From Mark's Perspective: Divestment Debate

Written by Mark

(Originally published HERE on 06/20/14)

After an afternoon and evening of deliberation, the GA narrowly voted to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlitt-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The motion passed by 7 votes (310-303).

That said, true divestment of these stocks may never happen, because the Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation have a fiduciary responsibility to make money on their investments; not sell stocks at a loss because the GA says to sell them.

The damage done by this vote is the loss of goodwill with our Jews worldwide and the misinterpretation of the vote. Even though the action of the GA is to divest of the stock in those three corporations, the media has already reported that this vote is to divest in Israel. That is simply not true. In fact, the GA went out of its way to affirm the peacemaking efforts in Israel and Palestine and to make sure that the media knew that this vote was not anti-Israel.

In addition, the GA missed a monumental opportunity . . . .

On Thursday, Rabbi Jacobs, representing the largest Jewish denomination in the USA (1.5 million Reformed Jews), said this to the GA: “We need you!”  He stated that, like the PCUSA, the US Reformed Jewish Movement has a long-standing policy of opposition to the Israeli settlements and for a two state solution - and they wanted to partner with the PCUSA! 

In his remarks, he said, if the PCUSA rejects divestment, the US Reformed Jewish Movement would create an alliance with the PCUSA and invite the PCUSA Stated Clerk and Moderator to join him next week in Israel for a face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That offer is unprecedented. Had it been accepted, this proposal would have given the PCUSA a meaningful seat at the negotiating table. 

Today, his offer was rejected by the GA.

The Institute on Religion & Democracy’s President Mark Tooley commented:

“Presbyterians have endorsed conflict over reconciliation. Key PCUSA elites are pro-Palestinian activists who portray Israel as the source of nearly all evil in the Middle East. Those church activists ignore that much of the Middle East is under the sway of non-democratic movements that oppress their own people and refuse to recognize Israel, a lonely democracy, as the Jewish homeland. Enemies of Israel are also largely the enemies of the United States, the West, democracy and Christian minorities in the region. It is revealing that Israel is the only country targeted for divestment, not countries that oppress, torture and execute dissidents, like Iran among many others.

Presbyterians could genuinely advocate reconciliation and justice. Instead, they’ve endorsed the Palestinian nationalist narrative of victimhood and demonized Israel.”

Well said. Yet another example of an embarrassing moment for the PCUSA this week.