American Committee for
Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem
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Divestment Nixed
Jewish groups celebrate Methodist
rejection of five anti-Israel proposals.
Ben Harris
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New York
ewish groups have been
worried for months that the
United Methodist Church at
its convention would revive a push for
anti-Israel divestment measures.
Instead, the May 2 meeting emit-
ted no fewer than five laudatory news
releases from Jewish organizations.
B'nai B'rith International, the
Reform Religious Action Center, the
Jewish Council on Public Affairs, the
American Jewish Committee and the
Anti-Defamation League all celebrated
the rejection of five separate petitions
calling on the church to divest from
companies that support or profit from
the Israeli occupation.
The groups described the actions,
taken at the church's quadrennial con-
vention in Fort Worth, Texas, as con-
tributing to interfaith understanding
and the quest for peace in the Middle
East.
Some attributed the positive out-
come to successful grass-roots lobby-
ing by local Jewish leaders.
Even one Jewish organization that
supports divestment was choosing to
see the bright side of the convention's
proceedings.
Jewish Voice for Peace, a California-
based group that considers divestment
a legitimate and peaceful tool to end
the occupation, focused instead on a
separate decision requiring the church
to consider the ethical dimension of
its investment decisions.
In a news release, the group called
the decision a "stunning rebuke to
anti-divestment groups."
"This is an important step forward
for a major U.S. church that has a
longstanding history of opposition
to the Israeli occupation and is now
moving towards one of the only non-
violent actions that can lead to real
peace in the region:' said Sydney Levy,
director of campaigns for Jewish Voice
for Peace. "Each day Israel's occupa-
tion and settlement expansion con-
tinues unabated, the divestment and
sanctions movement will grow"
Concern that the United Methodist
j
Church would adopt a divestment res-
olution has been building for months,
fueled by a study guide the church
published last year on the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict that Jewish groups
compared to hate literature.
Jewish organizational leaders wor-
ried that the church, as the largest
mainline Protestant organization
in the United States, could reignite
a push toward divestment by other
Protestant groups.
Last month, the United Methodist
Church withdrew from consideration
a resolution targeting Caterpillar Inc.
after the company agreed to enter a
dialogue with the church. Caterpillar
produces equipment that Israel uses
in the Palestinian territories.
No fewer than 14 petitions concern-
ing Israel and the Middle East conflict
were considered at the Methodist
convention among some 1,600 pieces
of legislation.
While rejecting divestment peti-
tions that specifically named Israel,
the church did adopt two general
resolutions on ethical investing. It also
moved to create a task force to estab-
lish standards for responsible invest-
ing consistent with the church's ethical
principles.
Jewish groups were hailing as well
a resolution urging the observance
of Holocaust Remembrance Day and
calling the church "to contrition and
repentance of its complicity in 'the
long history of persecution of the
Jewish people." Another resolution
that earned plaudits opposed prosely-
tizing to Jews.
David Michaels, B'nai B'rith's direc-
tor of intercommunal affairs, called
the grass-roots lobbying effort a "key
part" of the positive outcome.
"Credit really goes to the Jewish rep-
resentatives at the local level: he said.
The Methodist conference elicited
an intense lobbying effort on both
sides of the divestment issue.
Several major Jewish organizations
had representatives in Texas to fight
the divestment push. Meanwhile,
Jewish Voice for Peace also under-
took a broad effort, with seven mem-
bers dispatched to the conference
and the launch of a pro-divestment
Web site. LI
honoring
Florine Mark
Tim Attalla
Michael Traison
Proceeds to benefit the new Wilf Children's Hospital
at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem
Monday, June 16th, 2008
The Townsend Hotel
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Cocktails 5:30pm - Dinner 6:30pm
Featuring Ethan Bortnick
Ethan Bortnick is a seven-year-old piano prodigy
who began playing the piano at age four and
performs over 200 songs from memory.
He has appeared on The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno and played a duet with Diane Sawyer on
Good 'Morning America.
As Seen on OFRAHI/
To make a reservation or for more information,
please contact Shaare Zedek's Midwest Regional Office at
847,410,0340 or email us at midwestregion@acsz.org 13.03°
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