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Canadian churches urged to forgo divestiture appeal

Several US Christian clergy joined Jewish leaders in Canada on Thursday to alert churches about a movement by some US Protestant leaders to divest in companies they believe profit from Israeli control of the Palestinian territories.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) in August accused several large US firms of contributing to the suffering of Palestinians by selling products such as night vision goggles, wireless communications and helicopters used by the Israeli military to harm Palestinians and bolster control of the territories.

They passed a resolution pledging to use the church's multimillion-dollar stock holdings in the businesses as leverage against companies profiting from Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center is spearheading the divestment movement and is holding a conference in Toronto this week.

The movement has outraged Jewish groups, who say the strategy is biased, anti-Semitic and fails to recognize Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks by Palestinian extremists. They say the campaign essentially borrows from the 1980s movement against South African apartheid.

"This is blatant propaganda that seeks to isolate and demonize Israel," Ruth Klein, of B'Nai Brith Canada, told a news conference.

Sister Ruth Lautt, the national director of the US Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East, called on Canadian denominations to be wary of Sabeel.

The group, which promotes "morally responsible investment" in Israel as a nonviolent solution to end the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, is meeting with Canadian church leaders and non-government organizations to explore strategies to achieve peace in the Middle East, including partial divestment and company boycotts.

Sabeel's director, the Reverend Naim Ateek, is a Palestinian Anglican who says he condemns violence by both sides, though he blames the violence on the Israeli occupation of traditional Palestinian territory.
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