[New York Sun ] Josh Gerstein - A Presbyterian Church committee on peacemaking Tuesday signaled a reluctance to re-embrace a divestment initiative that the church adopted in 2004, voting 32-23 to strike language that would authorize a council of church leaders to carry out divestment without further approval from the general assembly. However, the committee voted 38-26 to endorse a peace proposal that includes a Palestinian Arab "right of return," that Jewish leaders contend would lead to the demise of Israel as a Jewish state. A former American negotiator in the Middle East, Dennis Ross, warned against taking the Palestinian side in a videotaped message to delegates. Ross said, "I find the resolution on divestment from companies doing business with Israel and the others that criticize Israel to be divorced from reality. They don't take into account the price the Israelis have paid or the concessions they made or the many times the Israelis in negotiations have been prepared to go very far and not found responsiveness on the other side."
2008-06-26 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive