The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly has continued its decade-long protest of Israeli occupation of Palestine by voting to divesting from Israeli bonds.
The unanimous consent vote of the 500-member assembly marks a continuation of a protest begun in 2014 when the PC(USA) became the first major institution in the world to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. At that time, the denomination sold off its shares of HP, Motorola and Caterpillar.
The church also has a history of divesting from fossil fuel companies, for-profit prisons, corporations involved in South African apartheid, weapons manufacturers, and tobacco and alcohol companies.
The PC(USA) is the eighth largest Protestant denomination in America, with 1.1 million members and more than 8,000 congregations.
Its General Assembly meets every two years to establish and amend church policy.
Meeting the last week of June in Salt Lake City, the General Assembly also approved by unanimous consent were “overtures” — Presbyterian language for motions — on “Confessing our Complicity in Christian Zionism” and “Educational Resources for Seeking Ways to End Israeli Apartheid.”
The new divestment resolution calls on the Presbyterian Foundation and Board of Pensions “to divest from governmental debt held by countries that are currently maintaining a prolonged military occupation and have been subject to United Nations resolutions related to their occupation.”
The resolution targets not only Israel but Turkey and Morocco.
“Divesting from bonds is an expression of love toward our siblings and mission partners who have been living under prolonged occupations for decades now.”
“Divesting from bonds is an expression of love toward our siblings and mission partners who have been living under prolonged occupations for decades now,” said pastor Hunter Farrell when introducing the resolution. “We, as church, are saying to them, ‘We see you, we hear your cries, and we are doing everything within our power to respond.’”
“Addressing Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory is especially urgent today, as it is directly connected to the devastating war in Gaza and ongoing violence in the West Bank,” the overture says. “This resolution would prevent our church from profiting from these occupations.”
The General Assembly also advanced a measure that begins the process of ending shareholder partnerships with General Electric and Palantir Technologies due to their contributions to human rights abuses in Palestine.
The PC(USA) reports total assets of about $700 million, of which more than half are listed as investment funds held by the Presbyterian Foundation.
The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA) said its mandate is “to speak to our denomination and to educate them on the ongoing and ever-changing situation in Israel/Palestine,” according to Susan Wilder, a co-moderator of the network. “Today, we feel like our church has listened to us and has listened to the concerns of our partners in Palestine. We pray that they continue to do so in the future as we strive for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
In contrast to the PC(USA) actions, the nation’s largest Protestant body, the Southern Baptist Convention, earlier this summer adopted a resolution wholeheartedly supporting Israel in its military quest to control the region.
At this year’s General Assembly, the PC(USA) also approved the “Olympia Overture” that, if approved by a majority of the 166 presbyteries over the coming year, would codify greater commitment to LGBTQ inclusion.
The overture would add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to the list of nondiscrimination requirements and would ensure those seeking leadership positions in the church are aligned with its values of inclusivity and representation.
Matt Gaventa, an overture advocate, explained: “It says that acknowledging the reality of that diversity is important enough to us at this moment in our church’s life that we are willing to bring it to the surface every time we prepare to lay hands on one another and joyfully enter into the service of the risen Christ.”