Dear Friend,
I did not attend Gen. Ass. in Pittsburg, but followed developments very closely.
Anna Baltzer, ond of our "friends" was there,. She is a beautiful Jewess, in every sense of the term. She heads up the US Campaign to END THE OCCUPATION. I forwarded her latest blog post to my FPI Listserve. (Google her blog to read all the developments. Below is my commentary leading into her exciting blog.
Some of us think the tipping point has been reached and and we are about to go into uncharted territory. Sympathizers with Israel as it has emerged (especially since the occupation of 1967) have reason to be alarmed. RCA and PCUSA conservative persons are fearful, wondering about BDS (see below). I will be prodding the RCA to get going on the the "Network" idea in each (regional) "Classis" to inform people about the realities on the ground and to get information out to our congregants. KUSA is emerging as an ally of those wanting to take active nonviolent action to oppose the Occupation of Palestinian land.
BTW, the so-called Levy report (from a commission appointed by PM Netanyahu) has concluded there is NO Occupation, because there was no "nation" that previously controlled the land. If Bibi's "Settlement" Chief adopts the report, watch for the settlements to explode even faster than before. I have not gotten excited about the Levy report. It is irrelevant to what is happening on the ground as I write this. The present Likud government has never sought justification for its settlement activity. It has always gone full speed ahead in the face of almost total internation condemnation. That the US government has sanctioned and supported the colonialization of all the land of Isr/Pal is to our lasting discredit (and must change. Read on).
I know some of you are "scared" where this is all leading. Friends, we are in new territory. It is, as Anne say, the beginning of a "New Era". Fasten your seat belts. And stay sane and sensitive to Israeli distrust and anxiety. The younger generations will be served. New leadership is emerging. The status quo will not hold. The concrete is breaking up by the force of growing roots from underneath. Faithfully yours, JRK
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
From General Assembly Forward
Dear Friend,
IPMN = the PCUSA Israel/Palestine Mission Network group, about 70 PCUSA folks really dedicated to security for Israel and justice for Palestinians.
Here is there concluding report from GA in Pittsburg ending last week (July 7, 2012) with a view to where we go from here. JRK
Final IPMN Report from the 220th General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Moving Forward with Boycott
of all Israeli Products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories
At the close of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the church’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) wishes to reflect on the results of the GA and to thank all of our friends, supporters, and the hundreds of church commissioners who took a stand for human rights and justice in the Holy Land last week by voting according to their consciences, and not according to their fears.
While the resolution calling for targeted divestment from three companies that profit from Israeli violations of international law and abuses of Palestinian human rights was not adopted by the plenary, it was approved overwhelmingly by the church’s Committee on Middle East Peacemaking Issues (Committee 15), and the minority report that replaced it won by a mere two out of 666 votes, with two commissioners abstaining. In truth, a full plenary discussion on divestment never took place, pre-empted by the minority report’s adoption.
On the other hand, the resolution calling for a boycott of just two products made in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories was expanded and strengthened by Committee 15 to cover all Israeli products made in the occupied territories, before being approved by an overwhelming majority (457-180, or 71%) of the plenary in what was a very divided Assembly. The boycott vote puts the Presbyterian Church (USA) squarely into the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005 and officially endorsed by the Palestinian Christian community in 2009 with the Kairos Palestine document. "Presbyterians have heard the call for economic solidarity from Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians,” said Rev. Jeff DeYoe, IPMN Advocacy Chair. “The IPMN looks forward to assisting the church in determining which products will be included in the boycott.”
Despite the fact that they failed to pass divestment, afterwards 57% of church commissioners voted in favor of a resolution directing the church’s Board of Pensions "to create a program for relief of conscience for plan members who are troubled by the choice to continue holding Board of Pensions assets in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and Hewlett-Packard.” Although this motion was later overturned on a procedural technicality by the GA’s Stated Clerk, it clearly reflected a desire on the part of a majority of commissioners to provide an option for individual Presbyterians who have moral qualms about profiting from these three companies, whose products are used to inflict so much hardship and suffering on Palestinians.
“A few short years ago, any one of these things would have been considered a significant victory for divestment and boycott supporters,” said Rev. Katherine Cunningham, IPMN Vice-Moderator. “At every General Assembly since these issues were first introduced in 2004, the church has moved slowly but steadily towards the positions advocated by the IPMN. In 2010, following our official endorsement of a boycott of Ahava Dead Sea beauty products and dates from the Hadiklaim Co-op, we were attacked by critics for being ‘ahead of the church.’ Last week, the rest of the church caught up with the IPMN on boycotting settlement products, and moved much further in the direction of divestment than anybody could have expected just a few years ago. We believe it’s only a matter of time before the church catches up on divestment too, and we look forward to the next GA in Detroit in 2014, and to the day when both Israelis and Palestinians are able to live in peace and freedom.”
Just as the RCA took the lead in BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) in re the S. African government, so the PCUSA is now taking the lead for "ecumenical" churches to bring pressure to bear on the Israelis to End the Occupation. O, have you noticed? A commission set up by PM Bibi Netanyahu has concluded there IS NO OCCUPATION. This confirms there are no Palestinians, and Isr has the freedom to continue the colonization of the land (if the commission report is adopted. Bibi has referred it to the Sec. for Interior Affairs. I wonder what he will do with it.).
It appears that the PCUSA is "divided" in whether to move ahead with BDS. The IPMN clearly thinks the PCUSA has joined the Boycott movement and is intending to pull the denomination in that direction in the coming years. The next GA will be in 2014, in Detroit, which has the largest ME population this side of the ME.
We may be at a tipping point. Isr fears "deligitimization", having delegitimized the Ps for decades. Many are running scared. On the other hand, many more especially youthful Israelis there and here in the US are risking the wrath of their parents in questioning Israeli policies, especially since the military "victory" and increased settlement activity since 1967.
Even though there are signs that the rank and file RCA members are vitally interested in justice for Palestinians, (e.g. large attendance at a Forum at Gen Synod in Palos Hts), RCA leaders are showing extreme caution in speaking of BDS in RCA circles. They judge the RCA “isn’t there yet”.
But we are looking for "Networks" in willing RCA Classes to form Middle East Peace and Justice committees/persons, to seek further insight and take appropriate actions, in league with groups like JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace), KUSA (Kairos USA), and the I/PMN (Isr/Palestine Mission Network of the PCUSA). Faithfully yours, JRK
IPMN = the PCUSA Israel/Palestine Mission Network group, about 70 PCUSA folks really dedicated to security for Israel and justice for Palestinians.
Here is there concluding report from GA in Pittsburg ending last week (July 7, 2012) with a view to where we go from here. JRK
Final IPMN Report from the 220th General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Moving Forward with Boycott
of all Israeli Products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories
At the close of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the church’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) wishes to reflect on the results of the GA and to thank all of our friends, supporters, and the hundreds of church commissioners who took a stand for human rights and justice in the Holy Land last week by voting according to their consciences, and not according to their fears.
While the resolution calling for targeted divestment from three companies that profit from Israeli violations of international law and abuses of Palestinian human rights was not adopted by the plenary, it was approved overwhelmingly by the church’s Committee on Middle East Peacemaking Issues (Committee 15), and the minority report that replaced it won by a mere two out of 666 votes, with two commissioners abstaining. In truth, a full plenary discussion on divestment never took place, pre-empted by the minority report’s adoption.
On the other hand, the resolution calling for a boycott of just two products made in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories was expanded and strengthened by Committee 15 to cover all Israeli products made in the occupied territories, before being approved by an overwhelming majority (457-180, or 71%) of the plenary in what was a very divided Assembly. The boycott vote puts the Presbyterian Church (USA) squarely into the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005 and officially endorsed by the Palestinian Christian community in 2009 with the Kairos Palestine document. "Presbyterians have heard the call for economic solidarity from Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians,” said Rev. Jeff DeYoe, IPMN Advocacy Chair. “The IPMN looks forward to assisting the church in determining which products will be included in the boycott.”
Despite the fact that they failed to pass divestment, afterwards 57% of church commissioners voted in favor of a resolution directing the church’s Board of Pensions "to create a program for relief of conscience for plan members who are troubled by the choice to continue holding Board of Pensions assets in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and Hewlett-Packard.” Although this motion was later overturned on a procedural technicality by the GA’s Stated Clerk, it clearly reflected a desire on the part of a majority of commissioners to provide an option for individual Presbyterians who have moral qualms about profiting from these three companies, whose products are used to inflict so much hardship and suffering on Palestinians.
“A few short years ago, any one of these things would have been considered a significant victory for divestment and boycott supporters,” said Rev. Katherine Cunningham, IPMN Vice-Moderator. “At every General Assembly since these issues were first introduced in 2004, the church has moved slowly but steadily towards the positions advocated by the IPMN. In 2010, following our official endorsement of a boycott of Ahava Dead Sea beauty products and dates from the Hadiklaim Co-op, we were attacked by critics for being ‘ahead of the church.’ Last week, the rest of the church caught up with the IPMN on boycotting settlement products, and moved much further in the direction of divestment than anybody could have expected just a few years ago. We believe it’s only a matter of time before the church catches up on divestment too, and we look forward to the next GA in Detroit in 2014, and to the day when both Israelis and Palestinians are able to live in peace and freedom.”
Just as the RCA took the lead in BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) in re the S. African government, so the PCUSA is now taking the lead for "ecumenical" churches to bring pressure to bear on the Israelis to End the Occupation. O, have you noticed? A commission set up by PM Bibi Netanyahu has concluded there IS NO OCCUPATION. This confirms there are no Palestinians, and Isr has the freedom to continue the colonization of the land (if the commission report is adopted. Bibi has referred it to the Sec. for Interior Affairs. I wonder what he will do with it.).
It appears that the PCUSA is "divided" in whether to move ahead with BDS. The IPMN clearly thinks the PCUSA has joined the Boycott movement and is intending to pull the denomination in that direction in the coming years. The next GA will be in 2014, in Detroit, which has the largest ME population this side of the ME.
We may be at a tipping point. Isr fears "deligitimization", having delegitimized the Ps for decades. Many are running scared. On the other hand, many more especially youthful Israelis there and here in the US are risking the wrath of their parents in questioning Israeli policies, especially since the military "victory" and increased settlement activity since 1967.
Even though there are signs that the rank and file RCA members are vitally interested in justice for Palestinians, (e.g. large attendance at a Forum at Gen Synod in Palos Hts), RCA leaders are showing extreme caution in speaking of BDS in RCA circles. They judge the RCA “isn’t there yet”.
But we are looking for "Networks" in willing RCA Classes to form Middle East Peace and Justice committees/persons, to seek further insight and take appropriate actions, in league with groups like JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace), KUSA (Kairos USA), and the I/PMN (Isr/Palestine Mission Network of the PCUSA). Faithfully yours, JRK
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Positive Investment and Boycotts Ahead
Dear Friend,
Full Speed Ahead on Boycotts and Positive Investments in Palestinian Economy
John Kleinheksel Sr (FPI)
Reflections on decisions made at the Presbyterian (PCUSA) General Assembly and the RCA General Synod are being clarified. Here is the latest in seeking a truer understanding of what really happened and where folks like us go from here.
Mainline media headlined the “defeat” at General Assembly of the motion to divest in companies profiting from the occupation of Israel of Palestinian land.
What the headlines failed to convey was the overriding approval by GA to boycott Israeli products coming from the settlements built on Palestinian land. Here is James Wall’s observation on what happened at G.A:
As one astute veteran of General Assembly politics observed, there really was no vote on the majority report [to approve positive investment and divest in companies profiting from the Occupation] that came before the General Assembly. The 333-331 vote was on the minority report [seeking to defeat the disinvestment part].
The leaders of the pro-investment forces at the GA succeeded in technically refusing to allow a debate on the majority report by substituting the minority motion for “positive investment”, a term favored by the anti-divestment forces.
As a result, the substitute motion was the only resolution voted on by the GA.
This was hardly the victory for Israel and its American backers which was claimed by main stream U.S and Israeli media. A more important defeat for Israel came when the GA voted 457 to 180 to call on Presbyterians to boycott Israeli businesses operating on occupied territory (James Wall, blog).
At the RCA’s General Synod, three recommendations that call the RCA to renewed work toward a just peace in Israel and Palestine passed by a sizeable margin. Delegates voted:
1) to affirm the statements of previous General Synods, (reaffirming Israelis' rights to live in a safe state and Palestinians' right to statehood),
2) to advocate for an end to violence that includes an end to the Israeli occupation and the removal of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, and,
3) to restart a volunteer network called Middle East Peacemakers, urging each Classis to identify someone to participate in the network.
John Paarlberg, who presented the report of the Working Group for Peace and Justice in Israel and the Occupied Territories to General Synod said:
Our hope is that this report might be another step in leading people in the Reformed Church in becoming more personally involved in justice and reconciliation for the people of Israel and Palestine.
Going forward then, efforts in the Reformed (RCA), Presbyterian, Lutheran (ELCA), United Methodist (UMC, United Church of Christ (UCC) will join the Quakers (and others) in concentrating on the following areas:
1) Identify products to be boycotted from illegal settlements and make them widely known.
2) Work on a Classis (RCA), Presbytery (PCUSA) and district (ELCA, UMC, UCC) level through Networks bringing greater visibility to this issue.
3) Work with Palestinians on ways that “positive investment” might help Palestinians gain more of a foothold in the face of Israeli occupation.
4) Work with KUSA (Kairos USA), End the Occupation, and others to bring about equal rights to Palestinians who have been downtrodden for decades and decades.
Full Speed Ahead on Boycotts and Positive Investments in Palestinian Economy
John Kleinheksel Sr (FPI)
Reflections on decisions made at the Presbyterian (PCUSA) General Assembly and the RCA General Synod are being clarified. Here is the latest in seeking a truer understanding of what really happened and where folks like us go from here.
Mainline media headlined the “defeat” at General Assembly of the motion to divest in companies profiting from the occupation of Israel of Palestinian land.
What the headlines failed to convey was the overriding approval by GA to boycott Israeli products coming from the settlements built on Palestinian land. Here is James Wall’s observation on what happened at G.A:
As one astute veteran of General Assembly politics observed, there really was no vote on the majority report [to approve positive investment and divest in companies profiting from the Occupation] that came before the General Assembly. The 333-331 vote was on the minority report [seeking to defeat the disinvestment part].
The leaders of the pro-investment forces at the GA succeeded in technically refusing to allow a debate on the majority report by substituting the minority motion for “positive investment”, a term favored by the anti-divestment forces.
As a result, the substitute motion was the only resolution voted on by the GA.
This was hardly the victory for Israel and its American backers which was claimed by main stream U.S and Israeli media. A more important defeat for Israel came when the GA voted 457 to 180 to call on Presbyterians to boycott Israeli businesses operating on occupied territory (James Wall, blog).
At the RCA’s General Synod, three recommendations that call the RCA to renewed work toward a just peace in Israel and Palestine passed by a sizeable margin. Delegates voted:
1) to affirm the statements of previous General Synods, (reaffirming Israelis' rights to live in a safe state and Palestinians' right to statehood),
2) to advocate for an end to violence that includes an end to the Israeli occupation and the removal of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, and,
3) to restart a volunteer network called Middle East Peacemakers, urging each Classis to identify someone to participate in the network.
John Paarlberg, who presented the report of the Working Group for Peace and Justice in Israel and the Occupied Territories to General Synod said:
Our hope is that this report might be another step in leading people in the Reformed Church in becoming more personally involved in justice and reconciliation for the people of Israel and Palestine.
Going forward then, efforts in the Reformed (RCA), Presbyterian, Lutheran (ELCA), United Methodist (UMC, United Church of Christ (UCC) will join the Quakers (and others) in concentrating on the following areas:
1) Identify products to be boycotted from illegal settlements and make them widely known.
2) Work on a Classis (RCA), Presbytery (PCUSA) and district (ELCA, UMC, UCC) level through Networks bringing greater visibility to this issue.
3) Work with Palestinians on ways that “positive investment” might help Palestinians gain more of a foothold in the face of Israeli occupation.
4) Work with KUSA (Kairos USA), End the Occupation, and others to bring about equal rights to Palestinians who have been downtrodden for decades and decades.
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