Color me flabbergasted. The 216th annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) just approved (by a vote of 431-62) an Israel divestment measure. The Church, which has 3 million members and in 2001 had a total investment portfolio of $7 billion, will divest itself of all holdings in companies that either have $1 million or more invested in Israel or take out $1 million or more per year in profits.
In the news release announcing its decision, the Church drew an explicit parallel to the divestment campaigns over apartheid South Africa.
...On a moral level, there's great similarity -- in fact, in many ways Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories goes beyond what was done under apartheid. But Israel is far more economically integrated with the United States than South Africa ever was, and U.S. multinationals are far more "globalized" than they were then.
While this is heartening news, I really wonder whether the Presbyterian Church will be able to implement this measure. It seems to me that it requires at the least divestment from any major U.S. multinational corporation.
Empire Notes post
In the news release announcing its decision, the Church drew an explicit parallel to the divestment campaigns over apartheid South Africa.
...On a moral level, there's great similarity -- in fact, in many ways Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories goes beyond what was done under apartheid. But Israel is far more economically integrated with the United States than South Africa ever was, and U.S. multinationals are far more "globalized" than they were then.
While this is heartening news, I really wonder whether the Presbyterian Church will be able to implement this measure. It seems to me that it requires at the least divestment from any major U.S. multinational corporation.
Just the announcement of such an idea is, I think, a hugely important move which advances the issue, so color me encouraged and surprised as well. As surprised as I was when I read that the Southern Baptists cried foul on the CheneyBush campaign's voter drive aimed at churches.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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