Action Alert--Support Presbyterian Church on Divestment
Issue:
The 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA approved several measures opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine Friday, July 2 including a call to begin gathering data to support a selective divestment of holdings in multinational corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine.
Divestment is one of the strategies that U.S. churches used in the 1970s and '80s in a successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa.
The Church is now under heavy attack by letter, telephone, fax, and E-mail. Please write a letter or send an email of support. The fledgling divestment movement must grow. Even a one sentence email such as "Thank you for your decision to divest from Israel," would be great.
Please take a moment to call or write the Presbyterian Church (USA) and thank them for this important resolution. Below is contact information, compiled by Citizens for Fair Legislation, a member organization of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Action:
1. Write an email to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church by clicking the following link:
http://pcusa.org/form2mail/form2mail.jsp?f2name=Clifton+Kirkpatrick
MODEL LETTER:
I would like to thank the Presbyterian Church (USA) for its historic and courageous decision at its recent General Assembly meeting to begin collecting data to support a selective divestment from multi-national corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine.
I support US policy toward Israel and Palestine being based on human rights and international law. Corporations should be held responsible to these standards of conduct as well. Unfortunately too many corporations—Caterpillar, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc.—are profiting from Israel’s illegal military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem and the pain and suffering that this occupation causes both Palestinians and Israelis.
Thank you for the church’s courage and leadership on this issue.
Sincerely,
2. Or write a letter to: Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church USA, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202.
3. Send an email to info@cjme.org and let us know you wrote to the church.
MORE INFORMATION:
-
Presbyterian Church may pressure Israel
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/18/04)
- Palestinian Lutheran pastor says
merely issuing another statement is not enough -
http://www.pcusa.org/ga216/news/ga04121.htm
- Taking stock of taking stock: Presbyterian Church researching ‘selective’
divestment in Israel-related firms -
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2004/04341.htm
- US CAMPAIGN DIVESTMENT RESOURCES: The US Campaign to End the Israeli
Occupation supports efforts to divest from corporations that profit from
Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East
Jerusalem. You can find resources to engage in divestment efforts on our web
site at:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=28.
These divestment resources are intended to inform, educate and
mobilize the public regarding the US government’s role in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the way funds invested by municipalities
and state governments, trade unions and other US organizations help sustain
the occupation.
-
"Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Hails Presbyterian Decision to
Divest," August 9, 2004
-
Anglican group calls for Israel sanctions: Campaigners inspired by boycott
of apartheid South Africa, 9/24/04, Guardian
EXAMPLE LETTER TO LOCAL PRESBYTERY:
January 4, 2005
Dear Friends of Peace:
This letter comes on behalf of <your organization> in praise of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., for courageously looking into the matter of divestment from Israeli companies that engage in acts of violence against civilians.
We send thanks to the <your local presbytery office> and its member churches. Those of us who belong to other denominations can point to yours for thoughtful leadership on this difficult issue. Please stay the course. Ordinary Palestinians and Israelis long for peace, and it is actions like yours that have in the past brought governments finally to the negotiating table.
In gratitude,
<your name>