Jerusalem – Israel’s prime minister on Sunday criticized the decision by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to divest from U.S. companies that operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, saying the vote was misguided and unfair.
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In an address to an international gathering of Jewish journalists, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Israel as a rare bright spot in a turbulent region. While stopping short of accusing the Presbyterians of anti-Semitism, he wondered why Israel had been singled out.
“When the Middle East is fragmented in this horrible war, this savage, savage war between militant Shiites and militant Sunnis … the only place where you have freedom, tolerance, protection of minorities, protection of gays, protection of Christians and all other faiths is Israel,” said Netanyahu.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Friday voted to sell church stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, three companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied West Bank.
The 1.8 million-member church became the most prominent religious group in the U.S. to endorse divestment in a sign of protest against Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It rejected a similar proposal two years ago.
Netanyahu called on the group of nearly 300 international Jewish journalists to “defeat a lie … with truth, with facts, with courage.”
“Let’s arrange a bus tour for (Presbyterians) in the region. Let them go to maybe Syria, Lebanon, Iraq. And my only suggestion for them … it be in an armor-plated bus,” he added.
Presbyterians who advocated for divestment insisted their action was not part of a broader movement known as BDS — boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel — but the decision to divest is timely. US-led peace talks with the Palestinians recently collapsed and Israeli military forces have stepped up operations in the West Bank since three Jewish teens were abducted on June 12.
The presbyterian swastica is an ambulance with a crescent that runs to the edge of soft society to bring the dead back to life for a price. They are criminals and they should be discussed in the holocaust museum. Disgusting.
What this article failed to mention is that there were some( liberal )Jews lobbying the Presbs to divest from Israel. They should be damned along with the rest of the bunch. Israel has brought a level of prosperity to Palestinians fortunate enough to work within its borders that is unparalleled in the rest of the Mid-East.. Israel is the only country in that entire region that affords equal rights to all creeds, yet the Presbyterian Church attacks Israel. Shame on any religion that subverts truth.
Hey Presbys…dont google again, dont use your cell phone and you can no longer use the cancer/diabetes treatments developed in Israel. There are a whole host of things you are no longer allowed to use. Have a great life…while we sit here and laugh at you.
There are many Pres’s in Congress. How did they vote on Israeli issues?
Someone should post the list of companies that supplies equipment to this church,
and let us see what will happen if we will pull our money out of those companies!
1.8 million members. That’s less than the number of Scientologists. They are nothing. I heard one of the investment funds is $21 million. That is what Hewlett-Packard spends on paper plates for the cafeteria. Someone should make a list of Pre-owned businesses that we can pressure people to boycott and make a “counter-cott.”