Send this article to a friend

7 February 2006

UK Anglicans vote for Israel divestment as US church baulks

Chris Herlinger
Geneva/New York (ENI). The Presbyterian Church (USA) after considering possible divestment from companies in Israel has put the matter on hold while Anglicans in England have voted for pulling funds from companies profiting from the "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territories.

A Presbyterian committee in the United States studying possible divestment from businesses the denomination said may profit from violence in Israel and Palestine reported on 6 February that it is not yet ready to make recommendations on the matter.

In London, however, the Church of England's general synod voted on the same day for the disinvestment of Anglican church funds from companies profiting from Israel's "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territories.

The main target of the Anglican action will be the US earth-moving equipment company Caterpillar which has supplied vehicles used by Israel to demolish Palestinian homes, the Ekklesia Web site reported, noting that the company insists it has not provided the earth movers directly to Israel but to the US military which sold them on.

The synod said it was heeding "the call from our sister church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, for morally responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories and, in particular, to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation".

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the vote was not binding on the Church Commissioners, a body managing denominational investments, but was "hugely symbolic".

The Anglican action follows decisions by a number of churches particularly in the United States to explore the withdrawal of investments from companies linked to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

In 2005, the central committee of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches urged WCC members to consider economic measures to oppose Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

The 2004 decision by the US Presbyterian Church to explore what it called "phased, selective divestment" caused an uproar in the United Sates and internationally. Many US Jewish groups said Israel was being unfairly targeted by the Presbyterians, a charge also made by some within the denomination.

Still, a 2-4 February meeting of the committee charged with overseeing the action said it needed additional time before making recommendations to the denomination's general assembly, which next meets in June.

© 1994 - 2006 Ecumenical News International.

Top of Page

---

Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22 791 6111     Fax: +41-22 788 7244   
Email: eni@eni.ch