Israel Divestiture Spurs Clash (washingtonpost.com)

[You can read the entire Washington Post article that is the basis for this blog entry by clicking on the title above. The Post requires free registration.]

Last July, the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly voted 431 to 62 to "initiate a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel."

According to Clifton Kirkpatrick, the stated clerk, the church doesn't plan a blanket divestment of its $7 billion dollar holdings, but it does plan to "target businesses that it believes bear particular responsibility for the suffering of Palestinians and will give them a chance to change their behavior before selling their shares." An example would be Caterpillar, Inc., which manufactures the bulldozers Israel buys to raze Palestinian homes.

Yesterday (28Sep04) in New York, Presbyterian officials met with leaders of the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism to discuss the issue. Reportedly, it was a polite but strained meeting, in which neither side gave any ground.

You can read more about the Presbyterian Church (USA) and its peacemaking efforts in the Middle East by going to The Presbyterian Washington Office home page on the Middle East.

Update: The Presbyterian Church (USA) has messages from both the Moderator and the Stated Clerk on this troubling issue. See Israel & Jewish Relations.