Episcopal Church Votes Down BDS

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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.”

Bishop Leo Frade of Florida expressed great concern about the impacts of divestment. He noted, “…It hurts the same people we think we are helping. Palestinian jobs depend on investment, not divestment.”

The Church’s rejection of BDS comes almost a year after the Presbyterian Church voted to divest from three companies that profit from Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

The Mennonite Church, however, has voted to put off its vote to sell its stocks in companies “…profiting from the occupation,” until their next meeting in two years.”

Not all votes have been in Israel’s favor, though.

Along with the Presbyterian Church, in a 508 to 124 vote, the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly voted to divest from, as the NY Times reports, “companies that profit from Israel’s occupation or control of Palestinian territories, and a boycott of products from Israel settlements.”

Although the resolution is expected to have no economic effects at all, the morality of the vote has been questioned by Israeli officials and pro-Israel groups alike.

Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, states “The U.C.C. resolutions on the Middle East conflict…in no way reflect a moral stance or reality-based position.”

StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy group out of Los Angeles, said in a statement, “In doing so…[the U.C.C.]…promoted hatred and discrimination against Israelis, and undermined efforts to achieve a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”