UCC - Israel-Palestine resolution receives vote of ?no action?

From Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>
Date Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:52:03 -0700

Israel-Palestine resolution receives vote of ?no action?


Written by W. Evan Golder
July 3, 2011


After three hours of deliberation, the committee
debating the Israeli-Palestinian resolution
recommended that General Synod take no action on
the resolution called ?In Support of Effective
and Constructive Peacemaking between Palestinians
and Israelis through Positive Investment in Palestine.?

The discussion pivoted around whether boycotts,
divestment and sanctions (BDSs) are effective
means of bringing about peace in the Middle East.

General Synod 25 in 2005 called for the use of
economic leverage to promote peace in the Middle
East, including but not limited to BSDs.

The background statement for the currently proposed resolution states:

Encouraging our Churches to get involved in

positive investment in Palestine is a far more
productive approach than boycott, divestment
and/or economic sanction campaigns? These
campaigns are based on the misconception that one
side holds all the blame and are very destructive
in that they serve to increase the fear and
isolation of the Israeli public and markedly
decrease the likelihood of their being willing to
take the risk inherent in any peace agreement.

The show-of-hands vote for ?no action? was nearly unanimous.

?If General Synod were to support this

resolution, it might be misinterpreted,? said the
Rev. Lori Esslinger, pastor of Flicksville UCC in
Bangor, Pa., and a Synod delegate on the
committee. ?The Middle East needs every available
option for a peaceful resolution of the tensions
there. People need to be clear that the UCC still
supports a negotiated peace process, even while BDSs are still a possibilit y.?