Peace for Life, a global faith-based peace and justice movement resisting militarism, war and globalisation, lauds the United Methodist Church (UMC) for blocking five of the biggest Israeli banks from its $20-billion Pension and Health Benefits Fund investment portfolio. UMC’s divestment deals a major blow to the Israeli apartheid regime and inspires other communities of faith to take the morally courageous stand for peace, justice, and human rights in Palestine.
The five banks are Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. Additionally, UMC sold its holdings in the Israeli real-estate company Shikun & Binui, and barred the company from the pension group’s investment portfolio.
According to the 2010 report released by the Israeli rights group Who Profits, Israeli banks partake in Israel’s brazen violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Palestine, specifically through: 1) the provision of mortgage loans for homebuyers in settlements; 2) special loans for building projects in settlements; 3) financial services to Israeli local authorities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights; 4) setting up of branches in Israeli settlements; 5) providing financial services to businesses in settlements; and 6) holding captive the Palestinian monetary market.
The UMC is justified in divesting its investments from companies that gain from the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. These settlements constitute a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention forbidding an occupying power to forcibly displace the population of an occupied territory. Israel’s plunder of land, water, and other natural resources for the benefit of settlements and residents violate the Hague Regulations of 1907 prohibiting an occupying power from expropriating the resources of the occupied territory for its own use. Israeli businesses, according to the rights watchdog Human Rights Watch, comprise the lion’s share of the illegal settlement activities in the occupied territories and enjoy low rents, tax incentives, government subsidies, and access to cheap Palestinian labour.
Peace for Life congratulates the United Methodist – Kairos Response (UMKR) for its years of persistent hard work and conscientious efforts to increase awareness within the church about the Palestinian peoples’ struggle and to highlight the need to put its ethical commitment into action by aligning its business practices and investment policies with the United Methodist Social Principles and Social Creed.
We support the continued initiatives of the UMKR divestment committee to urge the UMC to further ensure consistency and completely ban from its investment portfolio all companies that financially sustain Israel’s genocidal war in Palestine. UMKR has already submitted four proposals to the Church’s upcoming General Conference in May. Three of the proposals require divestment from companies involved with the occupation, and one puts in place a screening procedure to rule out investments in companies doing business in illegal settlements anywhere in the world.
Similarly, we recognize the actions taken in previous years by various Christian confessions in the US in support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement against Israel. In June 2015, the overwhelming majority of participants in the 30th general synod of the United Church of Christ (UCC), upheld the resolution supporting boycotts and divestments from companies profiting in Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. In June 2014, the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church voted to sell its stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola Solutions whose products Israel uses to pacify and oppress Palestinians.
Peace for Life urges other churches to follow the UMC, the UCC and the Presbyterian churches’ lead and support the Boycott, Divest and Sanction campaign against Israel. We look forward to further working with the United Methodist Kairos Response and similar groups in bringing to public attention the plight of the Palestinians and their struggle for justice and freedom. We call for an ecumenical united front against Israel’s occupation and violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws.