A proposed resolution that would have required the United Methodist Church (UMC) to divest from three companies doing business with Israel was defeated Wednesday. At its quadrennial conference in Tampa, Fla., the UMC instead supported a motion calling for “positive investment” in the Palestinian economy.
Leading up to the conference, 1,200 American rabbis signed a letter opposing the divestment resolution. Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said Wednesday that the rejection of divestment was a “relief,” emphasizing that divestment “is a blunt tool that, by singling out Israel, actually makes [Christian-Jewish] reconciliation more difficult.”
Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions — the three companies that would have been impacted by the UMC resolution — are also the subject of a proposed resolution for the June 30-July 7 Presbyterian Church (USA) conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Presbyterian resolution asks for those companies to “be placed on the General Assembly Divestment List until such time as they have ceased profiting from non-peaceful pursuits in Israel-Palestine.”
— JointMedia News Service
