The United Church of Christ
Palestine-Israel Network sent out the following press release:
The United Church of Christ
Palestine-Israel Network (UCC PIN) is pleased to announce that today the
plenary of the 30th General Synod taking place in Cleveland passed Resolution
#4, calling for boycotts and divestment from companies that profit from
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
“As disciples of Jesus, we hear and seek to heed
his call to be peacemakers, responding to violence with nonviolence and
extending love to all,” said Rev. John Deckenback, Conference Minister of the
Central Atlantic Conference of the UCC, which submitted the resolution to the
synod. “It is in that spirit of love for both Israelis and Palestinians, and a
desire to support Palestinians in their nonviolent struggle for freedom, that
the United Church of Christ has passed this resolution.”
“In approving this resolution, the UCC has
demonstrated its commitment to justice and equality,” said Rev. Mitri Raheb, a
Christian Palestinian and Pastor of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church
in Jordan and the Holy Land,
who traveled to Cleveland
for the synod. “For Palestinians living under occupation or facing systematic
discrimination as citizens of Israel, enduring the destruction of their homes
and businesses, the theft of their land for settlements, and living under
blockade and siege in Gaza, this action sends a strong signal that they are not
alone, and that there are churches who still dare to speak truth to power and
stand with the oppressed.”
The vote, which was 508 in
favor, 124 against, with 38 abstentions, was the culmination of a process that
began in 2005 to end the Church’s complicity in Israel’s nearly half-century-old
occupation and other abuses of Palestinian human rights. It also comes as a
response to the Christian Palestinian community’s call for Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanctions, as embodied in the Kairos Palestine document, which
seeks to achieve Palestinian freedom and rights using peaceful means, inspired
by the US Civil Rights and South African anti-Apartheid movements.
In passing Resolution #4, the UCC is following
in the footsteps of sister mainline churches like the Presbyterian Church
(USA), which passed a similar resolution last year divesting from Israel’s
occupation, and the United Methodists, who voted to boycott products made in
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and whose pension
board divested from G4S, a prison service company, due in part to its dealings
with the Israeli military.
UCC PIN expresses its gratitude to synod
delegates, who faithfully carried out their duties in a thoughtful and
responsible manner, giving the proposal the careful deliberation it deserved. UCC
PIN also expresses its gratitude to our many allies, including those in the
Jewish and Palestinian communities, for their indispensable and cherished
support.
UCC PIN hopes that this modest initiative will
help encourage the Israeli government to end the occupation, and looks forward
to working in covenantal relationship with the UCC Pension Boards and the UCC
Funds to implement this resolution moving forward.
30/06/2015 en MONDOWEISS.
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