U.S. Churches Turning Backs on Israeli Divestment Proposal

The extensive debate over Israeli divestment within some U.S. Protestant churches appears to be cooling off after the Episcopal Church U.S.A. decided last weekend not to go ahead with selling its stock in companies which sell products used by Israel in its occupation of the Gaza Strip.

|TOP|According to Reuters, the Episcopal Church in the U.S. will instead use its US$3.6 billion portfolio and future investments as a tool “for selected companies to change behaviour resulting in a more hopeful climate for peace”, it announced in a recent report.

The report said “corporate engagement is a more effective strategy to bring about change” than selling off shares that leave the church without any influence over the company.

“My reading, as a central Jewish prayer in this, is that there never was a (general) move toward divestment,” said David Elcott, director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

“Here is the reality: No Church in the United States except the Presbyterians has voted for divestment,” he added. The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. voted in favour of a “phased, selective divestment” in 2004 to begin no earlier than 2006.

The church said, however, divestment would only be considered if “progressive engagement fails”.

Barry Creech, church spokesman on divestment, said “we’re not in a hurry” to begin divestment before the church gathers again next summer.

ECUSA’s rejection of the divestment option in favour of corporate engagement and positive investment was welcomed by Mr Elcott, who said: “The Episcopal Church’s action to invest in companies fostering Israeli-Palestinian relations reflects a courageous commitment to promote peace by building bridges to connect Jews and Palestinians.”

Mr Elcott, in a letter to ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, expressed the desire of the AJC to join with the Episcopal Church in “constructive investment that will lead to a viable, secure Palestinian State living at peace with an equally viable and secure State of Israel”.

|QUOTE|The Anti-Defamation League also said in a press release that it was ‘heartened’ by ECUSA’s decision to reject Israeli divestment and expressed the hope that other mainline Protestant churches would follow suit and also drop the divestment proposal.

The Rev. William Harter of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and also with Presbyterians Concerned for Jewish and Christian Relations, which opposes divestment, said: “As people look at this with clear heads and understand what’s really involved, there’s a growing awareness that this was a major mistake.”

“It won’t work. There’s no way what’s being proposed is going to have an impact on decisions that the Israelis or Palestinians make about peace and certainly not the U.S. government,” he added.

Rev. Harter also criticised the proposal for failing to recognise that the Israelis have made “major concessions and a major step toward peace”.

He also said there is a “widespread and growing” movement among church members to reverse the divestment proposal at the summer 2006 membership meeting, reported Reuters.