Resolution Asks UCC Conference To Divest Interest In Certain Israel Companies

When the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ holds its 147th annual meeting Friday in Cheshire, it will be asked to consider a resolution calling for the church to divest any investments in companies "profiting from the occupation of the Palestine Territories by the State of Israel."

The resolution, submitted by the board of deacons of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, also calls for church members to boycott Israeli products made in the occupied territories.

It is one of two resolutions that the conference will review, the other being a call to end "mass incarceration for nonviolent offenses," which was submitted by several New Haven churches.

The divestiture resolution states: "Past General Synods have identified the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land and its human rights abuses committed therein to be a major source of conflict and have called for the end of construction and expansion of settlements," and that "Palestinians in the West Bank have lived since 1967 under Israel military occupation which subjects them to many human rights abuses."

It calls for "the Connecticut Conference to divest any Consolidated Trust Fund holdings in companies profiting from the occupation of the Palestinian Territories by the state of Israel," listing Caterpillar Inc., Motorola Solutions, Hewlett-Packard Development and several other companies as examples of those that would be affected by the action.

It also asks "local church members" to support a boycott of goods produced by Israeli companies in the "occupied Palestinian territories." Examples listed were Ahava skin care products, SodaStream products and Hadiklaim dates.

Steven Jungkeit, senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, acknowledged Thursday that the resolution would be controversial, but said that his congregation proposed it after members made numerous trips to Israel and Palestine through the years.

"We believe it's the right thing to do," Jungkeit said. "It's a tricky issue to talk about, but I think that it's one that we need to raise our voices on."

The Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ is one of 39 regional conferences in the U.S. that makes up the 1.5 million-member United Church of Christ. The Connecticut Conference comprises 253 churches with more than 97,000 members.

Conference officials did not return telephone calls Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

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Resolution Asks UCC Conference To Divest Interest In Certain Israel Companies