July 6, 2012
Pittsburgh
After two hours of debate and presentations Thursday night (July 5), the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) said no to divestment as part of its position on peace in the Middle East.
The path to the final vote came through the Assembly’s adoption of a minority report presented by members of the Committee on Middle East and Peacemaking Issues.
“The action today doesn’t subtract or diminish in any way PC(USA)’s involvement in the Middle East,” said GA Moderator Neal D. Presa at the press conference following the Assembly’s vote. Presa had closed the evening by commending commissioners for the level of civility in the very difficult debate.
Committee moderator, the Rev. Jack Baca, said that the resolution, which passed by a vote of 369-290-8, “recognized the tragedy of the situation in Israel and calls for engagement at all levels of society for a solution (to the Israel-Palestine conflict).”...READ MORE
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"I would say to the Church's leaders as they again consider joining forces with the BDS Movement, that the Movement's rhetoric and tactics are not only a distraction, but a genuine threat to conflict resolution. Even the limited divestment approach under consideration by PCUSA falls under the rubric of larger BDS efforts to place blame entirely on one side of the conflict. Such an approach encourages not reconciliation, but polarization. Further, too many in and around the BDS movement refuse to acknowledge either the legitimacy of Israel or the right of the Jewish people as well as the Palestinian people to a state.
ReplyDeletePro-peace, pro-Israel advocacy has gained traction in the American Jewish community by embracing the mutuality inherent in the two-state solution. We reject a zero-sum approach, which says that to be pro-Israel means one must be anti-Palestinian -- or vice versa. We seek a win-win solution."
Jeremy Benami
http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/07/02/boycott_divestment_and_sanctions_put_allies_odds Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Put Allies at Odds