Critics welcome new United Church stance on Middle East

By Peter Biggs

THE United Church of Canada (UCC) has issued a statement, 'Pro-Peace Investment Strategy for the Middle East,' which is being welcomed by some of the denomination's critics.

The statement -- which was crafted during the UCC's 39th General Council, held August 13 - 19 in Thunder Bay, Ontario -- is quite different from a previous document, which raised the ire of some groups.

The earlier document, titled 'Ethical Investment for Peace in Palestine,' was issued by a UCC task group and severely criticized by the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) and a number of Christian groups. However, UCC spokespeople noted at the time that this document expressed the views of the Toronto conference only. The Toronto conference is one of 13 regional bodies that make up the UCC.

The earlier controversy centred around the Toronto task group's endorsement of the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which supported what the UCC group termed "an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination."

Lawrence Puchee, co-chair of the Toronto task group, said at the time: "We are asking our people to stop investing in the five companies that are making money from the conflict. They are Boeing, General Electric, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and Canadian Aviation Electronics."

Some groups, such as the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), were infuriated. David Katz, secretary-treasurer of the Ontario branch of CJC, declared in a press release: "We call on leaders and members of the United Church of Canada to reject this position outright. Our community cannot help but view this motion as insensitive to Canadian Jewry's inherent and unbreakable attachment to the state of Israel."

After the new statement was released, Manuel Prutschi, national executive vice president of CJC, commented: "The original UCC resolution gave us cause for great concern. It was basically a divestment proposal based on the misguided belief that Israel is the guilty party. It was a punitive economic measure."

Commenting on the Toronto task group's connection with CUPE, Prutschi said CUPE's position "was more extreme, and spoke of boycotts -- describing Israel as an 'apartheid state' that should allow millions of Palestinians right of return."

The CJC pronounced themselves pleased with the recent national UCC statement, which drops the term "divestment" -- and affirms the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.

Others remain skeptical. Paul Charles Merkley, board director of the pro-Israel International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), said the UCC "has built a reputation, through its declarations and its discussion of Middle East issues in its magazine, The United Church Observer, as perhaps the most anti-Israel denomination in the Western world."

Merkley further described the UCC as opposing "implementation of the Balfour Declaration throughout the 1930s -- and in public declarations, down to the last months of World War Two, cast[ing] doubt upon the authenticity of reports about the Holocaust."

Bruce Gregersen, general council minister for UCC, did not comment on ICEJ's assessment. Instead, he outlined what he sees as the church's most significant shift.

"Three years ago the General Council came out with an explicit statement -- not only of Israel's right to exist, but as a Jewish state." He added: "We have also been consistent in advocating for the right of a Palestinian state to come into being. Both have to mean equal rights for citizens of both states, regardless of religious identity."

Prutschi said he sees the 'Pro-Peace' document as a significant and positive step. He lauded the UCC for recognizing the need for a promotion of "peace and understanding and the end of hostilities in the Middle East."

The statement also addresses the more thorny issue of investment.

"We dropped the term divestment, preferring to emphasis the positive," said Gregersen.

The motion calls on the church to: "Adopt a pro-investment strategy with companies that engage in ethically responsible business, and that contribute to peace and a secure and economically viable Palestinian state, alongside a secure and economically viable State of Israel.

"Make financial investments, as they pertain to Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, with Canadian and international corporations and companies that are engaged only in peaceful pursuits in the region."

Along with this, the UCC is seeking to set up a $1 million fund "to support projects, initiatives and groups of any faith working for peace in Palestine and Israel."

The document's description of non-peaceful pursuits includes providing "products, services, or technology to any government or organization that refuses to recognize the legitimate rights of the State of Israel, including its right to exist as a Jewish state."

August 24/2006