Invest In Peace

Divestment, or even the threat of divestment is a nonviolent tool for exerting pressure on corporations. It must be on the table.What a crazy world this seems to be when I see what garners responses or not, from being “on the table.” The U.S. presidential candidates insist that they need to keep the threat of first-strike use of nuclear weapons on the table (even against poor people of non-nuclear states), and most people here just shrug. Whereas, when a confederation of churches wants divestment of stock-holdings (from companies that make money off of the brutalizing of others) to be on the table, they are told very loudly by many that they are out of line.
-Jim Haber
San Francisco, CA

I grew up in the Methodist Church as a child, and still feel strongly
connected to the Methodist Church. It has always been to me the most
representative of diversity and careful thought among Protestant
churches. I have grown away from the Methodist Church recently,
because I felt it was not taking a strong enough stand on the pressing
issues of the day. My faith in the Methodist Church has been
restored by its questioning of investments in Israel due to Israel’s
policies towards the Palestinians. Please continue to speak out
about injustice everywhere, no matter the consequences.

Cynthia Merkey
Ocala, Florida

As an American Jew, I am greatly concerned about the survival of Israel as a just society. I was born in Luxembourg to emigre German Jews who fled Europe in 1939 just months before World War II broke out. Many members of my family were less fortunate and perished in the Holocaust.

Israeli security is weakened by the occupation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel’s international position and its special moral claim upon the world is undone by the occupation. A just settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to a stable Middle East. Such a settlement must include the creation of a viable Palestinian state assisted by Israel and the international community to achieve economic growth and the necessary institutions of civil society.

Voting for selective divestment from companies that benefit from the occupation is a powerful way to pressure the US and Israeli governments to end the occupation.

–Jacques

Dear People of the Methodist and Presbyterian Faith,
The courageous stand you are making in divesting in companies who profit from the injustices committed against the Palestinian people is an example to us all. If more Americans made their voice heard perhaps a real difference could be made. Your commitment to justice for those who are broken is a real credit to your faith and demonstrates the best spirit of what it means to be a Christian and an American!
Fr. Mike Shea, Pastor, Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Albuquerque, NM.

Dear United Methodist Brothers and Sisters,

I’m an Eastern Orthodox Christian living in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Having graduated in 1988 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington,
DC, and having taught there briefly, I have acquired a profound respect
for the United Methodist commitment to social justice. From the time of
the Wesley brothers until today, Methodists have been on the forefront
of social action.

Last May I took a two-week fact-finding tour sponsored by the Colorado
chapter of Friends of Sabeel. Our group of approximately two dozen,
which included Christians, Jews, and non-affiliated seekers, was bonded
together in total agreement on the moral imperative to do whatever we
can do to improve the situation of the Palestinians. Responsible
divestment and investment is, in my opinion, the most effective measure
because corporations and governments are acutely sensitive to changes in
their pocketbooks.

Please continue to pursue the path of divestment. You may incur the
anger of some, but remember the episode of St. Paul and the silversmiths
at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, as described in Acts 18:23-41.
Please act as courageously as Paul did.

I salute you!

Carole C. Burnett

As an American Jew, I hope you will support divestment from companies that benefit from the occupation of Palestine. That is one of the most powerful, nonviolent ways we have of putting pressure on the Israeli government to end its oppressive treatment of Palestinians. I am firmly convinced that the only chance for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East is to end the occupation of Palestine.

David Raphael, Portland, Oregon

Dear Methodists,

I urge you to support selective disinvestment from companies that benefit from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. This is not anti-Israeli. I am Jewish American and am concerned about the safety and well-being of my Israeli cousins. But Israeli politics is trapped by war and occupation unless the world community show it a way out. Narrowly targeted disinvestment sends the right message to the right people without crossing over into useless anger.

Thank you,
Aaron Lercher

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to add my voice to the growing chorus calling for sanity and humanity in our relations with Israel and Palestine. As a Jew, I just celebrated the Passover Seder, commemorating the time when we were slaves in Egypt and calling our attention to the plight of the oppressed in the world today. It breaks my heart to see the way that my fellow Jews in the Israeli government and military are treating millions of Palestinians, especially in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, even to the point of threatening them with a “Holocaust (Shoah)”. I feel compelled to speak up about this and put my money where my mouth is.

That is why I am writing to add my support to the movement to divest of any companies who profit from the illegal, immoral, genocidal (and ultimately suicidal) Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Divestment played a key role in leveraging the end of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and it could be successful again. To criticize some Israeli policies is *not* anti-semitism; it is simply to look at the world and act with open eyes and a loving heart.

It is time for all of us, Jews and Christians, Americans and others, to stop financially supporting the disastrous, destructive policies of the Israeli government. I applaud the courageous actions of your church in advocating peace and sanity in this fragile, critical situation.

All my blessings,
Philip Handmaker
El Prado, New Mexico

I would like to really applaud the efforts of the leadership of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. Please vote for selective divestment from companies that benefit form the occupation. It is the most powerful, nonviolent way we, as Americans, have to pressure the Israeli government to end its occupation. Only through ending the occupation will we have a chance for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

- Sanaz Meshkinpour