A deeply divided Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Thursday became the latest American church to shy away from divesting in companies that supply equipment to Israel to enforce its control in the occupied territories, after a passionate debate that stretched late into the evening and a vote that was nearly a tie.
The decision not to divest, the culmination of an eight-year process, was watched intensely by Christians, Jews and in the United States and in the Middle East. It is likely to bring a sigh of relief to Jewish groups in Israel and the United States that lobbied Presbyterians against divestment, and to dismay the international movement known as B.D.S. — Boycott, Divest and Sanctions — which advocates using economic leverage to pressure Israel to return occupied land to the Palestinians.
By a vote of 333 to 331, with two abstentions, the church’s General Assembly voted at its biennial meeting in Pittsburgh to toss out the divestment measure and replace it with a resolution to encourage “positive investment” in the occupied territories. The results were so close that, when posted electronically in front of the convention, they evoked a collective gasp. After two and a half hours of passionate debate, the replacement resolution to invest in the territories passed more easily, 369 to 290, with eight abstentions.
Presbyterians in favor of divestment said that their church could not in good conscience hold stock in companies that they said perpetuate an unjust occupation and undermine the search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But opponents said that divestment would unfairly vilify Israel, and accomplish little but further polarization.
Arthur Shippee, a delegate from southern New England, said: “What divestment will achieve is this: We will add a whisper soon lost in the storm, but we will further the divisions in our church when we have our own serious problems to address, and we will precipitate divisions with the synagogues within our communities whom we work with frequently on a variety of issues. This will be perceived as picking on Israel, and how could it not?”
Speaking in favor of divestment and against the pro-investment resolution, Tim Simpson, a delegate from the Presbytery of St. Augustine in Jacksonville, Fla., said: “The Palestinians aren’t asking us for a check, sisters and brothers. The Palestinians are asking us for justice. They’re asking us for dignity. How can you write a check to a people who don’t control their own water?”
The church had been considering divestment in three companies — Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard — after eight years of what the church says were fruitless negotiations to convince the companies to change their policies. A church committee report issued in 2011 said that Caterpillar supplies bulldozers used to demolish Palestinian homes, Motorola provides surveillance equipment to monitor Palestinian villages in the West Bank, and Hewlett-Packard supplies biometric scanners used at checkpoints and technology used by the Israeli Navy in the blockade of Gaza.
The General Assembly is the most senior decision-making body for the church, which has about two million members and is the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination.
The Presbyterian convention drew Jewish organizers to Pittsburgh to lobby for and against divestment. Many were from Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports divestment. But most other Jewish groups lobbied to defeat the divestment resolution, even relatively liberal groups like J Street and Americans for Peace Now, which are critical of settlement expansion in the territories.
Mainline Protestant churches in the United States have long maintained ties to Palestinian Christians in the occupied territories, supporting missions, hospitals, churches and charitable groups there. When Protestant church groups travel to Israel on tours and pilgrimages, many also visit the territories and meet with Palestinians who share their frustration and travails at living under Israeli occupation.
The United Methodist Church voted against divestment at its meeting in Tampa, Fla., in May. The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, rejected divestment measures in 2007 and 2011.
However, the Friends Fiduciary Committee, which handles investments for about 250 Quaker meetings and organizations, did decide to divest from Caterpillar this year, according to Anna Baltzer, national organizer of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition that includes church groups.
Front Page Features