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King_David

(14,851 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 10:43 AM Jun 2014

Rift With Presbyterians Likely

The Presbyterian Church’s decision Friday to divest from three American businesses that operate in the West Bank will likely strengthen international sanctions efforts against Israel, and will weaken interfaith ties between the Jewish and Presbyterian communities, Jewish leaders said this week.
The General Convention of the mainline Protestant denomination approved, by a 310-to-303 vote, a proposal to withdraw about $21 million invested in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, making the church the largest one in the country to endorse disinvestment from Israel.
The vote in the weeklong gathering in Detroit followed the defeat two years ago, by two votes, of a similar resolution. Divestment advocates in Presbyterian circles claim that the companies profit from the Israeli “occupation” of Palestinian territories.
The resolution came six months after the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, a Presbyterian advocacy group, issued a study guide, “Zionism Unsettled,” which challenged the history and theological legitimacy of the Zionist movement. And it is considered a coup for the wider BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement that is designed to put economic and political pressure on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinian Authority in the Middle East peace process.
“The effect [of Friday’s vote] is devastating,” Ethan Felson, Jewish Council on Public Affairs vice president and general counsel, told The Jewish Week Sunday, referring to future ties between Jews and Presbyterians at the national level. He added that “there is a dramatic divide between the pews and the national denomination.”

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/israel-news/rift-presbyterians-likely

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Rift With Presbyterians Likely (Original Post) King_David Jun 2014 OP
Uhmmmm...people in the pews have a lot to do with these votes. riqster Jun 2014 #1
He's a Jewish community leader King_David Jun 2014 #2
Then he shouldn't be pretending to knowledge he doesn't possess. riqster Jun 2014 #3
Pretending ? King_David Jun 2014 #4

riqster

(13,986 posts)
1. Uhmmmm...people in the pews have a lot to do with these votes.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 10:54 AM
Jun 2014

Mr. Felson clearly knows from nothing about how the Presbyterian church runs.

King_David

(14,851 posts)
2. He's a Jewish community leader
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:02 AM
Jun 2014

So I'm sure you are right he's probably not an expert in how the Presbyterian church is run.

riqster

(13,986 posts)
3. Then he shouldn't be pretending to knowledge he doesn't possess.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:58 AM
Jun 2014

To claim a disconnect between the vote and the opinions of the laity is doing just that.

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