[Peace-discuss] who is making statements against Israeli settlements in Palestine?

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Ah yes, a voice in the wilderness... while Netenyahu's lots louder and wilder voice insists that the Old Testament has given all that land to the Israelites, case closed... and 100% of the Repub presidential hopefuls lend strong and unquestioning support, one actually accusing Obama of throwing Israel "under the bus." Oy.

--- On Sun, 9/25/11, Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] who is making statements against Israeli settlements in Palestine?
To: "Peace-discuss List" <Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Date: Sunday, September 25, 2011, 4:13 PM

[Churches are making statements against Israeli settlements, for
divestment from companies “that directly or indirectly support the
violation of human rights”. Below is the formal petition and rationale
of the United Methodist Church. Feel free to suggest such statements
to other groups. -karen medina]

THE RESOLUTION
Aligning United Methodist Investments
with Resolutions on Israel/Palestine

Endorse the resolution today

RATIONALE:

For more than 40 years, every United Methodist Church General
Conference has endorsed calls for just and lasting peace for all
Israelis and Palestinians, including an end to all military sales to
the whole region.  Tragically, ongoing military occupation and
expanding Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands have deepened a
system of violence and discrimination that dehumanizes Palestinians
and Israelis.  The biblical mandate to be peacemakers demands that we
express our love of our Palestinian and Israeli neighbors both in word
and through nonviolent actions.  (Matthew 5: 9, 1 John 3:17-18)

The Council of Bishops reminds us in God’s Renewed Creation:  Call to
Hope and Action:  “We love God and neighbor by challenging those who
do harm.  We must not only respond to the suffering already created,
but also challenge people, companies, and governments that continue to
exploit the weak, destroy the earth, perpetuate violence, and generate
more weapons.  We follow Jesus’ example of confronting authorities
nonviolently using the force of love.”

Palestinian Christians have implored Christians everywhere to put
actions behind their words to end Israel's occupation of Palestinian
land, which is destroying their lives (Kairos Palestine Document).[i]
Although The United Methodist Church has long opposed the occupation,
The United Methodist Church boards and agencies still hold stock in
companies that sustain it.[ii]

In 1996, The United Methodist Church General Conference declared that
“continuing efforts by the State of Israel to build settlements in the
occupied territories violate both international law and the spirit of
the Declaration of Principles [the Oslo peace process].”[iii] The 2004
General Conference approved a resolution opposing “confiscation of
Palestinian land … the continued building of illegal Jewish
settlements, and any vision of a  ‘Greater Israel’  that includes the
occupied territories and the whole of Jerusalem and its
surroundings.”[iv]

The United Methodist Church Book of Discipline discourages investment
in companies “that directly or indirectly support the violation of
human rights” (¶716).[v] Palestinian human rights are violated by
companies that sustain illegal settlements, segregated roads,
checkpoints, the separation wall, home demolitions and other realities
of the occupation.

Researchers with the General Boards of Global Ministries, Pensions and
Health Benefits, and Church and Society, several annual conferences,
and ecumenical partners have identified a limited number of US and
international companies that sustain Israel’s occupation.[vi] United
Methodists have engaged Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett Packard on
this issue for years and have asked them to end their involvement with
the occupation.

The Book of Discipline requires consideration of divestment when
companies do not respond to corporate engagement with changed
practices (¶716).[vii] At the October 2010 Socially Responsible
Investing (SRI) Summit, the General Board of Pension and Health
Benefits stated that SRI measures it has employed in the past,
including screening and divestment, have not violated the board’s
fiduciary responsibility to beneficiaries.

Divestment is not aimed at Israel itself, but at the occupation of
land beyond its internationally recognized borders. As a non-violent
moral action, divestment seeks to strengthen the Church’s support for
the peoples of Israel and Palestine, whose future can only be secured
through a just peace. Even if such an action resulted in a lesser
financial return, we believe our moral mandate overrides financial
gain.

Many faith groups and organizations around the world have already
divested or publicly support divestment.[viii] The Church should lead
with prophetic action by publicly and promptly aligning its
investments with longstanding church policies opposing the Israeli
occupation. Such action is supported by mission personnel who have
served in the Holy Land since the 1990s.

ACTION:

In light of our theological discernment of moral and biblical justice,
the General Conference calls on The United Methodist Church to end its
financial involvement in Israel’s occupation by divesting from
companies that sustain the occupation.

The General Conference

-  instructs all United Methodist general boards and agencies to
divest promptly from Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett Packard, which
have been engaged repeatedly by United Methodist agencies and annual
conferences on this issue, until these companies end their involvement
in the Israeli occupation.

-  calls on all United Methodist general boards and agencies to
immediately engage with other companies in their portfolios that have
been identified by researchers in United Methodist agencies and annual
conferences as being involved in the occupation.[ix] If these
companies do not change their involvement within two years, they
should be removed from United Methodist portfolios.

-  requires all United Methodist general boards and agencies to
provide updates on their websites regarding the process of corporate
engagement with and/or divestment from companies that support the
Israeli occupation.

- directs all United Methodist general boards and agencies to provide
a report to the 2016 General Conference regarding their progress
toward complying with this resolution.

- calls on The United Methodist Church boards and agencies, annual
conferences, local churches and individuals to prayerfully consider
corporate involvement in Israel’s occupation when making investment
decisions.

-   encourages United Methodists to partner with Jews, Christians,
Muslims and other people of conscience working for corporate
accountability, human rights and an end to the occupation.

Endorse the resolution


[i] Kairos Palestine. “A Moment of Truth: A Word of Faith, Hope, and
Love From the Heart of Palestinian Suffering”
www.kairospalestine.ps/sites/default/Documents/English.pdf Web. 1 May
2010.

[ii] Holy Land Task Force. “Companies of Concern”
www.umhltf.org/Companies_of_Concern.html Web. November 2010.

[iii] General Board of Global Ministries. “Two Resolutions of The
United Methodist Church on the Middle East: The Building of
Settlements in Occupied Territories.”
www.gbgm-umc.org/middle_east/Jerusalem.html Web. 1996. As cited in The
Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2000. “214.
Israel-Palestine Conflict – The Building of Settlements in the
Occupied Territories.” (Abingdon Press), 732.

[iv] United Methodist Church. “Opposition to Israeli Settlements on
Palestinian Land”
http://archives.umc.org/interior_print.asp?ptid=4&mid=6855 Web 2004.
As cited in The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church
2004. “312. Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land.”
(Abingdon Press), 789.

[v] The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2008.
“Socially Responsible Investments”  (Abingdon Press), 492.

[vi] “Companies of Concern.”

[vii] “Socially Responsible Investments,” 492.

[viii] Interfaith Peace Initiative. “Global Actions to End the Israeli
Occupation”  www.interfaithpeaceinitiative.com/globalactions.pdf  Web
July 2010.

[ix] “Companies of Concern.”
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