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Thread ID: 19665 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2005-08-15
2005-08-15 23:56 | User Profile
[size=5]Presbyterians to justify Israel divestment[/size] [size=5][size=2]Posted: February 4, 2005[/size][/size]
In an attempt to justify what some have called an anti-Semitic move, the Presbyterian Church USA will hold a three-day conference to explain to denomination leaders why action was taken to divest from companies doing business with Israel.
As WorldNetDaily reported, the denomination's General Assembly voted 431-62 in July to divest from Israel. The PCUSA is believed to be the largest organization or institution to join the divestment campaign against the Jewish state. It was the first Christian denomination to do so.
The move set the stage for the church to divest itself from companies that receive $1 million dollars or more in profits per year from investments in Israel or have invested $1 million dollars or more in Israel. Apartheid South Africa is the only other nation the denomination has similarly sanctioned.
Scheduled for Feb. 10-12 in Louisville, Ky., home to the denomination's administrative offices, the meeting is meant to let synods and presbyteries "know what we did and why we did it," Marthame Sanders, missionary-in-residence at the PCUSA offices said in a statement.
The meeting is expected to draw 200 participants representing every synod and presbytery in the nation.
The church's statement characterized last summer's move as part of a "process of 'phased selective divestment' in companies supporting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and in corporations profiting from either Israeli or Palestinian violence."
Said the denomination: "The action is also directed at engaging corporations or financial institutions who benefit from the ongoing creation and expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank."
The statement confirmed that Jewish leaders were especially upset with the General Assembly's action.
"Presbyteries and synods ââ¬Â¦ have been getting asked a lot of questions about this," stated Sanders, saying the middle governing bodies needed and wanted information about what the assembly did "to be equipped to have a debate" on the subject.
Included on the meeting's agenda is a discussion of Presbyterian theology, "particularly related to Christian Zionism," the statement said.
Subsequent to the church's July action, a petition drive began to protest the move.
The petition says the church's resolution is "anti-Semitic because NO OTHER nation is being singled for divestment, not even those whose violations of human rights are truly egregious."
"Only the moral blindness of Jew-hatred could lead the church to compare Israel's multi-racial democracy to apartheid South Africa," the petition says. "Only anti-Semitism could lead the church to condemn democratic Israel, while not voting divestment from Saudi Arabia, where women have virtually no rights and non-Muslims are not even permitted to enter the country without special permission, from Sudan, where race-based genocide is occurring even as we speak, from Iran, where Bahai are murdered for their faith, or from the many other countries where human rights are violated as a matter of routine."
During the same time period this month, a PCUSA seminary in Austin, Texas, is hosting an event entitled, "To Loose the Chains of Injustice: American Churches and the Palestinians." The denomination is one of the participating churches in the Feb. 11-12 meeting.
"The focus of this conference is on the work of the churches for a just peace in Israel-Palestine," states a flyer advertising the confab.
A group of Presbyterian elders and ministers are circulating a petition among the PCUSA membership to call the General Assembly back into special session to rescind the Israel Divestment Resolution.
[url="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42709"]http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42709[/url]
[size=5]Presbyterians to divest from Israel[/size] Posted: July 17, 2004
By an overwhelming vote of its general assembly, the Presbyterian Church USA, boasting 3 million members, is siding with Palestinian Arabs and against Israel, choosing to divest from the Jewish state as it did only with apartheid South Africa. With the decision, approved in a 431-62 vote at the 216th annual general assembly of the PCUSA, the denomination is believed to be the largest organization or institution to join the divestment campaign against Israel. It is the first Christian denomination to do so.
[url="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39504"]http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39504[/url]
é 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
2005-08-15 23:58 | User Profile
216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) [url="http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/israel.htm"][color=#cc0000]http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/israel.htm[/color][/url]
The assembly declared that Christian Zionism is not consistent with the basic values of Reformed theology because it makes use of idiosyncratic interpretations of Scripture to undergird a certain reading of current events, and to generate support for specific political goals that do not bolster work toward peace and potentially endanger Palestinian and Israeli people.
The assembly called for an end to Israel's construction of the "separation barrier."
While fully aware of our interest in Israel's security, the major reason for this action was the assembly's concern of the impact of the structure on the economic, social, and religious life of Palestinians.
The assembly action used the word "wall" because it has become a general reference for the physical structure being put in place.
It raised legitimate questions, corroborated by Israel's Supreme Court and the International Court of Justice, regarding the route of the wall.
In previous assemblies, the church has called for an end to the occupation, as the principal cause of the conflict. Presbyterians are calling for an end to this barrier in the belief "that the best hope for security for both Israelis and Palestinians may be found in laying down all forms of aggression on both sides, ending the Israeli occupation, and finding ways to build bridges of peace rather than walls of separation. Good neighborly relations, rather than mutual isolation and suspicion, are urgently needed between Israel and its neighbors in Palestine and the Middle East."
2005-08-16 00:02 | User Profile
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 11: The US Presbyterian Church has threatened to divest from five American giant corporations, accusing them of supporting and helping maintain the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
The churchââ¬â¢s ââ¬ËMission responsibility through investmentââ¬â¢ (MRTI) committee said in a statement it would have to use the churchââ¬â¢s multimillion-dollar stock holdings in the five corporations to put pressure on them to stop supporting Israeli occupation.
It also said it hoped to engage in a dialogue ââ¬Åso that these corporations might change their business practices which inflict harm on the innocent and delay movement towards a just peaceââ¬Â.
ââ¬ÅIf these dialogues fail, we may conclude that our investments are not being used for activities that support the broad mission of the church,ââ¬Â church official Bill Somplatsky-Jarman said in a press release.
ââ¬ÅAt that point, divestment is an option that the general assembly may consider.ââ¬Â
During its general assembly meeting last year, the church proposed withdrawing investments from firms that do business in Israel.
The church for the first time named five targeted companies which are heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, communications giant Motorola, military contractor United Technologies, electronics manufacturer ITT Industries and international banking conglomerate Citigroup ââ¬â all of which are firms who have been contracted to supply the Israeli forces.
ââ¬ÅWe have chosen these companies because we believe that they can make changes that will increase the possibilities for a just peace in the region. As shareholders of these companies, the Presbyterian Church calls on them to act responsibly,ââ¬Â Carol Hylkema, chairperson of the MRTI committee, said in a press release. [url="http://www.dawn.com/2005/08/12/int3.htm"]http://www.dawn.com/2005/08/12/int3.htm[/url]
2005-08-16 06:51 | User Profile
I wonder if that special branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce created just for jews, the Office of AntiBoycott Compliance, will have anything to say about this before it's all said and done.
I had the great pleasure of briefly working with those folks a couple years back and if one doesn't walk away from the experience cursing 'ZOG' then you really have no clue about what's what.
2005-08-16 08:28 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Texas Dissident]I wonder if that special branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce created just for jews, the Office of AntiBoycott Compliance, will have anything to say about this before it's all said and done.[/QUOTE]Good question!
For those who aren't familiar with this, here's the link the the .zog website:
[url]http://www.bxa.doc.gov/AntiboycottCompliance/OACRequirements.html[/url]
As far as I can see, Israel is the only foreign country named. Jews? Influencing the US government to serve their own ends? Nahhh...
These anti-boycott laws are completely against the spirit of the Constitution, if not the letter. Since when do individuals not have the right to make choices about with whom they will do business? Since the Jews took over, I guess.
Wait a minute, though...I just noticed this:
Generally, the TRA applies to all U.S. taxpayers (and their related companies). The TRA's reporting requirements apply to taxpayers' "operations" in, with, or related to boycotting countries or their nationals. Its penalties apply to those taxpayers with foreign tax credit, foreign subsidiary deferral, FSC (Foreign Sales Corporation), and IC-DISC (Interest Charge-Domestic International Sales Corporation) benefits. Aren't churches in the US tax-exempt? If so, then that might be a loophole that the Presbyterian Church -- or any other church -- can use. Or at least they can use it until the Jews and their suckpoops decide to enact new legislation.
If the Presbyterian Church gets any legal crap for this, another strategy they could use -- one very much justified -- would be to defend themselves on First Amendment grounds. They could simply say that their choice to divest from Israel is based on their religious beliefs -- which is true. Come to think of it, that might be a valid defense for just about anyone who refuses to do business with Israel. But of course, ZOG doesn't necessarily have to play fair. Since when have they ever cared about the Constitution, except when it somehow served their ends?