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U.S. Presbyterians target companies linked with Israel
A Presbyterian committee accused five companies Friday of contributing to “ongoing violence that plagues Israel and Palestine” and pledged to use the church’s multimillion-dollar stock holdings in the businesses to pressure them to stop. The move follows a vote last year by leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to put economic pressure on companies that profit from Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza.

The vote had outraged Jewish groups, who said the strategy was biased and failed to recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and the tensions worsened after other Protestant bodies adopted similar tactics. Jewish leaders are deeply disturbed that the campaigns threatening divestment essentially borrow from the 1980s movement against South African apartheid.

Presbyterian leaders insisted Friday that divestment would be only a last resort, if discussions with corporate leaders and lobbying stockholders failed.

“We are initiating a slow, deliberate process,” said Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, who works with the Presbyterian Mission Responsibility through Investment Committee. The goal is to convince corporations to “change their business practices which inflict harm on the innocent.”

David Elcott, head of interreligious relations for the American Jewish Committee, contended the Presbyterian strategy was meant to “punish and attack” Israel. He said he was particularly upset by the timing of the announcement, two weeks before Israel prepares to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

The targeted companies are Caterpillar, Citigroup, ITT Industries, Motorola and United Technologies Corp.