2015 Action in Dioceses on Palestine Israel: Oregon
The Diocese has been working on socially responsible investing for several years. A temporary committee ended with Convention this year and has been re-constituted as a new committee to report to the Board of Trustees their plans for investment strategies. This action took place immediately prior to the two resolutions that were being presented about Israel/Palestine. The resolutions are set out at the end of this summary.
The first of those motions was our Task Force for Palestinian Human Rights. This was a clean resolution that was a follow up to last year’s BDS resolution, which passed. This resolution presented “Who Profits” as the appropriate source of information on how to implement the divestment.
The second motion came from a small group who has been meeting with a group of rabbis and the head of the Jewish Federation. Their motion was complicated, invoked General Convention including what had been reported to be the position of Archbishop Suheil Dawani. Among other things, this resolution sought to overturn divestment and to do positive investment instead, and for parishes to form sister relationships with other parishes, the Cathedral to form a sister relationship with St. George’s Cathedral, and for Oregon Episcopal schools to form a relationship with one of the Episcopal schools. While these were just suggestions, the implementation and responsibility for doing these actions was unstated.
We had prepared an amended resolution that would eliminate the problematic statements, change the sister parish relationships, cathedral, and school relationships with building relationships with the institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The amendment also reiterated last year’s BDS resolution.
Both of these resolutions were moved to be referred to the newly formed SRI committee. There was no discussion. The differences in perspective were illustrated by the support from Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign to End the Occupation and Cindy and Craig Corrie for the resolution presented by the Task Force for Palestinian Human Rights, and the established Jewish community for the resolution seeking to overturn divestment and opt for positive investment and other relationships with institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. We do have a strong feeling that this subject has been argued so many times that our amendment should have passed and that resolution would have had much support. Those on the side of the rabbis were pretty adamant that they were doing the right thing as there was so much support from the Jewish Community. All admitted that they really do not know much about Palestine, and all are reluctant to travel.
Our next step will be to try to establish at least a working relationship with this group, but mostly we will be moving forward with or without them. Several of our members have applied to be members of the new SRI Committee.
Resolution IV: Naming a Source for Identifying Companies for Divestment as a Guide to the Committee for Socially Responsible Investments
Resolved that the Committee for Socially Responsible Investments shall use the annual list of companies that profit from the Occupation from the group: WHO PROFITS FROM THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION INDUSTRY. This annual list can be found on the web-site http://www.whoprofits.org
The detail of this web-site and their research is attached to this resolution.
(Submitted by: The Task Force for Palestinian Human Rights)
Action of Convention: REFERRED TO THE SRI STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Resolution V: Affirmative Support of the Palestinian Communities in Areas of, and Surrounding, the Holy Land
BE IT RESOLVED that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon directs that the governance bodies, committees, parishes and institutions, more particularly described below, take the actions set forth in this Resolution of Policy in order to help achieve a constructive conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, while acknowledging the extraordinary complexity of the conflict, does hereby: express a strong affirmation for the search for a resolution of differences throughout the entire region, no matter how complex or seemingly intractable those differences may be; and pleads ultimately for both justice and peaceful reconciliation amongst all Palestinians and Israelis, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon recognizes that all of God’s people deserve to live in peace and harmony, and therefore prays for all people of the Middle East that the principles of justice, reconciliation and peace common to Christianity, Judaism and Islam may arise and flourish in the effort to bring about mutual understanding and dialogue, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon does associate itself with and expresses its support for the action taken in July, 2015, when the House of Bishops of the 2015 General Convention of the Episcopal Church sent a strong and clear message that divestment from companies and corporations engaged in certain businesses related to the State of Israel is not in the best interests of The Episcopal Church, its partners in the Holy Land, interreligious relations, and the lives of Palestinians on the ground, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, does further associate itself with the position taken by of The Right Reverend Suheil Dawahi, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, who has repeatedly argued strongly against divestment, but rather for investment, in the Palestinian Territories because, as he has stated, affirmative investing creates jobs for Palestinian Christians and Muslims and divestment takes those Palestinian jobs away, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon recognizes that efforts to improve peace in the region will be best served by a focus on affirmative and prudent investment in new or fledgling Christian/Muslim Palestinian or Jewish/Palestinian businesses and joint ventures, rather than potentially harmful practices such as divestment which can unwittingly contribute to anti-Semitism, to which we as Episcopalians, exercising our Anglican commitment to justice and reason, should be ever alert, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, recognizing that Arab and other Anglicans within the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem constitute a part of the historic Christian presence in the region since AD 37, the time of the first Pentecost, take positive action by: encouraging Trinity Cathedral to explore the feasibility of establishing a sister Cathedral relationship with St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, and we ask that the Cathedral report back to the 128th Diocesan Convention on any progress that it may have made on this matter; encouraging those of our parishes for whom it is feasible, to explore sister parish relationships with one of the twenty-seven (27) parishes of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem; and, encouraging Oregon Episcopal School to explore a sister school relationship, including the possibility of student exchange opportunities, between it and either, St. George’s Episcopal School in Jerusalem, the Arab
Episcopal School in Ramallah, Palestine, or St. John’s Episcopal School in Haifa, Israel, and that it report back to the 128th Diocesan Convention on its progress, and be it further
Resolved that the 127th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, applauds the decision of the Episcopal Church USA’s Economic Justice Loan Committee (EJLC) to purchase a three-year certificate of deposit for $500,000.00 in the Bank of Palestine as part of its economic justice portfolio; and it directs the SSAC (the SRI Stakeholder Advisory Committee) which the Convention’s Socially Responsible Investing Committee (SRI Committee) proposes be created by simultaneous resolution of the 127th Convention (and which upon adoption shall be appointed by the Diocesan Board of Trustees) to explore the prudence and feasibility of: a) the purchase of a certificate of deposit, in an amount to be determined, so long as the use of such funds are limited to loans for infrastructure, the development of small business which may reasonably provide employment opportunities for Palestinian Arabs or Christians, or for other peaceful purposes; and/or b) an affirmative investment in an activity or enterprise that could foster coexistence and collaboration amongst Israeli Jews and Israeli and Palestinian Arabs and Christians; and, further, that the SSAC report its findings, analysis and recommendations to the Diocesan Board of Trustees in advance of the 128th Convention, which, in turn, shall take action as it deems appropriate and report on such action to the 128th Convention.
(Co-sponsored by the members and supporters of the Ad Hoc Committee for Positive and Compassionate Action for Peace in the Holy Land (CPCAP)
Action of Convention: REFERRED TO THE SRI STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Next week: reports from more dioceses.
An effort to begin a process to encompass American Episcopal schools in the opertunities of exchanges with the Jerusalem diocese if not already being done should be. I think our new presiding bishop might see an opportunity in promoting these exchanges.