Anglicans call for action against Israeli occupation
-26/06/05
The Anglican Consultative Council, one of the key instruments of the 70 million strong Anglican Communion, has urged its member churches to take a moral stance and consider disinvesting from companies involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. It has also condemned violence against innocent Israelis.
A motion, prompted by the Anglican Justice and Peace Network, was passed unanimously at the ACCís meeting in Nottingham, despite a strong campaign against it by those who argue that it will harm Christian-Jewish relations.
“This is the time for some sort of action. The root cause [of conflict] is the occupation and when the occupation is no more I believe there will be peace and Israel will enjoy security,” the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal declared.
The resolution stopped short of a direct call for disinvestment, and received the vote of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
Although the motion was toned down from the hard-hitting report of the Peace and Justice Network, it is seen as representing the strongest statement to date by the Anglican Communion against the Israeli governmentís policy towards the occupied territories.
Some Anglicans argued in the heated debate leading up to the ACCís decision that the resolution was unnecessary because Israel has already begun phased withdrawal. But others countered that declining to invest in the occupation remained a moral necessity until major change was forthcoming.
The motion commended “the resolve of the Episcopal Church (USA) to take appropriate action where it finds that its corporate investments support the occupation of Palestinian lands or violence against innocent Israelis.”
Partner churches were also urged to pressure firms involved in Israel’s activities in the occupied territories, like in the building of its illegal security wall on Palestinian land. The barrier divides Israelis from Palestinians, but also Palestinians from one another.
The Church of England will now come under particular pressure over its investment in the US-based Caterpillar group, whose bulldozers are used by the Israeli security forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians.
Anglicans call for action against Israeli occupation
-26/06/05
The Anglican Consultative Council, one of the key instruments of the 70 million strong Anglican Communion, has urged its member churches to take a moral stance and consider disinvesting from companies involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. It has also condemned violence against innocent Israelis.
A motion, prompted by the Anglican Justice and Peace Network, was passed unanimously at the ACC’s meeting in Nottingham, despite a strong campaign against it by those who argue that it will harm Christian-Jewish relations.
“This is the time for some sort of action. The root cause [of conflict] is the occupation and when the occupation is no more I believe there will be peace and Israel will enjoy security,” the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal declared.
The resolution stopped short of a direct call for disinvestment, and received the vote of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
Although the motion was toned down from the hard-hitting report of the Peace and Justice Network, it is seen as representing the strongest statement to date by the Anglican Communion against the Israeli government’s policy towards the occupied territories.
Some Anglicans argued in the heated debate leading up to the ACC’s decision that the resolution was unnecessary because Israel has already begun phased withdrawal. But others countered that declining to invest in the occupation remained a moral necessity until major change was forthcoming.
The motion commended “the resolve of the Episcopal Church (USA) to take appropriate action where it finds that its corporate investments support the occupation of Palestinian lands or violence against innocent Israelis.”
Partner churches were also urged to pressure firms involved in Israel’s activities in the occupied territories, like in the building of its illegal security wall on Palestinian land. The barrier divides Israelis from Palestinians, but also Palestinians from one another.
The Church of England will now come under particular pressure over its investment in the US-based Caterpillar group, whose bulldozers are used by the Israeli security forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians.