Overture 53

On Moving from a Divestment Strategy to a Strategy of Investment in Business That Promotes Peace and Reconciliation Between Israelis and Palestinians—From the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley.

The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley respectfully overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to do the following:

1. Pursue faithfully and consistently its historic vision of peace and security for all the people in the Middle East.

2. Move from the divestment strategy of the 216th General Assembly (2004) to a strategy of investment in businesses, not-for-profit programs, NGO’s (nongovernmental organizations), and diplomatic efforts that are likely to promote peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In that regard, to the extent that the 216th General Assembly (2004) authorized the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI), or any other PC(USA) body, to implement a strategy of divestment from Israel, that authority is hereby rescinded.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has given longstanding support to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and we believe that our church can play a positive role in fostering Middle East peace. However, the action by the 216th General Assembly (2004) regarding possible divestment from some companies doing business with Israel caused considerable division and distrust within our church and within the Jewish community.

While divestment might be a useful tool for social change in some circumstances, it is wrong to single out Israel as the object of a “divestment” policy when other states and parties in the region are also guilty of serious human rights violations that can and must be addressed. In today’s global economy, it is also difficult to identify individual companies whose products aid in carrying out objectionable government programs, but which are not also supplying products for worthwhile humanitarian activities.

This policy distracts the PC(USA) from our denomination’s historic commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict. Since a large majority of Israelis and Palestinians prefer peace with their neighbors, rather than violence and war, and are ready to make hard sacrifices to achieve it, the 217th General Assembly (2006) instructs the PC(USA) to pursue a peacemaking strategy of proactive engagement and selective investment of time, talent, and financial resources in companies, not-for-profits, NGO’s, and diplomatic efforts that are likely to promote a just and lasting peace in the region.

Believing that Palestinians have a right to freedom, security, and self-governance within their own state and, further, that such a state must be established within safe and secure borders and be economically viable, the 217th General Assembly (2006) reaffirms the PC(USA) support for a two-state solution to the present conflict.

The 217th General Assembly (2006) reaffirms the PC(USA)’s commitment to the vitality and well-being of the state of Israel in awareness that only a strong Israel can be a partner in a lasting peace and we believe in Israel’s right to exist as a state and Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism and acts of violence that threaten its security.

We encourage and applaud efforts by individual Presbyterians, congregations, and judicatories of our church to engage in dialogue with both the Jewish and Palestinian communities. We believe that Presbyterian concerns about the Middle East can be more cogently articulated and more effectively advanced by working with our Jewish and Palestinian neighbors and by developing substantive projects at home and in the Middle East that harness the talents and resources of all our religious communities.