world
Presbyterian
Weigh Divestment
Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
W
hich way will Presbyterians
go this time? That's a ques-
tion Jewish groups and their
Presbyterian allies are nervously asking as
they work to head off divestment efforts
within the church targeting Israel. The fear
is the efforts could pass this time after a
narrow defeat two years ago.
A successful divestment vote at the
biennial Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
General Assembly (GA) June 14-21 at
Cobo Center in Detroit could precipitate a
rupture between the mainline Protestant
denomination and the Jewish community,
Jewish groups warn.
Jewish-Presbyterian relations already
were strained severely following the pub-
lication by a church-affiliated group of
a document, "Zionism Unsettled:' that
depicted Zionism as a
false theology
"The publication of
`Zionism Unsettled' by
the very voices back-
ing divestment in the
PC (U.S.A.) revealed an
agenda that is not about
Ethan Felson
church investments:' said
Ethan Felson, vice presi-
dent of the New York-
based Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
"These backers of divestment want to
return their church to a place of retrograde
anti-Jewish theology, hostility to main-
stream Jews and, of course, a blind eye to
the responsibility of Hamas and Hezbollah
on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the
steps Israelis are forced to take to defend
themselves:'
In a May 31 Shabbat sermon, Rabbi
Joseph H. Krakoff of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield called for Jewish
unity to help overcome the challenge of a
Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) vote by
the PC (U.S.A.).
"In this ultimate battle
against BDS, which is
a force of evil, every
soldier counts:' Krakoff
said. "Each and every
Jew has the ability to add
Rabbi Krakoff
their invaluable energy
and unyielding resolve to educating the
world that at the end of the day, boycott
and divestment from Israel doesn't solve
42 June 12 • 2014
any problems for the Palestinians, but only
extends and exacerbates them by adding
fuel to the fire of the current conflict and
keeps it going with no end in sight:'
On The Agenda
Delegates to the G.A. will consider at least
five resolutions, or "overtures," that would
advance divestment from companies that
deal with Israel's military and one that
would reconsider whether the church sup-
ports a two-state solution. Church officials
organizing the assembly declined to com-
ment directly on the resolutions.
At the 2012 church assembly, delegates
rejected a divestment initiative by the
slimmest of margins, 333-331. Such reso-
lutions have become commonplace at
mainline Protestant churches in recent
years. But other mainline Protestant
churches have been less receptive, defeat-
ing them by solid margins.
Jewish communal officials and their
allies worry that divestment proponents
could find success at this year's G.A. Since
the last assembly, a contingent of con-
servative Presbyterians has broken away
from the denomination over its recent
embrace of the ordination of gay clergy.
Conservatives are seen as likelier to reject
anti-Israel measures.
Peace Talks Impact
Meanwhile, divestment proponents
are pointing to the collapse of Israeli-
Palestinian peace negotiations in their
efforts to encourage
church members to back
divestment.
"Part of what this is
about is highlighting
how we're now at the tail
end of the peace process
due to settlement con-
Rabbi Wise
struction," said Rabbi
Alissa Wise, director
of campaigns for Oakland, Calif.-based
Jewish Voice for Peace, which is lobbying
for divestment at the church's G.A.
Christopher Leighton, a Presbyterian
minister who is the executive director
of the Institute for Jewish and Christian
Studies in Baltimore, said one reason he
feared divestment would pass was that
typical delegates to assemblies are not
necessarily steeped in each issue under
consideration.
"The vast majority of Presbyterians
don't know these issues or the histori-
cal religious complexity of the region,"
Leighton said. "What they're bombarded
Jewish groups lobby,
warn and worry in advance
of Detroit vote.
with is 'Palestinians are suffering ter-
ribly. If we don't do something about it
we become complicit in an injustice: The
arguments put forth traffic in all kinds of
stereotypes that require work to undo:'
Leighton was outspoken in his criticism
of "Zionism Unsettled:' the study guide
published in January by the church's Israel/
Palestine Mission Network. The guide
targeted what it called "the theological
and ethical exceptionalism of Jewish and
Christian Zionism, which have been shel-
tered from open debate despite the intoler-
able human rights abuses rooted in their
core beliefs:'
Rabbi Noam Marans, the New York-
based American Jewish Committee's inter-
religious relations director, said the com-
bined damage of the study guide and pas-
sage of divestment overtures would likely
have consequences for
Jewish-Presbyterian
ties, although he did not
want to outline them
until after the G.A.
"Depending on which
resolutions pass, and
they may yet evolve,
Rabbi Marans
we will have to make
challenging decisions,"
said Marans, who will attend the church's
assembly. "It certainly is an ongoing crisis
in Presbyterian-Jewish relations:'
But Wise said that linking the divest-
ment bid to the study guide is "opportu-
nistic:' She noted each was generated by a
different church contingent — "Zionism
Unsettled" by the Israel/Palestine Mission
Network and the divestment overtures
by the church's investment committee.
That committee, Mission Responsibility
Through Investment, had been consider-
ing divestment since 2004, a decade before
the study guide came out.
"To bring `Z.U: into
this process is disrespect-
ful to how intentional the
Presbyterian community
has been," Wise said.
The Rev. Katharine
Rhodes Henderson,
president of Auburn
Rev. Henderson Theological Seminary in
New York, said there was
considerable overlap between the Israel/
Palestine Mission Network and those pro-
moting divestment. She said they shared
an agenda informed by the BDS move-
ment.
"The stakes are very high," said
Henderson, who criticized "Zionism
Unsettled" and will advocate against
divestment at the G.A. "In my mind, all
of these things go together; you can't pull
apart motives. Divestment today may
mean full-out BDS tomorrow, and that's
the decision that Presbyterians face:'
Not Standing Pat
Pro-Israel groups are not giving up. They
plan to send several dozen young Jewish
activists to the G.A. to counter what they
say is the mistaken impression of senti-
ment among young Jews created at past
Presbyterian assemblies by pro-divestment
groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace.
A letter opposing divestment signed by
more than 1,500 rabbis, cantors and semi-
nary students of all streams of Judaism
also will be circulated at the assembly.
As in years past, organized Jewish push-
back will show that left-leaning and dovish
Jews also oppose divestment.
Rachel Lerner, senior vice president for
community relations at New York-based J
Street, said "Zionism Unsettled" portrays
Zionists "as pathological and racist and
scarred and unable to act in any normal
way:' She plans to attend the G.A. to pro-
test the document.
"It ran contrary to everything I think
Zionism stands for. I was personally
offended by it," she said. "I think it says
something about the movement, where
divestment is coming from and who it is
coming from in the church:'
Lerner said that should divestment suc-
ceed, it would challenge friendships she
had made with church officials. "I don't
anticipate cutting them off, but it puts a
strain on them," she said.
John Wimberly, a co-convenor of
Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, a
group that works with mainstream Jewish
groups, said "Zionism Unsettled" may
prove helpful in his efforts to defeat the
divestment overtures at the G.A.
"There are Presbyterians who are very
upset with Israel's policies toward the
Palestinians and would like to find a way
to make a statement about that treatment,"
he said. "But they will not make the state-
ment by voting for people whose intention
is to destroy Israel."
The challenge, Wimberly added, would
be to "keep that clear so the other side is
unable to create enough smoke to hide
that agenda:'
❑
IN Contributing Editor Robert Sklar
contributed to this report. See his related
essay on page 35.