wfn.org | ADL Dismayed By World Council of Churches Divestment Statement

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Contact:  Myrna Shinbaum (212) 885-7747
Todd Gutnick (212) 885-7755
Anti-Defamation League
http://www.adl.org

New York, NY, February 23, 2005 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is
deeply dismayed by a recommendation adopted by the World Council of Churches
(WCC) Central Committee encouraging its member churches to consider
divesting from companies doing business in Israel, modeled after a similar
measure being considered by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The Central Committee, the main governing body of the WCC, approved the
recommendation for a policy of "phased, selective divestment from
multinational corporations involved in the (Israeli) occupation," at a
meeting on February 21 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, and Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor,
ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs, issued the following statement:

We are deeply dismayed that the World Council of Churches has endorsed a
divestment policy against Israel.  The Council's call for divestment is
based on a biased, one-sided interpretation of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict that unfairly portrays Israel as the perpetrator of alleged
violations of international law, while failing to acknowledge myriad other
factors in the conflict, not least the sustained campaign of Palestinian
terror that is at the root of Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza.

As we have said repeatedly in conversation with Presbyterian Church leaders,
divestment policies are counterproductive and a detriment to the newly
revived peace initiative between the Israelis and Palestinians, and
fundamentally flawed as a mechanism for resolving the conflict.  Divestment
hurts not only Israel, but has economic impact on Palestinians as well.

It is especially unfortunate that the World Council of Churches approved
this policy without any consultation with Jewish leaders, and that its
policy statement is wrapped in the garb of "religious truth," rather than as
an interpretation of international law.  Interpretations of international
law are simply that, and not revealed religious truths.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading
organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that
counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

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