PC(USA) Divestment from Israel
Encyclopedia
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
adopted a policy of "phased, selective divestment
" from certain American corporations operating in Israel
beginning in 2004, as a means of influencing the government of Israel. Thus the Presbyterian Church (USA) initiated what has become a wider campaign for the disinvestment from Israel
. In many ways this has been a result of the church's stance against policies of Israel. This policy has been controversial both within and outside of the denomination, even resulting in charges of anti-Semitism
. The policy was revised in 2006 by another vote of the General Assembly .
. As of 2007, the PC(USA) has divested itself from nineteen companies involved in military-related production (large contractors
, manufacturers of anti-personnel landmines
and weapons of mass destruction
), tobacco companies, and companies engaged in or supporting governments in human rights violations. In the latter category, the church most recently divested itself from Talisman Energy
, which was accused of collaboration with the Sudanese government. After Talisman withdrew from Sudan, the General Assembly voted to remove it from the divestment list.
stating in part, "While we do not condone the acts of violence by certain Palestinian extremists, we are appalled that Israel, in response, has continued to punish the entire Palestinian
population and its leaders who have been your government's partners in the peace process."
, and adopted by a vote of 431-62 a resolution that called on the church's committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment "to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel." The resolution expressed the church's support of the Geneva Accord
, said that "the occupation . . . has proven to be at the root of evil acts committed against innocent people on both sides of the conflict", "the security of Israel and the Israeli people is inexorably dependent on making peace with their Palestinian neighbors", "horrific acts of violence and deadly attacks on innocent people, whether carried out by Palestinian suicide bombers or by the Israeli military, are abhorrent and inexcusable by all measures, and are a dead-end alternative to a negotiated settlement", that the United States government needed to be "honest, even-handed broker for peace", supported the idea of a United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure security in Palestinian territory, and urged "the U.S. government, the government of Israel, and the Palestinian leadership to move swiftly, and with resolve, to recognize that the only way out of this chronic and vicious impasse is to abandon all approaches that exacerbate further strife, lay aside arrogant political posturing, and get on with forging negotiated compromises that open a path to peace." A second resolution passed "Calling for an End to the Construction of a Wall by the State of Israel." The resolution opposed to the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier
, regardless of its location, and opposed the United States government making monetary contribution to the construction. In separate votes, the General Assembly also adopted policies rejecting Christian Zionism
as being incompatible with Presbyterian theology on the grounds of it being an offshoot of premillennial dispensationalism.
, Citigroup
, ITT Industries
, Motorola
and United Technologies .
negotiations. Since then, the General Assembly of the reunited PC(USA) reaffirmed its support of a two-state solution in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 . Of concern to some were calls by the PC(USA) for the Israeli government "to address justly the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees
", which is a controversial issue. Resolutions endorsing a Palestinian right of return also passed the PC(USA) General Assembly in 2003 and 2004. A former Moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, has long endorsed a Palestinian "right of return."
, advocacy groups on differing sides of the Israel-Palestine issue praised the resolution. Groups supporting the Israelis, who had written General Assembly commissioners to express their concerns about a corporate engagement/divestment strategy focused on Israel, praised the new resolution, saying that it reflected the church stepping back from a policy that singled out companies working in Israel. Groups supporting the Palestinians said that the church maintained the opportunity to engage and potentially divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation, because such support would be considered inappropriate according to the customary MRTI process.
In June 2008 the church revised the document extensively. This resulted in a rebuke from the major Jewish denominations in a June 13, 2008 letter to the head of the PCUSA and a similar condemnation in the form of a statement from the denominations and ten other organizations.
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
adopted a policy of "phased, selective divestment
Disinvestment
Disinvestment, sometimes referred to as divestment, refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott, with specific emphasis on liquidating stock, to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change...
" from certain American corporations operating in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
beginning in 2004, as a means of influencing the government of Israel. Thus the Presbyterian Church (USA) initiated what has become a wider campaign for the disinvestment from Israel
Disinvestment from Israel
Disinvestment from Israel is a campaign conducted by religious and political entities which aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 military campaign." The disinvestment campaign is...
. In many ways this has been a result of the church's stance against policies of Israel. This policy has been controversial both within and outside of the denomination, even resulting in charges of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. The policy was revised in 2006 by another vote of the General Assembly .
Divestment
The church stated in 1971 (UPCUSA) and 1976 (PCUS) that it has a responsibility to ensure that its funds (such as the Pension Trust for Retired Church Workers) be invested responsibly and consistent with the church's mission. The reunited church formed the Committee for Mission Responsibility Through Investing (MRTI) in 1986. The MRTI Committee carried out the General Assembly's wish to engage in shareholder activism and as a last resort, divest itself of companies which contravened the GA's position. Divestment follows a phased process that starts with attempted dialog and shareholder resolutions and ultimately the total sale of and future ban on the church's holdings in a company. The church did so with companies cooperating with the apartheid regime in South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. As of 2007, the PC(USA) has divested itself from nineteen companies involved in military-related production (large contractors
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
, manufacturers of anti-personnel landmines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
and weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
), tobacco companies, and companies engaged in or supporting governments in human rights violations. In the latter category, the church most recently divested itself from Talisman Energy
Talisman Energy
Talisman Energy Inc. is one of Canada's largest petroleum SB companies. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Talisman Energy has operations around the globe including: Canada and the United States of America in North America; Colombia and Peru in South America; Algeria in North Africa; United Kingdom,...
, which was accused of collaboration with the Sudanese government. After Talisman withdrew from Sudan, the General Assembly voted to remove it from the divestment list.
Early communications with Israel
In March 2002, General Assembly Clerk Clifton Kilpatrick sent a letter to Israeli prime minister Ariel SharonAriel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
stating in part, "While we do not condone the acts of violence by certain Palestinian extremists, we are appalled that Israel, in response, has continued to punish the entire Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
population and its leaders who have been your government's partners in the peace process."
2004 General Assembly resolution
In June 2004, the PC(USA) General Assembly met in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, and adopted by a vote of 431-62 a resolution that called on the church's committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment "to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel." The resolution expressed the church's support of the Geneva Accord
Geneva Accord
The Geneva Initiative, also known as the Geneva Accord, is a model permanent status agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Parameters, and the Arab Peace Initiative...
, said that "the occupation . . . has proven to be at the root of evil acts committed against innocent people on both sides of the conflict", "the security of Israel and the Israeli people is inexorably dependent on making peace with their Palestinian neighbors", "horrific acts of violence and deadly attacks on innocent people, whether carried out by Palestinian suicide bombers or by the Israeli military, are abhorrent and inexcusable by all measures, and are a dead-end alternative to a negotiated settlement", that the United States government needed to be "honest, even-handed broker for peace", supported the idea of a United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure security in Palestinian territory, and urged "the U.S. government, the government of Israel, and the Palestinian leadership to move swiftly, and with resolve, to recognize that the only way out of this chronic and vicious impasse is to abandon all approaches that exacerbate further strife, lay aside arrogant political posturing, and get on with forging negotiated compromises that open a path to peace." A second resolution passed "Calling for an End to the Construction of a Wall by the State of Israel." The resolution opposed to the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
, regardless of its location, and opposed the United States government making monetary contribution to the construction. In separate votes, the General Assembly also adopted policies rejecting Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy. It overlaps with, but is distinct from, the nineteenth century movement for the Restoration of the Jews...
as being incompatible with Presbyterian theology on the grounds of it being an offshoot of premillennial dispensationalism.
Criticism of resolution
Together, the resolutions caused dissent within the church and some friction with the Jewish community. Leaders of several American Jewish groups communicated to the church their concerns about the use of economic leverages that apply specifically to companies operating in Israel. Other critics of the divestment policy accused church leaders of anti-Semitism.Companies named for divestment
In 2005, the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment named five companies for initial focus and that it would engage in "progressive engagement" with the companies' management. The five companies, all based in the United States, were the following: Caterpillar Inc.Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
, Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, ITT Industries
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
and United Technologies .
General Assembly Council response to criticism
In response, the PC(USA) General Assembly Council claimed that the PCUSA has "approved numerous resolutions on Israel and Palestine, repeatedly affirming, clearly and unequivocally, Israelis right to exist within permanent, recognized, and 'secure' borders." The PC(USA) was not founded until 1983, but its predecessor denominations, the UPCUSA ("Northern" church) and PCUS ("Southern" church) made several official statements on ths issue. The Northern church recognized Israel's right to exist occurred in 1974. Both the PCUS and UPCUSA expressed their official support of the two-state solution in 1978 in response to the Sadat/Begin/CarterCamp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
negotiations. Since then, the General Assembly of the reunited PC(USA) reaffirmed its support of a two-state solution in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 . Of concern to some were calls by the PC(USA) for the Israeli government "to address justly the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees
Palestinian right of return
The Palestinian right of return is a political position or principle asserting that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees and their descendants, have a right to return, and a right to the property they or their forebears left or which they were forced to leave in what is now Israel...
", which is a controversial issue. Resolutions endorsing a Palestinian right of return also passed the PC(USA) General Assembly in 2003 and 2004. A former Moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, has long endorsed a Palestinian "right of return."
Change to policy in 2006
In June 2006, The Presbyterian Church (USA) 217th General Assembly overwhelmingly (483-28) replaced language adopted in 2004 that focused the "phased, selective divestment" specifically on companies working in Israel. The new resolution requires the consideration of "practical realities," a "commitment to positive outcomes" and an awareness of the potential impact of strategies on "both the Israeli and Palestinian economies." The 2006 resolution also recognized Israel’s right to build a security barrier along its pre-1967 boundaries. The General Assembly acknowledged the "hurt and misunderstanding among many members of the Jewish community and within our Presbyterian communion" that resulted from the 2004 resolution and stated that the Assembly was "grieved by the pain that this has caused, accept responsibility for the flaws in our process, and ask for a new season of mutual understanding and dialogue."Reaction to change in policies
After the 2006 Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, advocacy groups on differing sides of the Israel-Palestine issue praised the resolution. Groups supporting the Israelis, who had written General Assembly commissioners to express their concerns about a corporate engagement/divestment strategy focused on Israel, praised the new resolution, saying that it reflected the church stepping back from a policy that singled out companies working in Israel. Groups supporting the Palestinians said that the church maintained the opportunity to engage and potentially divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation, because such support would be considered inappropriate according to the customary MRTI process.
Vigilance against anti-Jewish ideas and bias
In May 2008, the Interfaith Office of the PC(USA) issued a statement titled "Vigilance against anti-Jewish ideas and bias." This document stated that "Once again, many Presbyterians have become aware that strains of an old anti-Jewish tradition are present in the way we ourselves sometimes speak and in the rhetoric and ideas of some writers that we may read regarding" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The statement reports that examples of "anti-Jewish theology can unfortunately be found in connection with PC(USA) General Assembly overtures."In June 2008 the church revised the document extensively. This resulted in a rebuke from the major Jewish denominations in a June 13, 2008 letter to the head of the PCUSA and a similar condemnation in the form of a statement from the denominations and ten other organizations.
See also
- Disinvestment from IsraelDisinvestment from IsraelDisinvestment from Israel is a campaign conducted by religious and political entities which aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 military campaign." The disinvestment campaign is...
- Academic boycotts of IsraelAcademic boycotts of IsraelProposals for an academic boycott of Israel have been inspired by the historic academic boycotts of South Africa which were an attempt to pressure South Africa to end its policies of Apartheid....
- DisinvestmentDisinvestmentDisinvestment, sometimes referred to as divestment, refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott, with specific emphasis on liquidating stock, to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change...
- Presbyterian Church (USA) Hezbollah controversyPresbyterian Church (USA) Hezbollah controversyThe Presbyterian Church Hezbollah controversy began following a series of statements made by church representatives in 2004.-Background:...