SWC to Presbyterians: Just Say No to Unjust Anti-Israel Divestment

The SWC condemns the latest recommendation of an arm of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA), The General AssemblyMission Council which is urging the Church to divest from Motorola, Caterpillar, and HP, three companies that "profit" from business in Israel. "Once again, a small group ofanti-Israel activists within the Presbyterian Church will hold an important American church hostage during its upcoming General Assembly, consuming time and energy in anotherdivisive debate that will alienate members within the church, as well as the Jewish community,” Rabbis Abraham Cooper and Yitzchok Adlerstein charged in a statement releasedby the leading Jewish Human Rights NGO. Rabbi Cooper is the Wiesenthal Center’s Associate Dean and Rabbi Adlerstein is its Director of Interfaith Relations.

"The leadership of PCUSA shows its moral bankruptcy in supporting the politicized activity of a few bent ondelegitimizing Israel, while it takes no such action at all as Christians are dying in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and beyond. We urge our many friends within the Church to steer PCUSAaway from such unfair and one-sided poisonous posturing that does not help a single Palestinian - and instead promote projects that multiply good works and bring peopletogether," the Rabbis concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin AmericanParliament (Parlatino).

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