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March 19, 2007

Jewish groups approve divestment in Sudan

by Nicole Neroulias
Religion News Service

NEW YORK — Two national Jewish bodies have called for divestment from Sudan, joining a growing number of states, universities and other religious groups that have agreed to pull funds from companies that do business with the troubled African country.

     The Union for Reform Judaism, which represents 1.5 million U.S. Jews, approved its divestment resolution this week. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a public policy body representing many streams of American Judaism, passed its resolution at a forum in late February.

     An estimated 400,000 people have died in Darfur, a war-torn western province of Sudan, where the Khartoum government is accused of supporting Arab “Janjaweed” militias against black Africans. The U.S. government has called the conflict “genocide” since 2004.

     Having survived the Holocaust, Jews in particular must be committed to preventing and ending genocides, URJ and JCPA members agreed.

     “The situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate and international pressure is not having the impact we all hoped,” said Rabbi Marla Feldman, director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and board member of the Save Darfur Coalition. “Divestment is the correct strategic and ethical step at this juncture.”

     In recent years, Jewish groups were outraged over a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) proposal for divestment from Israel, which the church modified in 2006.

     That controversy came up during the JCPA’s discussion, members said, but the majority agreed that divestment from Sudan would serve a clear, legitimate purpose.

     Divestment was used to help end apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s. Since 1997, U.S. sanctions have blocked U.S.-owned companies from doing business in Sudan, but they do not prevent companies, mutual funds and individuals from investing in multinational companies that operate there.

     Of about 500 multinational corporations that do business in Sudan, the Sudan Divestment Task Force has identified about two dozen — predominantly oil companies — as candidates for divestment.

     At least eight states — California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon and Vermont — have voted to divest their public pension funds from such companies. Several others are now considering similar action, including New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.