Presbyterian Church (USA) Votes to Divest from Israel Bonds, Denounces Christian Zionism
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A long-time harsh critic of Israel and its policies toward Palestinians, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Monday, July 1 voted unanimously to divest from Israel bonds and called on pertinent US companies to stop trading with Israel, the Religion News Service (RNS) reports. With one million members and 8,000 churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US.
Monday’s divestment resolution calls on the Presbyterian Foundation and Board of Pensions to divest from governmental debt held by countries that have been subjected to United Nations resolutions condemning their respective military occupations, RNS reports. These countries include Turkey (in northern Syria) and Morocco (in Western Sahara) as well as Israel.
“Addressing Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory is especially urgent today, as it is directly connected to the devastating war in Gaza and ongoing violence in the West Bank,” the resolution reads.
“This resolution would prevent our church from profiting from these occupations.”
Concerning American companies it says help Israel to harm Palestinians, the Assembly voted to begin discussions with General Electric and Palantir Technologies specifically to encourage them to stop working with the Israeli government, RNS reports. The Assembly holds General Electric is wrong to sell fighter jets to Israel for use against Palestinians and Palantir Technologies is wrong to supply the Israeli government with AI technology to surveil the Palestinian people.
Notably, the Assembly also denounced Christian Zionism, an interpretation of the Bible that contends God brought the Jewish people back from around the world to settle in the Holy Land, RNS reports. The Assembly denounced Christian Zionism on the grounds that the ideology justifies the State of Israel in taking land from Palestinians and keeping them under military rule.
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