(New York Times) Laurie Goodstein - The United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S., voted against two proposals on Wednesday to divest from companies such as Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola that provide equipment used by Israel in the territories. At the church's quadrennial convention in Tampa, after an impassioned debate and several votes, the delegates overwhelmingly passed a more neutral resolution calling for "positive" investment to encourage economic development "in Palestine." The Methodists also passed a resolution calling for "all nations to prohibit the import of products made by companies in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land." More than 1,200 rabbis representing every stream of organized Judaism signed a letter to the delegates beseeching them to vote against divestment. They argued that the tactic "shamefully paints Israel as a pariah nation, solely responsible for frustrating peace," and said a vote for divestment would "damage the relationship between Jews and Christians."
2012-05-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive