[News] United Church of Christ Divests from Israeli Occupation

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  United Church of Christ Divests from Israeli Occupation

author Wednesday July 01, 2015 11:05author by Celine Hagbard - IMEMC News
*http://www.imemc.org/article/72119*

    The U.S.-based United Church of Christ voted 508 - 124 on Tuesday to
    divest from companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The divestment resolution passed by the United Church of Christ (UCC) 
calls for the church to divest from the Israeli occupation, to boycott 
Israeli settlement products, to persist in pressuring Congress to end 
unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, and to study the Kairos 
Palestine document produced by prominent Palestinian Christians, which 
calls on Christians around the world to take action to support the basic 
human rights of the Palestinian people.

The resolution was introduced at the UCC's Synod (General Assembly) by 
the United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network (UCC-PIN), which 
issued a statement following the vote which quoted Rev. Mitri Raheb, a 
Christian Palestinian and Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
Jordan and the Holy Land, who traveled to Cleveland for the synod.

He said, "In approving this resolution, the UCC has demonstrated its 
commitment to justice and equality. For Palestinians living under 
occupation or facing systematic discrimination as citizens of Israel, 
enduring the destruction of their homes and businesses, the theft of 
their land for settlements, and living under blockade and siege in Gaza, 
this action sends a strong signal that they are not alone, and that 
there are churches who still dare to speak truth to power and stand with 
the oppressed.”

South African anti-apartheid activist, Reverend Desmond Tutu, wrote a 
statement in support of the UCC's divetment resolution, writing, "I 
affirm your resolution’s condemnation of all violence and your 
uncompromising commitment to the path of non-violence and 
inter-religious dialogue. And I commend the resolution’s call for 
accountability from your own, United States, government over its annual 
$3.1 billion in military aid to Israel."

According to the statement by UCC-PIN, the vote, which was 508 in favor, 
124 against, with 38 abstentions, was the culmination of a process that 
began in 2005, to end the Church's complicity in Israel's nearly 
half-century-old occupation and other abuses of Palestinian human 
rights. It also comes as a response to the Christian Palestinian 
community’s call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, as embodied in 
the Kairos Palestine document, which seeks to achieve Palestinian 
freedom and rights using peaceful means, inspired by the US Civil Rights 
and South African anti-Apartheid movements.

In passing Resolution #4, the UCC is following in the footsteps of other 
large U.S. churches like the Presbyterian Church (USA), which passed a 
similar resolution last year divesting from Israel’s occupation, and the 
United Methodists, who voted to boycott products made in Israeli 
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and whose pension 
board divested from G4S, a prison service company, due in part to its 
dealings with the Israeli military.

According to supporters of the resolution, as of today, the 
Presbyterians have divested from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and 
Hewlett Packard; the United Methodists divested from G4S; the Quaker 
Friends Fiduciary Corporation divested from Caterpillar, Veolia, and 
Hewlett Packard; the United Church of Christ divested from all of the 
above; and the American Friends Service Committee and Mennonite Central 
Committee have divested from many others -- all in light of these 
companies’ involvement in the Israeli military occupation.

Two more national denominations, including the Episcopalians, will 
consider boycott and divestment in the coming week.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is an international 
effort aimed at pressuring the Israeli government to end its occupation 
of Palestinian land, air, sea, borders, travel, access to resources and 
economy. The means that the movement is using to pressure Israel is by 
calling for divestment from companies engaged in the Israeli military 
occupation, to boycott Israeli goods, services and academic 
collaborations and to sanction the Israeli government.

Next week marks the 10 year anniversary of the Palestinian call for BDS 
(boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns to hold Israel 
accountable for its violations of Palestinian rights and international law.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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