Recommendation to divest from three companies doing business in Israel forwarded to GA
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman, February 22, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Business coming before this summer’s 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will include a recommendation to divest itself of stock in Caterpillar Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P.
The General Assembly Mission Council approved forwarding to the GA the recommendation of its Mission Responsibility through Investment committee: (see page 2, item f.)
“The Committee on Mission Responsibility through Investment has been seeking to engage companies profiting from non-peaceful pursuits in Israel-Palestine since the directive of the 216th General Assembly (2004) and the reaffirmations and actions of each subsequent Assembly. This process of engagement has, in the case of three companies, produced no substantive change and, in the judgment of this assembly, is likely not to do so in the future. Under the church’s regular process of corporate engagement (approved by the 116th General Assembly of the PCUS (1976) and reaffirmed as policy after reunion), the final step is to recommend divestment from companies where engagement is not resulting in any change. Therefore, in accordance with the actions of prior assemblies, we direct that Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions be placed on the General Assembly Divestment List until such time as they have ceased profiting from non-peaceful pursuits in Israel-Palestine, as defined by prior General Assembly actions.”
The GAMC’s approval was not without dissent. Several council members not only voted against the measure, but also spoke against it during the council’s discussion of the recommendation.
Kears Pollock, of Bruin, Pa., spoke of how difficult the issue was for him because of his relationship with the PCUSA, his location and “most importantly my relationship with God.”
He said he was “very uncomfortable” with the motion and the “rationale behind it.”
Pollock spoke of heading an international company with 1,000 employees, who he said acted ethically. “We were moral in an immoral society. … If we judge others because they don’t meet our view of perfection, it is very dangerous, counterproductive and in fact, it goes against peacemaking.”
He said the accused companies, instead of being unethical and sinful, in fact, probably saved many lives, “including Israeli school children who were subject to bombings.”
The recommendation “accuses every business and almost every businessman who sits in our pews in this nation,” Polluck said. “We are not capable of making these judgments and yet we make them. … We will all be judged by God.”
Teresa A. Bryce Bazemore, of Penn Valley, Pa., said she thought the issue has been “painted with too broad a brush. … We are continuing to invest in many companies in Israel that are involved in peaceful pursuits.”
Connie M. Tubb, of Dallas, Texas, asked that the financial facts related to the issue be included in the recommendation to the assembly, especially the percentage of PCUSA holdings in each company. “This is a topic that polarizes the church,” she said, adding that she was “opposed to divestment because then we no longer have a voice.”
Clark D. Cowden of San Diego, Calif., also spoke against the recommendation but for an entirely different reason than Tubbs. He said that the PCUSA “is holding some companies to a higher standard than others. It is holding companies responsible for their products after they are sold.”
“If we approve this and GA approves this, there will be some pretty strong negative consequences and we damage our relationships,” said Cowden. “The costs are greater than the benefits.”
Jean Demmler, of Denver, Colo., spoke in favor of the recommendation to divest, even though “we may cause more dissension.” She called the recommendation “very thoughtful.”
On the day before the council’s vote, MRTI Chairperson Brian Ellison explained the divestment recommendation to the GAMC.
“We are not recommending to you a boycott of Israel,” he said. MRTI is not recommending divestment from companies that do business in Israel, he added, but it is recommending “divestment from three particular companies that are not in accordance to GA principles.”
The three companies recommended for divestment are:
- Hewlett-Packard. According to Ellison’s presentation, the company supplies the Israeli military with communications and computer hardware equipment; and provides biometric scanners for the checkpoints in occupied Palestinian territory that Ellison characterized as illegal.
- Motorola Solution. Ellison said that the company continues to profit from non peaceful pursuits in the region and refuses dialogue.
- Caterpillar. The company’s equipment is used for demolition of Palestinian houses, uprooting of generations-old olive trees, and construction of settlements and roads which Ellison again characterized as illegal.
“These are principle decisions, not financial decisions,” Ellison said. He said the recommendation is made without regard to financial information.
The General Assembly committee that will discuss this recommendation will also have to deal with several other overtures concerning the Israel/Palestine issue. They include:
- Overture 21 on recognizing that Israel’s law and practices constitute apartheid against Palestinian people from Muskingum Valley Presbytery.
- Overture 24 on Boycotting Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories and Hadiklaim (an Israeli Date Growers Cooperative) from San Francisco Presbytery
- Overture 25 on divestment from Caterpillar from San Francisco Presbytery
- Overture 58 (not posted yet) on ethical investment and divestment from New Covenant Presbytery.