WIESENTHAL CENTER TO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: "GIVE MIDEAST PEACE A CHANCE - DROP DIVESTMENTPLAN"
Against the backdrop of major positive developments in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) to suspend itsproposed plan to divest from American companies doing business with Israel.
In a letter to Reverend Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Church's General Assembly, officials of the leading Jewish human rights group said in part: "We write to you asIsrael has committed to dismantle all of its settlements in Gaza; when it has released 500 Palestinian prisoners detained for their activities related to the terrorist-marredIntifada; when the Israeli Prime Minister, the Palestinian Authority President meet under the sponsorship of Egypt to hasten the road to a two-state peaceful solution…. . Withthese new and positive facts on the ground we call upon the PCUSA to add its voice of encouragement by suspending its plans for selective divestment against those who do businesswith the Jewish State."
The letter went on to note the deep crisis the divestment plan has created in relations with Jewish community and the divisiveness it has created within the Church it hasgenerated. Indeed, a recent poll showed that only 25% of Presbyterians backed the controversial move. The plea, signed by Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the WiesenthalCenter Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Center and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein of the Center's Project Next Step went on to say: "PCUSA is on record asfavoring divestment not as a means of punishing Israel, but of pushing her to the negotiating table. Now that Israel has not only sat down at that table on her own, but mademoves that have led Palestinian Authority President to declare that the war with Israel is effectively over, pursuit of the divestment policy at this time could only be viewed ascounterproductive and mean spirited and unmistakably one-sided."
We urge you to seize this moment of unprecedented promise for peace in the Middle East to further the forces of peace abroad and the restoration of calm closer to home. Byshelving its divestment plans, PCUSA' will create a peace dividend on both sides of the Atlantic."
The Wiesenthal Center is one of the Jewish organizations that has been at the forefront in resolving this controversial issue. For the last several months, it has workedwith speaking with leaders within the Presbyterian community -ministers and lay leaders-who have opposed this issue from the outset.
For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, or visit www.wiesenthal.com.
