Jewish Telegraphic Agency
February 10, 2009
LONDON (JTA) — The Church of England divested from the American company Caterpillar.
The divestment announced Monday took place in December, according to Church officials. The announcement said the divestment was for purely economic reasons, though the Church has been urged to divest due to the company’s involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It came just before the publication of a letter to the British Guardian newspaper in which some Church clergy condemned the Church’s “unethical” investment policy.
The controversy over the Church of England’s investment in Caterpillar has been ongoing for years, with some in the Church calling for divestment from the company that has been selling bulldozers and mining equipment to Israel used in house demolitions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Church said the withdrawal of its $3.3 million was not on political or ethical grounds.
Twenty-three clergy members signed the letter to the Guardian, which had been scheduled to be printed before the announcement but ultimately was not published.
It reads: “We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli Government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit from the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately.”
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This post was written by Administrator on February 17, 2009
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Arab-American News
By Will Youmans
Students for Justice in Palestine at Hampshire College launched a campaign to convince the college’s board of trustees to withdraw the college’s investments in six companies that support the Israeli occupation through their business activities. The board moved to pull its investments in over 200 companies, including the six listed in the group’s petition.
The two year campaign is the first effective one in the United States and comes amidst similar, growing activism around the world.
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This post was written by Administrator on February 14, 2009
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Arab-American News
By Khalil AlHajal
The University of Michigan-Dearborn’s student government body voted on Tuesday to form an ad hoc committee to study possible unethical investments within the university’s endowment fund.
Philosophy professor David Skrbina spoke at a previous, Feb. 3 student government meeting, telling the group of student senators that of about $6 billion in university financial assets, at least $20 million is invested in the defense and military industry, including corporations that sell weapons and systems directly to the Israeli military, which he said uses them on civilian targets.
“We are profiting from the sale of weapons that are used to kill people in Palestine. I think it’s horrendous,” Skrbina said.
A resolution approved by the U of M Board of Regents in 1978 states that if “serious moral or ethical questions” arise over investments, “an advisory committee… will be appointed to gather information and formulate recommendations.”
“We did this for South Africa,” Skrbina said.
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CALL to JOIN
Mission Statement:
Responding to the call of Palestinian civil society to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement against Israel, we are a U.S. campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, as delineated by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel).
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In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, February 8, 2009. This follows the decision by COSATU to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel.
The pledge by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) members in Durban reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.
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This post was written by Administrator on February 3, 2009
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Last November, United Nations General Assembly President Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, made a groundbreaking recommendation in an address to the world body. He proposed that Israel should be treated in ways the South African apartheid regime was, and that we should not shy from using the word “Apartheid.”
More than twenty years ago we in the United Nations took the lead from civil society when we agreed that sanctions were required to provide a nonviolent means of pressuring South Africa to end its violations. Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society, who are calling for a similar non-violent campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end its violations.
His suggestion came a month before Israel’s offensive in Gaza, a display of military brutality unseen during the Apartheid South Africa years.
Daily Collegian
Penn State University
20 January 2009
I just read a report quoting Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, talking of putting Gazans “on a diet.” This reminds of Governor General Hans Frank in Nazi-occupied Poland, who spoke of “death by hunger.”
The hundreds of dead and bodies of children in Gaza, cutting off of water, electricity, medicine, fuel and food, is a reminder of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto. Apartheid Israel is committing a holocaust to the Palestinian population in Gaza, or what Israeli deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, who once talked about the Palestinians experiencing “a bigger shoah” (holocaust).
According to UN Special Rapporteur for Human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, “The truce was maintained by Hamas despite the failure of Israel to fulfill its obligation under the agreement to improve the living conditions of the people of Gaza.”
After more than 22 days of Israel’s aggression on Gaza, over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and less than a dozen Israelis.
The issue is that the Palestinians of Gaza do not come from Gaza. The Palestinians of Gaza come from that part of Palestine that became Israel. The places where the Hamas rockets are falling are the lands which were owned by the people who now live in Gaza.
As the world did with apartheid South Africa, rational Americans should embark on a program of boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel until it adheres to International Law. I’d rather see my American tax dollars fund the shortage of funding here at Penn State rather than supply Israel with weapons to commit war crimes against the Palestinians.
Sammy Haddad
graduate-engineering
Words and deeds in the Middle East
The Guardian (UK)
17 January 2009
The leaders of the western world are wringing their hands in despair at the sight of the horrors inflicted on Gaza. The UN general secretary, the French president and others are holding intensive discussions with some of the leaders of the Middle East in an attempt to put an end to the carnage in Gaza. Word, words, words.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinian civilians get killed, thousands are bleeding to death, tens of thousands are uprooted and wandering in vain in search of some shelter to protect them. The Israeli army bombs hospitals and UNRWA relief centres, and, defying international convention, it uses white phosphorus bombs against civilians. “What else can we do?” these leaders keep asking. Well, here is what you can do: move from words to deeds. Only immediate, decisive and strict sanctions against the state of Israel and its limitless aggression will make it realise that there’s a limit.
We, as Israeli citizens, raise our voices to call on EU leaders: use sanctions against Israel’s brutal policies and join the active protests of Bolivia and Venezuela. We appeal to the citizens of Europe: please attend to the Palestinian Human Rights Organisation’s call, supported by more than 540 Israeli citizens: boycott Israeli goods and Israeli institutions; follow resolutions such as those made by the cities of Athens, Birmingham and Cambridge (US). This is the only road left. Help us all, please!
Prof Yoram Carmeli Haifa University
Prof Rachel Giora Tel Aviv University
Dr Anat Matar Tel Aviv University
Jonathan Pollak
Dr Kobi Snitz Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
And 17 other Israeli citizens
NEWS
Christians Support Israeli Disinvestment
Christian Today (01/07)
COMMENTARY
