wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Officials of firms on 'engagement' list defend

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8839 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

CORRECTED

05410
August 9, 2005

Officials of firms on 'engagement' list
defend business practices in Israel-Palestine

Some express puzzlement, others 
are sticking to earlier statements

by Toya Richards Hill

LOUISVILLE - Officials of some of the five corporations chosen last week for
"progressive engagement" by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) because of their
roles in advancing violence in Israel and Palestine say they are still trying
to make sense of the denomination's decision.

	"No one from the church has contacted us," said Tom Martin, senior
vice president of corporate relations for ITT Industries, of White Plains,
NY. "We had not gotten any previous letters or anything from them."

	On Friday, Aug. 5, the PC(USA)'s Mission Responsibility Through
Investment (MRTI) Committee unanimously selected ITT, Caterpillar, Citigroup,
Motorola and United Technologies as the multinational corporations it would
contact about business practices believed to contribute to violence by
Israelis or Palestinians.

	The committee was acting on a mandate from last year's 216th General
Assembly to begin a process of "phased selective divestment" from companies
meeting certain criteria. 

	The PC(USA) Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation,
through trusts, oversee the denomination's investments in the five companies
- about 1.6 million shares in all. The value of those shares was not
disclosed.

	Together, the Board of Pensions and the Foundation manage church
investments worth more than $7 billion.

	Friday's decision was part of a lengthy process that could end with
MRTI asking the denomination's General Assembly Council (GAC) to ask the
General Assembly to put the corporations on a divestment list.

	The financial impact of the MRTI committee's action is unclear. Its
decision was announced after the investment markets closed last Friday. On
Tuesday, Aug. 9, all but one - Motorola - closed the day up from Monday's
close.
 
	The committee's decision was widely reported in the national media,
landing on the front page of Saturday's New York Times. Yet, on Tuesday,
officials of some of the five companies were still awaiting official
notification by the PC(USA).

	"We've talked a lot internally" about MRTI's actions, said Norman
Sandler, director of global strategic issues for Motorola, of Schaumburg, IL.

	"As far as I can tell, we haven't received anything" from the church,
Sandler said.

	According to the responsible-investing committee, Motorola, a large
electronics and telecommunications company, has a wholly owned subsidiary
with extensive ties to the Israeli military and recently won a contract to
develop encrypted wireless communications for the military to use in the
occupied territories.

	Our position is clear," Sandler said. "We've been in the region for a
long time, dealing with a number of customers" in telecommunications
services. He said the company has been in Israel for 40 years.

	"We are involved in Israel ... we're involved in the Palestinian
Authority territories ... and we're involved in, I think, at least a dozen
other countries around there, helping to supply commercial mobile phone
service," he said.

	Sandler acknowledged there have been talks between Motorola and the
PC(USA), but he said the company was still caught off guard by Friday's
development.

	"The timing of the release on Friday afternoon in August was a little
bit surprising - creating a huge amount of interest on a day that it is very
difficult to contact people," he said.

	The committee's action came during a regularly scheduled meeting in
the Seattle, WA, area, where several members live. The decision came around 1
p.m. Pacific Standard Time, or 4 p.m. EST.

	Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, the chief PC(USA) staffer to the MRTI
committee and its lead researcher, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
But last Friday he denied that the committee had purposely chosen the timing
or location of the meeting to make it difficult for the corporations to
comment. The committee normally meets on a Thursday-through-Saturday
schedule, and does the bulk of its work on Friday.

	Somplatsky-Jarman said the committee will now talk with senior
management of the firms in an effort to persuade them to change practices
that enable or support violence in Israel and/or Palestine.

	ITT's Martin said his company would be willing to engage MRTI in
conversations about its operations. "We talk to all of our shareholders when
they have an issue," he said.

	According to the MRTI committee, ITT supplies communications,
electronic and night vision equipment used by Israeli forces in the occupied
territories.

	"We supply many companies who are allies of the United States,"
Martin said, refusing to name the company's customers in Israel and
Palestine. "We serve the international market, in strict compliance" with the
laws of the U.S. Department of Commerce, he said.

	A similar stance was taken by Citigroup, of New York City, which was
cited by the MRTI committee for allegedly moving substantial sums of money
for suspected terrorists through Arab Bank. Funds reportedly were transferred
to Arab Bank from charities based in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait
and elsewhere - groups later disclosed to be "front organizations" used to
funnel money to terrorist organizations.

	"Our stance hasn't changed," said Jeannette Volpi, Citigroup's
manager of public affairs. "We just feel that any assertion that we support
terrorism, it's an outrage. We have first-rate controls. At this point we are
really just sort of sticking to our statement."

	Paul Jackson, a spokesperson for United Technologies, of Hartford,
CT, was also sticking to his earlier statements. He described his company as
"an ethical and responsible corporation," and said, "At this point there is
really nothing new to say."

	Officials of Caterpillar, based in Peoria, IL - which has attracted
the most public attention for its connection to Israel and Palestine 3/4 did
not return calls from the Presbyterian News Service.

	MRTI contends that Caterpillar's bulldozers and other heavy equipment
are used by the Israeli military and privately owned companies under contract
with the Israeli government.

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