United Methodists work for divestment

[Andrea Whitmore]

Hey folks,

I'm here in Tampa with United Methodist Kairos Response attending General Conference, our church's policy-making body that meets every four years. Nearly 1,000 voting delegates from all over the world have gathered. You can't imagine how powerful it is to see delegates in attire representing their countries, especially the Africans. At opening worship we were greeted by a Native American who welcomed us to the land of the Seminole and other native peoples. A humbling moment.

I'm sending you parts of three articles, below, that recently appeared, one which includes a video I took with my trusty iphone of my friend Susanne Hoder telling why we should divest as a church from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions (which is different from general Motorola). It was posted by our ever-faithful ally, Philip Weiss.

I'm so proud to be here, working with people I've heard of or emailed with for many years. It's such a privilege.

Sydney Levy of Jewish Voice for Peace is a new friend, Anna Baltzer from the US Campaign is a long-time friend, Rabbi Brant Rosen, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Rae Abileah (the young woman who got assaulted for speaking out at an AIPAC gathering, Bishop Swenson, Rev. Alex Awad (whom many of you know), Daoud Nassar from Tent of Nations near Bethlehem, Frances Remillard representing the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and United Methodists and others from around the country whose names you wouldn't know but who are moral all-stars to me because I know how hard and how long they've worked on this issue of human rights and justice.

Yesterday we (UMKR) held a luncheon for voting delegates to let them hear Israeli Jew Dalit Baum explain the cost of the occupation. Daoud Nassar spoke also of the threatened loss of his farm, legal fees so far costing $150,000. We expected maybe 70 delegates to attend, but they kept coming and coming, and we looked at each other and at Susanne, who had planned the luncheon, and with all our eyes popping, including Susanne's, she promptly ordered more food and more tables--and we ended up serving more than 300 delegates. It was astonishing. Sydney Levy welcomed them in Spanish, and volunteer United Methodist translators also came to welcome them in French and Portuguese as well.
 
Here now are those articles--keep www.kairosresponse.org in your prayers this week and next. Thanks to all of you who helped make it possible for me to be here, and thanks to any of you who have also contributed to UMKR. Andy

Message to Methodists: ‘Vote for Divestment. Vote for Human Rights.’
Apr 25, 2012 09:42 am | Adam Horowitz
The above video was produced by The Palestine Solidarity Committee in St. Louis, MO. Three PSC members also have an an Op-Ed in today's Tampa Bay Times:

The United Methodist Church is holding its General Conference in Tampa. One of the most important, and unfortunately controversial, resolutions to be taken up is the Palestinians' request for the world community to help them end the 44-year Israeli occupation.
We, a Jewish American, a Palestinian Muslim and a Palestinian Christian, support the Palestinians in their struggle for justice and freedom. We believe the Methodist Church's proposed resolution to divest from multinational companies profiting from the Israeli occupation will aid in ending Palestinian suffering.
Tragically, the Israeli occupation continues to strangle Palestinian society. Israeli political and religious leaders threaten Palestinians with transfer out of their homeland, enforce the occupation of the West Bank with incredible violence, and continue the naval blockade of Gaza which keeps the people there in dangerous deprivation. In the last 20 years, illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank have increased from 241,500 inhabitants to some 500,000, including East Jerusalem.
Israel's occupation practices impose severe hardships on residents. Palestinians routinely find themselves trapped by barriers and the Israeli separation wall — unable to visit family members, friends, schools, businesses and places of worship. Death, injury or arrest is a distinct possibility, even for nonviolent protesters demonstrating against home demolitions or land confiscation.
Palestinians, long denied freedom through negotiations with the Israeli government, have asked for the world to intervene in a humane and moral way to ensure that equality and justice are honored. Palestinian Christians issued the Kairos Palestine Document, "A Moment of Truth," in 2009 (Read the document in full athttp://www.kairospalestine.ps/):
We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation. … The cruel circumstances in which the Palestinian Church has lived and continues to live have required the Church to clarify her faith and to identify her vocation. … Today, we bear the strength of love rather than that of revenge, a culture of life rather than a culture of death.
The document asks the international community to implement nonviolent tactics, such as divestment, to end the occupation.
Similarly, we urge the Methodist Church to divest from multinational companies that support the Israeli occupation. Divestment is required if we are to press Israel to uphold equality for all people in Israel and Palestine. Such pressure is long overdue and urgently needed for Palestinians. In fact, we believe that pushing for an end to the occupation and equal rights for Palestinians is fully consistent with securing a safer and better region for Jewish Israelis as well.
Forty years ago most of the land in and around Bethlehem was owned and inhabited by Christians. Today, the majority of the land is held, patrolled and settled by Israelis. For thousands of years people traveled freely between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, located just 5 miles away. Now there is a wall separating the two holy cities. Thousands of people are separated from family, friends, work and religious sites on the other side. Under these conditions of occupation, Christians by the thousands are making the painful decision to leave the site of Jesus' birth and make a life elsewhere. (See a 60 Minutes report from Sunday at tinyurl.com/tbt-60minutes.)

Read the entire article here.

 

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Methodist church has repeatedly and overwhelmingly called for an end to the occupation
Apr 25, 2012 09:31 am | Philip Weiss
Alex Kane just mentioned Susanne Hoder, a Methodist leader on divestment, and you can hear her in this video giving a quick overview yesterday at the opening of the Methodist global conference in Tampa, FL.
She says that the Methodists have voted again and again that they want the occupation of lands beyond Israel to end-- 94 percent of them voted to end the occupation. "We do not believe the church should profit from a situation we have overwhelmingly stated we want to end." This is not a change in policy.
And the call has come from Palestinian Christians, members of our own faith community, she says.
Look at the lineup alongside her at the press conference yesterday. Dalit Baum, Rebecca Vilkomerson, Daoud Nasser of the Tent of Nations, Cindy Corrie is there. And look at Rabbi Brant Rosen nodding when Hoder says that the divestment movement has just built connections between Methodists and Jews.

 

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’60 Minutes’ report boosts divestment proponents at Methodist church convention
Apr 25, 2012 09:26 am | Alex Kane

When the Israeli government got wind that the CBS program “60 Minutes” was running a piece on the plight of Palestinian Christians, their lobbying efforts kicked into high gear. According to an Israeli official who spoke with Nathan Guttman of the Jewish Daily Forward, the Israeli government’s lobbying postponed the story from running on “sensitive broadcast dates during Christmas and Easter.” The government’s principal concern was that airing of the report could“harm” Israel's image in the United States.
But the Israeli government, it appears, overlooked another significant set of dates apart from Easter and Christmas: April 24-May 4, when about 1,000 delegates from around the world will meet for the United Methodist Church’s general convention in Tampa, Florida.
The CBS report on Palestinian Christians aired the weekend before the gathering kicked off, where a resolution to divest from three companies profiting off the Israeli occupation will be voted on. And pro-divestment delegates say that the "60 Minutes" piece is a boost to their efforts to convince delegates to vote in favor of their resolution.
“It is heartening to see that the media is finally telling the American public what is happening to the Christian community in the Holy Land,” said Susanne Hoder, a member of United Methodist Kairos Response, the group behind the resolution. “It’s what we’ve been trying for years to tell people about.”
The resolution takes aim at Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett Packard, companies that profit from Israel’s occupation, and instructs the church to “divest promptly.” As the resolution notes, divestment would align the Methodist Church’s actions with its long-held anti-settlement and anti-occupation position. All three of the companies mentioned in the resolution help supply Israel with the tools it needs to carry out its occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.
Divestment advocates praised CBS for showing the reality they are trying to wake people up to at the convention. The report made note of “burgeoning settlements” and the separation barrier that residents of Bethlehem say has turned their town into an “open-air prison.” Bob Simon, the CBS reporter, also noted that due to Israeli checkpoints, “just leaving Bethlehem is a struggle.”
Hoder also noted in an interview that Methodist church members who support divestment “were especially glad” that CBS mentioned the “Kairos Palestine” document. “It’s a profound, eloquent call to churches around the world to move from talking to action,” explains Hoder.
The Kairos Palestine document, released in 2009, is a landmark document authored by Palestinian Christian leaders. It calls on the world to “stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades.” The document advocates for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and has been attacked by supporters of Israel. Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the US, criticized the denominations behind the document on CBS.
In addition to mentioning the Kairos Palestine document as a call of “non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation,” CBS News has posted an online segment on Palestinian Christians advocating for boycott.
This weekend will see the first actions taken on divestment at the church, as a committee will examine the resolution. According to Hoder, a vote by the whole conference will likely take place next week. She’s confident about the outcome of the vote.
“We are helping awaken the consciousness of American faith communities,” said Hoder, “and Americans in general.”