Divestment Vote Targets Israeli Occupation

By TERESA WATANABE
Los Angeles Times

April 30 2005

The 1.4 million-member United Church of Christ will vote this summer on
whether to divest from certain U.S. companies doing business with Israel as
a protest against the Jewish state’s occupation of Palestinian territories,
church officials said Friday.

The measure would single out as possible divestment targets U.S.
corporations
“involved with Israel’s illegal occupations of the West Bank and Gaza, the
construction of the `security fence,’ and the continuation of ... Israeli
settlements within Palestinian territories.”

The church, which holds a $3 billion national investment portfolio, will
become the second mainline Protestant denomination to vote on the
controversial issue. Last year, the Presbyterian Church USA decided to begin
a process of divestment from U.S. companies it believes benefit from the
occupation.

In addition, the Presbyterians and United Methodist Church have supported
shareholder actions against Illinois-based Caterpillar Inc. to end the use of
its bulldozers in razing thousands of Palestinian homes. And both the
Methodists and the Episcopal Church have launched studies of the divestment
issue.

The divestment activity among Christian
churches has drawn widespread protests
from the Jewish community. Many Jewish organizations, including the orthodox
leadership of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the liberal Progressive Jewish
Alliance, have argued that divestment against U.S. companies in Israel is
biased and counterproductive to the Middle East peace process just as it
seems to hold some promise.

“It’s heavy-handed, blames only one party and won’t achieve the goals
supporters claim they’re trying to achieve,” said Mark Pelavin, director of
the inter-religious affairs commission for Reform Judaism, the United
States’ largest Jewish denomination with 1.5 million members. Reform rabbis
have been meeting with their United Church of Christ counterparts since last
year to convey their concerns about the divestment initiatives, he said.

The UCC’s divestment resolution was one of
three Israel-related measures
recently approved by the church’s executive council for presentation at its
general synod in July. An alternative measure calls for only an initial study
on the divestment issue, while a third urges Israel to dismantle its
separation wall.

Lawrence Davidson
Professor of History
West Chester University
WeSt Chester, Pa 19383
USA
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