[Mb-civic] Flashpoint Israel

Tue Dec 7 11:18:23 PST 2004

Flashpoint Israel 

By Jane Lampman, Christian Science Monitor
 Posted on December 6, 2004, Printed on December 7, 2004
 http://www.alternet.org/story/20671/

A vote by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to use economic sanctions against
certain companies doing business with Israel  namely those that profit from
the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza  has set off a quiet firestorm
within the American religious community.

The Presbyterians' decision to consider divesting such businesses from its
$8 billion portfolio, coupled with the prospect that the Episcopal Church
and other churches might do the same, is adding to tensions that have risen
over recent years between mainline Protestant churches and the American
Jewish community over their differing views of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.

It is also stirring Jewish groups to try to head off divestment ‹ and to
rebuild a rapport with these churches, with whom they have long worked to
further civil rights and social justice.

"To call for divestment played into all the language of boycott, from
earlier periods in Jewish history to the Arab boycott of Israel. It caused
an explosion in the Jewish community," says David Elcott, director of
interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

In some ways, last summer's divestment vote has forced a conversation about
the Middle East conflict. It also raises the stakes for those who, earlier
this year, launched a bid to renew the old coalition. Christian and Jewish
leaders have met twice, hosted by AJC and the National Council of Churches
(NCC). From discussions on the "theology of land" to the divestment issue,
the religious leaders "spoke from their pain" and asked tough questions of
one another, says the Rev. Shanta Premawardhana, NCC interfaith secretary.

Tensions rose when a Presbyterian delegation traveling in the Middle East in
October met with members of Hizbullah, the Lebanese group on the U.S.
terrorist list. The church's national leadership disavowed the action. Then
in November, the church received a letter threatening arson against
Presbyterian churches unless it halted the divestment process. Jewish groups
condemned the threat.

Last week, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs asked Protestants to reject
divestment in favor of joint efforts to end the conflict. Elaborating on
Jewish concerns, it said the divestment process is discriminatory, will
provoke intransigence on both sides, and "is dangerously ill-matched to our
passionately shared vision of a peaceful resolution to the conflict."

Mainline churches have supported Israel since 1948 and reject terrorism;
they also have longstanding ties to churches in the Holy Land and are
critical of Israeli military practices in the territories. Illegal expansion
of Israeli settlements and a new security wall that encroaches on
Palestinian land are making a viable Palestinian state less feasible,
Presbyterians and others say. With the U.S. government taking little action
to help matters, they add, unusual measures are required.

"The decision to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment ... was
not taken lightly," the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, a Presbyterian leader,
wrote to members of the U.S. Congress. "It was born out of the frustration
that many of our members, as well as members of other denominations, feel
with the current policies of Israel and those of our own government."

The Presbyterians say their aims are to influence the practices of companies
and use their resources ‹ an $8 billion portfolio ‹ in morally responsible
ways. "We have to be principled; we respect human rights and the legitimacy
of international law, and when Israelis or Palestinians breech either we'll
take a hard look at our investments," says the Rev. Marthame Sanders, who
was in ministry in the West Bank.

The church's committee on socially responsible investment will identify
firms that provide services or equipment to support the military occupation
or Jewish settlements; finance or assist in building the wall; or provide
help to Israeli or Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent
civilians.

It will seek meetings with corporate leaders, and possibly file shareholder
resolutions, using divestment as a last resort. Divestment decisions require
approval by the church general assembly in 2006.

Some U.S. Jewish peace groups support the initiative, Mr. Sanders says,
including Jewish Voice for Peace. JVP has filed its own shareholder
initiative asking Caterpillar Inc. to investigate whether Israeli use of its
bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes violates the firm's code of
conduct. Other liberal Jewish groups, however, oppose it.

The Jewish community has countered other divestment efforts. Campaigns on
colleges have made little headway. A proposal to make Somerville, Mass., the
first American city to divest from Israel is likely to be turned back this
week.

It is making some inroads with the churches, too. Fourth Presbyterian Church
in Chicago, which has close ties to a neighboring synagogue, is asking the
denomination to slow the process and engage the Jewish community. It
proposes that, if divestment occurs, money from stock sales be reinvested in
Israel in companies not tied to the occupation.

"I've tried to interpret to my Jewish friends that this is not an
anti-Israel nor anti-Jewish decision, but an attempt by a church to speak a
word of hope and justice for [Palestinians] for whom those words are pretty
elusive," says the Rev. John Buchanan, church pastor. But "I'm not convinced
divestment is a wise thing."

The U.S. Episcopal Church, meanwhile, said in November it will begin to
study how it should respond to companies that contribute to the occupation's
infrastructure or to violence against civilians. It will include Jewish
groups, Palestinians, and the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.

"For us, the term is not 'divestment,'" says Bishop Christopher Epting,
deputy for interfaith relations. "We'd be voting certain shareholder
resolutions expressing concern to companies in which we own stock." Jewish
leaders are more approving of this approach.

Other mainline Protestants are also talking about the issue.

"The notion that a two-state solution might no longer be realistic is very
unsettling to many people, both Jewish and Christian," says Jim Winkler of
the United Methodist Church's public policy board.

Jewish and mainline Christian leaders say they will travel together to the
region to talk with Israelis and Palestinians, and will urge the U.S.
government to become more engaged in the peace process. "The Presbyterian
decision was a flash point," says Bishop Epting, "but in a strange way, it
may well re-energize the relationship."