PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In July of 2004, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) voted overwhelmingly (431 to 62) to initiate a process of selective divestment from companies conducting business in Israel. In August of 2005, the Presbyterian Church USA named specific companies it plans to target, including Motorola and United Technologies.
According to Dr. Eugene Korn, the Director of Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Congress, "[t]he Presbyterian Church USA case arguing for divestment is so blatantly skewed that one knowledgeable about the conflict sees immediately that it is but a partisan posture. The PCUSA position fails to call for any parallel campaign of action against Palestinian murder and terror, even though they are central factors to the conflict. It belittles the fundamental security concerns of Israeli citizens, voiding it of fairness."
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ANGLICAN CHURCH
In the Fall of 2004, the Anglican International Justice and Peace Committee recommended divestment from Israel to the Anglican Communion. This recommendation was rejected on October 8, 2005, when the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church directed its Social Responsibility in Investments (SRI) committee to use the church's investments to encourage positive change in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians instead of encouraging divestment.
While the Episcopal Church's decision to reject divestment is positive, the committee's statement, according to the ADL "… did not take notice of the positive, and risky, steps Israel has taken in the recent successful disengagement from Gaza, and the many cases before the Israeli courts on the issue of determining an appropriate route of the security barrier. "
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UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
On July 5, 2005, at its 25th biennial General Synod in Atlanta, the United Church of Christ (UCC) passed two anti-Israel resolutions. The first was a divestment resolution and the second resolution calls for Israel to tear down its security fence.
The UCC's "Tear Down the Wall" resolution tells Israel to take down the separation barrier but it does not ask the Palestinians to stop suicide attacks against Israelis. This resolution ignores Israeli efforts to minimize the barrier's impact on farmers and to speed passage through checkpoints. Moreover, it suggests the barrier was built in a vacuum, rather than in response to the murder of more than 1,000 Israelis since September 2000 at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. For a small country like Israel, that is the equivalent of 40,000 U.S. citizens murdered by terrorists.
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DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
On July 27, 2005, the General Assembly of the Disciples of Christ passed a resolution entitled "Breaking Down the Dividing Wall," which calls on Israel to "…tear down the barrier fence." The content of the Disciples of Christ's resolution mirrors the UCC's resolution since the UCC and the Disciples of Christ share a Global Ministries Board.
Jerusalem Post reporter Susan Blatt's article on August 7, 2005, entitled "Disciples of Christ to Israel: Drop Dead," states "[a]fter reading this document it's hard not to conclude that these members have, while remaining fully in touch with their emotions, completely lost touch with 'the abstract facts' of real life. Look again at the date: 15 days after the Netanya suicide bombing. Four days after a would-be bomber was intercepted climbing the fence. If these facts do not demonstrate that completing the fence is necessary to save lives, then what would?"
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EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA (ELCA)
During ELCA's Ninth Biennial Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Florida (August 8-14), rather than rubber-stamp an anti-Israel resolution written by the denomination's staff, ELCA's voting members amended the original language to make it less critical of Israel in general and its security fence in particular.
Although the amendments were minor, it is a significant departure from the anti-Israel resolutions that were adopted by the overwhelming majority of participants at the UCC and Disciples of Christ's conventions.
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