By Slimmest Of Margins, U.S. Presbyterian Church Rejects Israel Divestment
Jul 5, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from The Jerusalem Post: The largest Presbyterian church in the US narrowly voted against divesting its portfolio from three companies that have been accused of selling Israel products and providing services used to oppress Palestinians in the West Bank, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Thursday.
By a margin of 333-331 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected a motion to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The church’s general assembly is taking place in Pittsburgh.
The church’s general assembly instead passed a minority report that avoided divestment, but encouraged investing in businesses that operate in Palestine, according to the Post-Gazette.
Ethan Felson, vice president of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, was at the convention, and had been speaking with Church leaders about toning down the resolution in the days prior to the vote, according to a JCPA spokesman.
A 2011 church report found that Caterpillar supplies bulldozers for the demolition of Palestinian homes, Motorola provides cell phone technology to West Bank settlements and Hewlett-Packard manages information technology for the Israeli Navy.
