Anglican
Church Votes To Sell Shares in Caterpillar
After being challenged by the Episcopal
Bishop of Jerusalem, The Church of England voted on February 6,
2006 to divest funds from
companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian
territory. The main target is Caterpillar, the U.S.
Company that makes equipment including bulldozers used by Israel to
demolish Palestinian
homes and orchards.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rev. John Gladwin told
the meeting that the problem in the Middle East was the government
of Israel rather than Caterpillar but said it was important that the
church invest only in organizations which behave ethically.
The Rev. Riah Abu El Assal, Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem,
had sent the following challenging message to the Synod.
"I am saddened to witness less courage within our church
than one would expect. Both time and energy have been
spent on issues such as human sexuality. But non violent instruments such as
divestment
from companies that produce death rather than life
does not get the same attention. No wonder the church is loosing credibility
in many
parts of our world. The Elijah’s are absent and the voiceless
wait in vain for church Synods to be their voice. Need
the church wait until there are no homes and no trees for our people
to wake
up and tell the Ahabs of today that Naboth is but another
child of God and deserves to lead a life with dignity and secure enough
that
those bulldozers will not reach his home." + Bishop Riah Abu
El Assal
Text of the motion passed by General Synod:
"This Synod:
(a) heeds the call from our sister church,
the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, for morally
responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories and, in particular,
to disinvest
from companies profiting from the illegal occupation,
such as Caterpillar Inc, until they change their policies;
(b) encourages the Ethical Investment Advisory Group
to follow up the consultation referred to in its
Report with intensive discussions with Caterpillar Inc, with a view to its
withdrawing from
supplying or maintaining either equipment or parts
for use by the state of Israel in demolishing Palestinian homes;
c) in the light of the urgency of the situation,
and the increased support needed by Palestinian Christians, urges
members
of the EIAG to actively engage with monitoring the
effects of Caterpillar Inc's machinery in the Palestinian occupied
territories through visiting
the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle
East to learn of their concerns first hand, and to see recent house
demolitions;
d) urges the EIAG to give weight to the illegality
under international law of the activities in which
Caterpillar Inc's equipment is involved; and
e) urges the EIAG to respond to the monitoring
visit and the further discussions with Caterpillar by updating
its recommendations in the light of these."
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