Protestant Group Divests from Israel, equating with apartheid

[bos1]

Protestant Group OKs Divestment From Israel
July 16, 2004
http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=greenberg200407141104

In an unprecedented victory for pro-Palestinian activists, leaders of the largest Presbyterian denomination officially equated the Jewish state with apartheid South Africa and have voted to stop investing in Israel.

With the decision, approved in a 431-62 vote at the 216th annual General Assembly of Presbyterian Church (USA), the church, boasting nearly 3 million members, 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, according to Sister Patricia Wolfe, executive director of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of 275 Christian denominations.

In a news release, the Presbyterian Church (USA) liaison to the Middle East, Rev. Victor Makari, was quoted as saying: "If nothing else seems to have changed the policy of Israel toward Palestinians, we need to send a clear and strong message." The church news release noted that "divestment is one of the strategies that U.S. churches used in the 1970s and '80s in a successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa."

[dand]

1. Good, its about time.

[flordehinojos]

2. Yes!

I agree! :hippie:

[mom cat]

5. Welcomc to DU ! It's a great place' but terribly addictive.

:hi: :hippy: :dem:

[xxqqqzme]

3. a positive move

let us hope this starts a ball rolling!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Let's hear it for Presbyterians! Way to go. Make a stand, for a change.n/t

[TexasProgresive]

6. When some cities start

doing the same thing, Mr Sharon will tear down that wall. I think it was the grassroots actions of churches and cities in the US that brought down apartheid in South Africa. The problem I see is there is no equivalent of Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela among the Palestinians. I hope I'm wrong and they have just not received enough recognition.

[Barkley]

7. Great News!

If nothing else this will highlight what's been happening to the Palestinian people under occupation.

Other groups (churches, universities, etc.) will soon undoubtely follow.

I believe that Desmond Tutu has already called for a divestment campaign.

I don't believe that the 'apartheid wall' and Israel's occupation and annexation policies have made it more secure.

[lottie244]

8. Maybe more will follow?

This is one way to make Israel accountable. I just can't understand how the US and the rest of the world goes to war with Iraq for some very technical violations of UN resolutions and Israel continues to violate many UN resolutions and they are never even sanctioned. It amazes me.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CWebster]

11. Why is acceptible for you to say that

and anyone who even criticizes Israel policy is an anti-semite?

[atreides1]

12. Because

That's the way he is, pro-Israel, no matter what they do.

[kysrsoze]

13. Typical response....

Whatever.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. who?

Presbyterians or Jews?

Either way, you're a dolt.

[maddezmom]

16. and a tombstoned dolt to top it off

:)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Not yet

But may be if given enough rope.

That's why I like to go to the I/P forum every now and then.

[AFSCME girl]

10. This is a great post........

thank you! :yourock: And welcome to DU! It's great here and YES it is VERY addicting :bounce:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. Until 10 minutes ago I thought this was overhyped anti-Israel rhetoric

And then I saw the map below from this article: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/July2004/HaCohen0707.htm

Have a look at the following map, adapted from Amira Hass' recent article (Ha'aretz, June 25, 2004). It shows just a small detail of the Wall, in the so-called http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/443129.html">Christian Triangle south of Jerusalem.



The red lines are the Wall – in part already constructed, in part under construction, in part to be constructed. Now have a look at the four Palestinian villages on the left: Nahalin, Hussan, Batir, Walaja. On which side of the Wall are they? Obviously, a wrong question. They are actually encircled by the Wall, trapped by it all around. Batir and Hussan together, Nahalin and Walaja each on its own. Consider the scale: crossing any of the enclaves, from wall to wall, would take 10-20 minutes walking. Any inhabitant of these villages is never more than a kilometer (0.6 mi.) away from the wall. Not only agricultural land, but schools, hospitals, clinics, markets, shops, work, not to mention recreation, are all outside. To get out, you have to pass through a gate, through an Israeli army checkpoint. The gate is probably closed – because it's open just a couple of hours a day, or because someone up there declared a state of high alert, or because of a Jewish holiday, or because the soldier in charge didn't get up on time. And if the gate happens to be open, the soldier might let you pass (if you have got the necessary permits), or not (for whatever reason, or for no reason), or ask you for something in return: a small gift, or cursing Mohammad, Jesus or Arafat, or maybe a tip on your neighbor or brother. If your work, or your health, or your child's life depends on getting out, you'd do anything. Same if you want to get into the village – as guest, truck driver, electrician, or doctor.(...)

Now this is neither a Wall nor a Fence. Just like you don't call a book "a paper," or bread "flour," you won't call this a Wall. What Israel is building in the West Bank is made of walls and fences, but it is not a wall or a fence. It is something very different. I am not sure about its proper name: ghettos? Extra-judicial detention centers? Open-air prisons? A network of cages for humans? I am not sure there is a name for it; I am not sure it has a precedent in human history. Not only has it got nothing to do with the comparatively miniature Berlin Wall, it has clearly very little to do even with the http://flagspot.net/flags/za(old.html">Apartheid Bantustans, which encompassed tens of thousands of square kilometers each. The West Bank cages often comprise just a few hectares, which is a different thing altogether.

[FightinNewDem]

17. This is absurd

Riddle me this, Batman...why isn't the PC-USA quite as indignant about the rampant human rights abuses perpetrated by Israel's neighbors? If they were in a tizzy about Syria as well, I would take their argument far more seriously. As it is, it looks like they are jumping on a politically correct bandwagon of the Lexus Left.

C'mon. Israel is far far from perfect, particularly given the current Likud government. But it is still a nation with free elections, a free press, and a reasonably coherent judicial system. You can't say that about any other nation in the Middle East, and to single out Israel for criticism and sanction is utterly absurd.

[Jerseygirltoo]

19. This is a strawman

Last I heard we WERE in a tizzy about Syria. Didn't Congress just pass the Syria Accountability Act?
I guess Israel has free elections the same way South Africa had free elections during apartheid. Only certain people are eligible to vote.

[The Magistrate]

21. Not True, Ma'am

All persons resident within the boundaries of Israel are citizens, regardless of ethnicity; all citizens have the right to vote and freely organize and express themselves politically.

[Jerseygirltoo]

23. Oh really?

Then why is it if a Jewish citizen marries a non-citizen, their spouse can move to Israel and become a citizen. But if an Arab citizen marries a non-citizen, their spouse does not have any rights to do the same.

[The Magistrate]

25. And That, Ma'am, Has What To Do With Citizens Voting?

States have a variety of immigration and naturalization regulations. They have no bearing whatever on whether citizens can exercise the franchise. The regulation you speak of was passed, in a rather passionate moment sweeping the Knesset, in the immediate wake of several instances where persons had contrived marriages of convenience along those lines to acquire papers useful in carrying out armed attacks against the state within its borders. It is an unfair regulation, that must certainly injure many, and no wiser than it would be to remove the spousal priviledge from U.S. law because some marriages are contracted for purpose of immigration fraud. That is a seperate crime, and investigation of the marriage itself is the proper remedy.

[Malikshah]

27. Key word being "sweeping"

As in treating citizens of Israel differently based on who they are ethnically. There is no way around the fact that this is discrimination based upon ethnicity.

Democracy is more than voting.

Sorry, the security excuse isn't enough. When we have people fleeing to Israel to avoid criminal complaints in their own country the issue of rights etc. doesn't work.

I agree, however, the "Green Card" scenario needs to be investigated.

[Jerseygirltoo]

29. Still not OK in my book

It's not a free election, when the determination of who can become a citizen, and therefore can vote, is discriminatory based on their ethnic background. Plus there are a whole slew of other laws that discriminate between Jews and non-Jews, regarding where you are allowed to live, or work, or buy property, etc.
Also, what about the people living outside the legal boundaries of
Israel in the occupied territories? Do Jews and non-Jews there have the same rights?
By the way, I do appreciate that we are able to have a civil discussion about this. So many of the exchanges on this topic descend into name calling.
As to why this bothers me more when it happens in Israel vs other Middle Eastern countries that are not free at all-
More of my tax money is going to Israel than any other country in the world.
I feel they have an undue influence on US policies and politicians, to the detriment of our own best interests

[Flagg]

31. What's with the Ma'am thing ?

[truthspeaker]

20. Because we aren't selling weapons to Syria or supporting their policies

[RogueTrooper]

24. Except, of course, when we do

such as handing over "enemy combatants" for a little bit of the old torture heavy.

[noonwitch]

28. Exactly-we are selling the Israelis weapons

We should only give humanitarian aid to both sides until they stop killing each other. Bush took it even farther by endorsing Sharon's plan, that the rest of the government didn't even want.

[RogueTrooper]

26. Have you checked regarding the PC-USA positions

regarding other middle eastern countries? Or are you just rehashing some old conversation stoppers you happened to have close at hand?

[Jerseygirltoo]

18. Very good news

And the Palestinians do have other good leaders, they are either locked up or ignored by the Western media. Israel prefers to have Arafat out there as a figurehead/scapegoat. Why do you think they haven't killed him yet?

[Larkspur]

30. Good news!

May this brave act start a movement to hold Israel accountable for its abuse of Palestinians.

[Moderator]

32. Since this is turning into Israel/Palestine stuff

I'm moving it to the I/P forum. Thank you.

[duvinnie]

33. Fantastic!

Just when I had thought that the churches were losing their moral
compass too - what with the Catholics' hopeless sexual scandals
and the leftist churches' preoccupation with gay rights to the
exclusion of all other issues. (Note: No offense intended to
gays, just pointing out the obvious here).

Its time to differentiate between the actions of the Israeli government and the basic decency of the Jewish people, whose own faith tradition is being irreversibly destroyed by the actions of the Likudniks.

[undergroundrailroad]

34. Locking per I/P Guidelines.

Subject line does not equal article's title.

This article may be reposted if done so in line with I/P guidelines.




Undergroundrailroad
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