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Lessons Of Divestment

Washii igton/JTA

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n June 21, the 217th
General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church
USA voted 483-28 to replace its
controversial stance on divest-
ment from Israel, adopted two
years earlier, with a more bal-
anced, nuanced approach.
They said suicide bombing
and terrorist attacks are crimes
against humanity. They recog-
nized Israel's right to defend its
pre-1967 boundaries with a secu-
rity barrier. They even atoned for
the pain caused by their actions
of two years ago.
The hard work of pro-Israel
activists, along with intense
conversations within the church,
helped turn a corner. The chal-
lenge now falls to those who
sought changes.
• Strategy matters. In the end,
we knew, this would be a decision
Presbyterians must make. Grass-
roots dialogue was our approach:
V\Te took our case to church lead-
ers in each city and town, trust-
ing that they would continue the
conversation within the church.
Through the Israel Advocacy
Initiative, the United Jewish
Communities and Jewish Council
for Public Affairs partnered to

conduct research, hold regional
advocacy training, take missions
and provide consulting and pro-
gram assistance to communities.
• Coordination counts. The
coalition that helped defeat
Israel-focused divestment was
breathtakingly broad. We started
with the religious streams and
defense agencies, and eventu-
ally more than a dozen national
Jewish groups worked together.
• We share goals. Ending the
threat of Israel-focused divest-
ment was never our final goal.
Our goal was, and is, Israeli-
Palestinian peace — the same
goal as our Protestant partners
have — an end to terrorism, two
viable states living side-by-side in
peace, an end to suffering.
• We have different narratives.
For pro-Israel advocates, ter-
rorism is the primary obstacle
to peace, and Palestinians must
dismantle the terrorist infra-
structure. To yield to terrorism,
especially a bloody campaign
aimed at children and families, is
to commit national suicide.
For most pro-Palestinian advo-
cates, the occupation is the pri-
mary obstacle to peace. An Israeli
withdrawal, accompanied by
mutual assurances for peace, will
end the conflict. The Presbyterian

Church USA said in
2004 the occupation is
"at the root of the evil
acts" committed on
both sides.
• Motivations can
be quite complex.
A conflict in the
Christian church
between liberals and
conservatives plays
a central role in this
debate. Evangelicals
increasingly embrace
Israel and Jews, with Muslims
portrayed almost as an anti-
Christ.
Some liberal Christians view
Palestinians as powerless, vir-
tual co-religionists whose plight
is paramount. Pro-Palestinian
activists are not automatically
anti-Israel; many want the same
two-state solution we seek. Many
do not see the same complexities
in the conflict that we may, some-
times because we have vastly dif-
ferent sources of information.
There are, to be certain, those
who embrace classical and/or
theological anti-Semitism, but
that is far from the prevailing
view.
• Passivism and power are the
elephants in the room. For many
influentials in the church, power

is inherently evil and
the weak conversely
are innocent. Israel is
viewed as that pow-
erful party, in fact a
colony of the world's
only superpower,
an America run by
evangelical Christians.
They see the West
Bank security barrier
as an offensive and
permanent measure.
Terrorism is
rejected, but often so is Israel's
obligation to defend itself against
terrorism. Quite dissimilarly, we
view Israel as a nation under
constant threat, we see terrorism
as a weapon of devious power,
and we see the security barrier
as a defensive and temporary
measure.
• Tone and message matter.
Experience has conditioned us
to project strength through con-
frontation. When we talk, we need
to lead with our shared goals of
peace, rather than making only
Israel's case.
We need to understand the
depth of Palestinian suffering,
express that and commit our-
selves to end it. And we must tell
others that terrorism is a com-
plete nonstarter for peace. Notice

the order: Peace first.
• Self-resonating messages
sometimes fail. History matters.
Events from decades ago are
important information, but may
not instruct why a child goes
hungry tonight.
If someone were to lecture
you about the suffering of
Palestinians before acknowledg-
ing Israel's right to exist or their
rejection of terrorism, you might
stop listening and start reload-
ing. There is no reason to expect
that our inclination toward
recitation of lessons on history
and Palestinian terrorism won't
lead to the same communication
failure.
• It's all about relationships. We
have reached out and had difficult
conversations, and we were heard.
We can't stop here.
We must continue dialogue,
bringing well-qualified speak-
ers to churches, taking balanced
missions, engaging person-to-
person, listening, learning and
always keeping our eyes on the
prize — a day when Israelis and
Palestinians live side-by-side in
peace. Ell

Ethan Felson is assistant execu-

tive director of the national Jewish

Council for Public Affairs.

Presbyterians Just Want 'Shalom'

Bethesda, Md.IJTA

F

or the last eight days,
I have been living in a
Birmingham, Ala., hotel
and immersing myself in the
great Presbyterian family reunion
— our 217th General Assembly.
As a former moderator of the
Presbyterian Church USA, and as
a committed peacemaker, I sim-
ply did not want to be anywhere
else. The main focus of my week
was to work for reconciliation
between Jews and Presbyterians,
reinforcing the historic partner-
ship we have shared as passionate
advocates for justice and shalom,
peace.
Presbyterians have struggled
over the past two years to recon-

cile two deep commitments that
we hold dear. The first is our com-
mitment to respectful and affec-
tionate interfaith relationships
with our Jewish brothers and
sisters, a commitment built upon
the biblical understanding that
we share a covenantal relationship
with the one God of Abraham,
Moses and Jesus.
The second commitment we
Presbyterians have is our solidar-
ity and love for our Arab brothers
and sisters in the Middle East
— solidarity and love based on
150 years of mission and engaged
ministry with Christians in the
region.
The sufferings and injustice
caused by the occupation of
Palestinian lands has greatly

diminished the
divestment in multi-
Christian presence
national corporations
in the West Bank and
investing in Israel"
Gaza Strip. We grieve
caused great pain and
just as much with
dismay among our
remaining members
Jewish partners, even
of our Christian fam-
as it gave great hope
ily whose lives have
to our Palestinian
become intolerable,
partners — and left
as we grieve with our
The Rev . Susan
Presbyterians divided
Jewish brothers and
And rews
as a denomination.
sisters who live in the
Spe cial
In consultation
fearful shadow of sui-
Comm entary
with our Jewish and
cide bombers.
Palestinian partners,
For the past two years, these
and in humility before God, the
two deep commitments have been assembly overwhelmingly adopt-
in deep conflict as a result of the
ed a new statement about positive
actions taken at the 2004 General
social investing for peaceful pur-
Assembly in Richmond. The deci-
poses in the Middle East. I believe
sion at that assembly to "initiate
this statement moves us forward
a process of phased selective
in three ways:

• Reaffirmation: As
Presbyterians, we reaffirmed our
commitment to work with both
our Jewish partners and our
Palestinian partners to pursue
peace and justice in the Middle
East. We reaffirmed our historic
commitment to the vision of a
two-state solution for Palestine
and Israel — two sovereign and
secure nations, living respectfully
and peacefully as neighbors.
We reaffirmed the moral
responsibility we Presbyterians
have claimed to be socially
responsible in investing our
resources through positive
engagement w ith the corpora-
tions that handle our funds. And
we reaffirmed our commitment

Presbyterians on page 28

July 6 . 2006

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