Following a series of political victories against BDS, the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops, at the church’s General Convention in Salt Lake City, UT refused to divest from companies that do business with Israel in the West Bank, rejecting the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

A committee of leaders from the Church proposed the resolution back in April, noting that without a path to peace, “Maintaining the status quo is no longer viable in the absence of the peace process.

This committee is determined to use the Episcopal Church, which has around 1.8 million members around the United States, as a way to delegitimize Israel, saying, “civilian deaths and maimings keep accumulating, while the occupation, which is its own form of violence, becomes more entrenched each day.”

They argue Christians have a moral obligation to create peace by ending the alleged Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

In a statement, the Church said,

“The House of Bishops sent a strong and clear message that divestment from companies and corporations engaged in certain business related to the State of Israel is not in the best interests of the Episcopal Church, its partners in the Holy Land, interreligious relations and the lives of Palestinians on the ground.” (more…)