaying tactic.”

“Netanyahu is going to cost us Palestinians a tremendous amount of suffering, and more atrocities and policies of oppression,” said Bisan Mitri of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour. “But this also means that the mask has been dropped.”

Mitri is one of 3,000 Palestinian Christians, including the heads of 13 churches, who signed the Kairos Palestine document calling for: “boycott and disinvestment as tools of nonviolence for justice, peace and security for all.”

Last year, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) and United Methodist Church (UMC) divested from several U.S. companies involved in the occupation. Various Quaker bodies have done the same.

“Negotiations are not productive and other avenues must be tried,” said a statement by the United Methodist Kairos Response, a grassroots group within the UMC.  “The avenues recommended by our own faith community in the Holy Land, the Palestinian Christians, include boycott and divestment as well as sanctions.”

This June, three more U.S. churches—the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ (UCC), and the Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA)—will join the growing list of those listening to the Kairos Palestine call and considering resolutions to end financial support for the occupation.

What they do and don’t say
As awareness—and misinformation—about BDS proliferate, these church resolutions have been carefully crafted to articulate their respective strategies.

“The Church must discern its appropriate form of BDS in accordance with its values of nonviolence and commitment to justice and in light of its shared complicity in the ongoing Occupation,” states the introduction to the Episcopal resolution. “For the Episcopal Church, BDS is ultimately a strategy to impose pressure on corporate decision-makers aimed at ending the Occupation.”

To that end, their resolution mandates an annually updated list of corporations that “support the infrastructure of Israel’s Occupation.” A phase of “corporate engagement” including shareholder resolutions would be followed by divestment from companies that refuse to change course. Such companies would then be placed on a “No Buy List” with other companies that support the occupation. It also includes measures to boycott settlement “products and/or businesses which are illegal under international law.”

In the background to its resolution, the UCC Palestine Israel Network (UCCPIN) lists the three demands of the Palestinian civil society BDS call: “End to the occupation; equality for Palestinians now living in Israel; and recognition of Palestinian refugees’ right of return,” emphasizing that, “UCCPIN chooses to focus particularly on the first of these goals believing that an end to the occupation is an essential ingredient for a just peace.”

According to Rev. Diane Dulin of UCCPIN, their resolution includes “boycotting settlement products, divesting from the worst offenders who support the occupation, urging church-wide study of Kairos Palestine, seeking congressional review of possibly illegal U.S. military assistance, and continuing interfaith dialogue.”

The UCCPIN specifically calls for divestment from Caterpillar, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, G4S, and Veolia, and mandates “developing and publishing standards by which faith-driven investment, divestment, and re-investment decisions can be made in the future.”

The MCUSA resolution does not directly reference BDS or name specific companies but instead calls for annual review of church investments “for the purpose of withdrawing investments from corporations known to be profiting from the occupation and/or destruction of life and property in Israel-Palestine.” It further calls for “individuals and congregations to avoid the purchase of products that enable the military occupation to continue, including items produced in Israeli settlements.”

While remaining clear in their criticism of the Israeli government, each of these church resolutions and their supporting documents confess the shameful history of Christian anti-Semitism and affirm the need for ongoing dialogue with the Jewish community.

Source: mondoweiss.net