2015 Actions in Dioceses on Palestine Israel: Chicago

Chicago's diocesan convention was held in November 2015.  It passed the following amended resolution on Palestine/Israel:

Note that the section in brackets in the first paragraph was deleted and the partial paragraph beginning ‘and the Peace and Justice Committee to work together’ was substituted.
Sponsor: The Reverend Anthony Vaccaro, Peace and Justice Committee of the Diocese of Chicago

On Being Socially Responsible Investors in Israel and Palestine
Resolved, that the 178th Convention of the Diocese of Chicago direct the Diocesan Foundation [to place on its No-Buy List those US and foreign corporations that provide goods and services that support the infrastructure of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and publish the names of such corporations in an edition of E-Connect by July 1, 2016.]
and the Peace and Justice Committee to work together to develop a proposed investment policy regarding Israel and Palestine, to be presented to the 179th Convention of the Diocese of Chicago.
EXPLANATION (for the original resolution calling for a No-Buy List)

The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, at its meeting of October 7-10, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada, adopted a resolution receiving and commending the report of the Committee on Social Responsibility in Investments, and directing that Committee to “engage in dialogue with and, where appropriate, to file shareholder resolutions with companies which operate in the Occupied Territories, in which the [Episcopal Church] owns shares and whose products or services contribute to violence against either side, or contribute to the infrastructure that supports and sustains the Occupation, such as settlements and their bypass roads, the security barrier where it is built on Palestinian land, and demolition of Palestinian homes.”

In the ten years since the Executive Council’s decision to go down the road of corporate engagement and positive investment in the Church’s work for a just peace in Israel/Palestine, the number of Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem has increased from approximately 430,000 in 2005 to over 650,000 today. During more than two decades of peace talks, the Israeli government has been supporting the development of new settlements throughout the occupied territories of the West Bank. These settlements are illegal under international law. These “facts on the ground” have eroded the prospects for a two-state solution and hopes for peace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement, in the days before the Israeli election, that there would never be a Palestinian state on his watch is but a confirmation of what has been unfolding already in the occupied territories for decades. This status quo – permanent occupation with no solution in sight – is unendurable for the 4.4 million Palestinians who are now living in the third or fourth generation of occupation. In the West Bank, Palestinians experience: the demolition of homes as forms of collective punishment; the educational and health effects of having to pass through multiple security checkpoints that turn short journeys into long, unbearable commutes; and mass incarceration of Palestinians, including youth, many of whom are held under “administrative detention” without charge or access to trial for extended periods, all in the name of security, by Israeli armed forces. It is time to use the No-Buy List as a small step on the long road to a just peace in Israel and Palestine.

By including on its No-Buy List those US and foreign corporations that provide goods and services that support the infrastructure of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the Diocese will be taking a stand that future investments held by the Diocesan Foundation on behalf of the Diocese and diocesan entities will not support the infrastructure of this occupation now in its forty-eighth year. This resolution does not call for the selling of any current investments; rather, it asks that the Diocese discontinue financial support in the form of future investments.
Adoption of this resolution is not expected to require expenditures that would have an impact on the Diocesan budget.

EPF PIN member Newland Smith reports on the convention debate and action:

Anthony Vaccaro, who led a Chicago diocesan group on a visit to Palestine/Israel right after Christmas 2014 spoke first.   I made this statement during debate:
“Bishop Lee, clergy and delegates:
I rise to speak in favor of this resolution. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza now in its 48th year is destroying the souls of both Israelis and Palestinians. There is anti-Arab sentiment among a growing number of Israelis both within the State of Israel and in the West Bank settlements. Palestinian despair is deepening given the loss of hope of a just peace. On October 29 a video captured a recording of a threat from the Israeli military to residents of the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem. The voice that came out of the jeep’s loudspeaker conveyed this threat: “People of the Aida refugee Camp. We are the occupation army. You throw stones and we will hit you with gas until you die.”

Amira Hass, the Israeli Jewish reporter for Haaretz in light of the strife in East Jerusalem these past weeks wrote five days ago: “But in Jerusalem, it is never quiet; every night policemen burst into homes and arrest children and teens, patrol neighborhoods and terrorize people. And that’s besides the killing of demonstrators and the bureaucratic violence of home demolitions and revocations of residency status. So long as we don’t get that the occupation is one continuous terror attack, we won’t know how to end the attacks on Israelis.”

And Mitri Raheb, Palestinian Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem in his recent letter, “Palestinian Lives Matter” ends with three messages, the second addressed to the international community “without justice for Palestine, there will be no peace for Israel …” and the third message to “Our Palestinian young people. The question is not if we should resist or not, but the most important question is how to resist, and how to resist creatively … We want you to cling to your dreams, even if the occupation wants to steal these dreams from you, and if the whole world ignores your rights.”
Indeed the Occupation must end. By having our Diocesan Foundation not to invest in the future in those US and foreign corporations that provide goods and services that support the infrastructure of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, we will be taking a small but significant step on the long road to a just peace in Israel and Palestine.”

The Treasurer informed convention that because the Diocesan Foundation is now investing in mutual funds it would be impossible to do any such screening. Later in the debate he also said that if this resolution were to pass each congregation that had deposited money in the Common Fund would also have to sign off.

A member of Saint James Cathedral said she had heard that Archbishop Dawani opposed divestment.  Bishop Lee at once noted that this was the understanding among the bishops in the House of Bishops.  I was not able to get recognized to speak to this.  A friendly amendment was made   to instruct the diocesan Foundation and Peace and Justice committee (co sponsor) to work in the coming year to come up with a proposal (if possible) for such action and to report at next year's convention.  Amendment passed.