Yahoo – AFP,
21 June 2014
Washington (AFP) - The nearly 1.9 million member Presbyterian Church USA voted Friday after a contentious debate to divest from three companies that provide supplies to Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
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Israeli
soldiers patrol a street in the West Bank village of Beit Furik,
southeast of
Nablus, early on June 20, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)
|
Washington (AFP) - The nearly 1.9 million member Presbyterian Church USA voted Friday after a contentious debate to divest from three companies that provide supplies to Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The 310 to
303 vote at the influential Protestant denomination's meeting in Detroit,
Michigan, means the group will pull any financial investments out of
Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, according to the church's
official news service.
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Israeli
soldiers arrest a young Palestinian
boy following clashes in the West Bank
town
of Hebron, on June 20, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Thomas Coex)
|
The measure
also included a reaffirmation of Israel's right to exist, an endorsement of a
two-state solution and encouraged interfaith dialogue, The New York Times
reported.
It also
included a provision to encourage "positive investment" to improve
the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, the Times said.
The close
vote came after a week of intense lobbying and "most contentious debate of
this assembly," the church's news service said, noting that divestment has
historically been seen as a "last resort" after "other
engagement tools have failed."
In a
statement ahead of the vote, Presbyterian Church USA said it was considering
divestment in Caterpillar because its responsible investing committee found the
company provides the bulldozers "used in the destruction of Palestinian
homes, clearing land of structures and fruit and olive tree groves, and in
preparation for the construction of the barrier wall."
Hewlett-Packard,
it said, "provides electronic systems at checkpoints, logistics and
communications systems to support the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, and has
business relationships with illegal settlements in the West Bank."
And
Motorola Solutions "provides military communications and surveillance
systems in the illegal Israeli settlements," the Church added.
HP
spokeswoman Kelli Schlegel insisted, however, that "respecting human
rights is a core value at HP and is embedded in the way we do business."
The HP
systems used at checkpoints help expedite "passage in a secure
environment, enabling people to get to their place of work or to carry out
their business in a faster and safer way," Schlegel added.
Motorola
Solutions emphasized in a statement the "company has a long record of
working with customers" throughout the Middle East and "supports all
efforts in the region to find a peaceful resolution" to conflict.
The company
added it has "a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that
addresses human rights, which is designed to ensure that our operations
worldwide are conducted using the highest standards of integrity and ethical
business conduct applied uniformly and consistently."
Caterpillar
did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the 2012
General Assembly, Presbyterian USA voted to boycott products made in the
Israeli settlements and to "begin positive investments in Palestinian
businesses."
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