Presbyterians to justify Israel divestment

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[hope]

Israel divestment

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Friday, February 4, 2005

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Presbyterians to justify
Israel divestment
Denomination sets meeting to answer questions about financial action

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Posted: February 4, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

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© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

In an attempt to justify what some have called an anti-Semitic move, the Presbyterian Church USA will hold a three-day conference to explain to denomination leaders why action was taken to divest from companies doing business with Israel.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the denomination's General Assembly voted 431-62 in July to divest from Israel. The PCUSA is believed to be the largest organization or institution to join the divestment campaign against the Jewish state. It was the first Christian denomination to do so.

The move set the stage for the church to divest itself from companies that receive $1 million dollars or more in profits per year from investments in Israel or have invested $1 million dollars or more in Israel. Apartheid South Africa is the only other nation the denomination has similarly sanctioned.

Scheduled for Feb. 10-12 in Louisville, Ky., home to the denomination's administrative offices, the meeting is meant to let synods and presbyteries "know what we did and why we did it," Marthame Sanders, missionary-in-residence at the PCUSA offices said in a statement.

The meeting is expected to draw 200 participants representing every synod and presbytery in the nation.

The church's statement characterized last summer's move as part of a "process of 'phased selective divestment' in companies supporting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and in corporations profiting from either Israeli or Palestinian violence."

Said the denomination: "The action is also directed at engaging corporations or financial institutions who benefit from the ongoing creation and expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank."

The statement confirmed that Jewish leaders were especially upset with the General Assembly's action.

"Presbyteries and synods … have been getting asked a lot of questions about this," stated Sanders, saying the middle governing bodies needed and wanted information about what the assembly did "to be equipped to have a debate" on the subject.

Included on the meeting's agenda is a discussion of Presbyterian theology, "particularly related to Christian Zionism," the statement said.

Subsequent to the church's July action, a petition drive began to protest the move.

The petition says the church's resolution is "anti-Semitic because NO OTHER nation is being singled for divestment, not even those whose violations of human rights are truly egregious."

"Only the moral blindness of Jew-hatred could lead the church to compare Israel's multi-racial democracy to apartheid South Africa," the petition says. "Only anti-Semitism could lead the church to condemn democratic Israel, while not voting divestment from Saudi Arabia, where women have virtually no rights and non-Muslims are not even permitted to enter the country without special permission, from Sudan, where race-based genocide is occurring even as we speak, from Iran, where Bahai are murdered for their faith, or from the many other countries where human rights are violated as a matter of routine."

During the same time period this month, a PCUSA seminary in Austin, Texas, is hosting an event entitled, "To Loose the Chains of Injustice: American Churches and the Palestinians." The denomination is one of the participating churches in the Feb. 11-12 meeting.

"The focus of this conference is on the work of the churches for a just peace in Israel-Palestine," states a flyer advertising the confab.

A group of Presbyterian elders and ministers are circulating a petition among the PCUSA membership to call the General Assembly back into special session to rescind the Israel Divestment Resolution.

Related stories:

Presbyterian: Muslims easier to deal with than Jews

Are mainline churches anti-Semitic?

Episcopal Church next to shun Israel?

Petition condemns church for 'hatred' of Israel

Presbyterians to divest from Israel

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[dervish]

As for total aid to Israel over the years, add up the numbers. It's a heck of a lot.

Guess what, total aid to Egypt is the same as to Israel. Now who gives the US more bang for the buck? Which country for instance has it religious leaders preaching hatred of the US and Jihad from its Mosques? Which country of the two is a democracy, has freedom of the press and has elected leaders? Which country of the two votes against the US in the UN at every vote?

Further I am sick of hearing how much the US spends on Israel. The US is footing European defense on a 4 to 1 basis through NATO. And they have for decades. Care to count that up? That sum dwarfs the money spent on Israel. The Europeans are not on the front line of the US WOT. Israel is. Further much of the money given to Israel has strings attached requiring the money be spent on US companies.

Why does the Church ignore a genocide going on in Sudan with 70,000 dead people and counting over 18 months in favor of censuring Israel for a Palestinian campaign of terror that has killed 3000 Palestinians and 1000 Israelis in 4 years?

Such censure of one and ignoring of the other leads to only one conclusion -- Anti-Semitism.

[claptrap]

PRESBYTERIANS cant really be lumped into one group they are
kind of a collection of splinter groups who believe in
what,appeasement of hostile muslims?

[monkeyshine]

What you are saying is that they have the right to be hypocrites, which they do. But that doesn't mean others cannot point to their hypocrisy and riduculue the thin veil they have used to cover it.

The anti-semite charge sticks because they are not even remotely acting uniformly from a point of principle. They have singled out the Jewish state for boycott for what amounts to far less than other that are not boycotted are doing - and without regard to the far greater reason and justification for their actions or the larger context in which these actions occur.

The church's behavior is irrational, which only bolsters the claim of racism. Racists are irrational.

[GeronL]

The same group also sent a delegation on a visit to Hamas, for real.

[antonia]

bump

[justshutupandtakeit]

Oh, we already know WHY the miserable clowns did it. None of their mealy-mouthed rationalizations of their Leftist world view is going to make a difference.

Our denomination's downward course will only accelerate since these fools believe there is anything they can say to defend this anti-Christian act. Fie on them.

[justshutupandtakeit]

It has also passed resolutions essentially calling the American troops war criminals. When the congregations found out about it all hell broke loose. This may be the fight which finally destroys the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country.

[ScottM1968]

Hey, you are an anti-Semite!

See, it's not hard to call someone that without proof. I can even do it.

I'm against foreign aid as a whole. And I am for choice in stock purchases.

So shut up about the slurs calling me an anti-Semite. And just handle it about my anti-foreign aid, pro-stock choice stance.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

There was an article posted some time back which had a list of all the companies that do business with Israel and why it would be stupid to support divesment because it would mean having to live without a whole host of products that we take for granted, all of which were developed in Israel. It was aimed at college students but would apply here just as well.

[A CA Guy]

Another drifting sea of lost souls.

[dervish]

I wasn’t aware I called you anything. I believed I was referring to the policy of divestiture of the Presbyterian Church USA. But if you want to sign up – by all means. No the calling is not hard. Making it stick when you have policies like the Presbytarian Church USA isn’t hard either (and their supporters – now I am talking to you).

You can mouth off about being “anti-foreign aid.” But the US gives many countries foreign aid, and you only chose to criticize the aid given to Israel. Singling out Israel for special negative treatment is anti-Semitism. So “shut up” and “handle it.”

Also I suspect you may have wandered in here accidentally. I have noticed it is a ‘special’ privilege of the left to declare their cause has rights to free speech at the same time as they are yelling at their opponents to “shut up.”

[ScottM1968]

People are not anti-Semite or racist because they are for stock choice for any reason.

I have stated that I am against foreign aid, period. I am not for buying our friends.

In no way does either stance point to being anti-Semite or racist by anyone.

The definition of a "racist":

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=racist

[dervish]

"2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race" = Singling out Israel for special negative treatment

[cookcounty]

"I am not an anti-Semite. However, I believe people have a right to choose what they do with their monies."

A. they are talking about other peoples' money (this was not put to a vote of the contributors).

B. Yes, they have the right to decide what to do with "their" money. They also have a right to invest in Nevada prostitution if they want. And we have a right to point out their hypocrisy. Nobody here is suggesting a law directing their investments would be in order. But deep and unrelenting criticism would be in order, and we intend to deliver it.

[cookcounty]

"I always confuse the PCUSA with the CPUSA."

You know, for the longest time I thought "PC" in "PCUSA" stood for "Prebyterian Church." I finaly realized it means, - - - - -"PC"

[Clemenza]

John Knox is rolling over in his grave...

[cookcounty]

"I strongly dislike how Israel is a socialist country."

If there is a country that is moving away from socialism faster than Israel, I haven't heard of it. Radical free-market reforms and tax cuts have caused the Tel Aviv Stock market index to MORE THAN DOUBLE over the last 36 months. It's been the best stock market in the world, and despite all the negative news, the economy of Israel is growing - - - - - -very fast!

[cookcounty]

"The same group also sent a delegation on a visit to Hamas, for real. "

...And to Hezbollah, whom they praised with great enthusiasm.

[GeronL]

Maybe I got them mixed up?

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

I see a bleak future for mainline Christian denominations.

Personally, I think that the idea proffered by one of the more conservative factions within the Anglican Communion, i.e., to unify ministries in the United States with like-minded churches in parts of the developing world, is worth exploring.