Major religious group divests funding
to protest  Israel’s policies

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Palestinians in Bethlehem send message on wall to Presbyterians' 221st General Assembly in Detroit.


On June 20, the Presbyterian Church became the most prominent religious group in the U.S. to endorse divestment as a protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians, voting to sell church stock in three companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied territories.

The General Assembly voted by a razor-thin margin—310-303—to sell stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions.

The decision is expected to reverberate beyond the 1.8 million-member church. It comes amid discouragement over failed peace talks that have left activists desperate for some way to affect change and as the broader movement known as BDS—or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel—has gained some momentum in the U.S., Israel’s closest and most important ally.

Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, said Presbyterian supporters of Palestinian rights have introduced divestment into the U.S. mainstream and have given Palestinians “real hope in the face of the relentless and intensifying cruelty of Israel‘s regime of occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”
More Information:
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www.bdsmovement.net
Content from the Associated Press

Posted August 2014

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