Bulldozers (still) in Bethlehem

by Katie Paarlberg

With the anniversary of Christ's birth fast approaching, people of conscience are ever more concerned about the continuing violence in the Holy Land. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages, Christians in the United States are attempting to effect peace in the region from afar. In recent months, some churches have chosen to make their voices heard through new incarnations of socially responsible investment.

At its July 2004 General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church (USA) decided to investigate phased selective divestment from corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation. Divestment, the practice of withdrawing invested funds from corporations engaging in questionable or reprehensible activities, is one way to integrate moral and monetary values. In the PCUSA's case, these corporations include those providing goods or services to the Israeli military to maintain the occupation, those with established facilities on occupied land, and those providing goods, funds, or services that support the construction of Israel's separation wall.

Divestment campaigns have proven to be an effective tool to hold governments accountable to international standards of human rights. The PCUSA has not chosen to divest Israel as a whole from its $8 billion portfolio, but rather those corporations that violate human rights. In reporting on the church's decision, the California-based group Jewish Voice for Peace notes that "The total amount of U.S. aid given to Israel since 1949 represents the largest transfer of funds from one country to another in history. Seventy-five percent of U.S. military aid to Israel must by law be spent in U.S. corporations.... This means that U.S. corporations are the primary beneficiaries of Israel's continued and brutal military occupation of Palestinian lands."

Other denominations are considering similar courses of action. The Episcopal Church USA has made plans to consider a divestment campaign, after their socially responsible investing committee recommended that the church study possible actions to protest the occupation. The Associated Press reports that some individual United Methodist and United Church of Christ congregations are considering divestment as well.

The PCUSA has come under harsh criticism from groups supportive of Israeli policies. But military occupation, argues Jewish Voice for Peace, harms both the Israeli and the Palestinian people as it militarizes both cultures, damages the Israeli economy, exposes both sides to increased violence, and devastates Palestinian society.

One of the most prominent U.S. corporations to do business with the Israeli military is Caterpillar, Incorporated, which manufactures bulldozers that are sold to the Israeli government. Since 1967, such machines have been used to demolish almost 9,000 Palestinian homes, rendering more than 50,000 people homeless. Several U.S. organizations (including the Catholic Sisters of Loretto and Mercy, and Jewish Voice for Peace) filed a shareholder resolution with Caterpillar in November, requesting that it review its sales to Israel and whether they violate the corporation's own code of international ethics. Several U.S. denominations and faith-based organizations have joined in criticizing Caterpillar, including Sojourners, which launched a campaign to call for an investigation into the legality of Israel's use of the bulldozers.

Such actions on the part of Christians are a viable method of proclaiming peace with justice regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Divesting from companies that profit from suffering, filing shareholder resolutions with those companies, and calling for investigations into the use of Caterpillar bulldozers are not anti-Israel activities. On the contrary, they will ultimately promote a sustainable solution to the painful violence that has been so long endured by our sisters and brothers living in the homeland of our Messiah.

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Katie Paarlberg works as organizer for Sojourners.

This article was published in Sojomail, a free service of Sojourners magazine. It is used here with permission.