Jewish leaders relieved as divestment plans die
Methodist assembly votes down proposal seen as anti-Israel
, NJJN Staff Writer | 05.08.08

After intense lobbying efforts by Jewish community leaders across the country, the United Methodist Church rejected moves to divest stock in companies that do business with Israel.

	Delegates to the United Methodist General Conference vote on a resolution on April 28. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, United Methodist News Service

In the waning hours of their nine-day national conference on May 2, the Methodists voted down resolutions calling for "phased, selective divestment from companies that support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and other violations of human rights in Palestine/Israel."

From the American Jewish Committee's national headquarters in New York, Ari Gordon, its assistant director of inter-religious affairs, monitored the parliamentary proceedings taking place in Fort Worth, Texas.

"There was just too much resistance to divestment, and it was too late in the day," he said. Gordon noted the church leaders "did pass a couple of resolutions that seemed very positive toward Jews."

He said one of them "encourages responsible investment around Darfur, China, and the Middle East." Another stands against proselytizing Jews. A third commemorates Yom Hashoa and supports Holocaust awareness.

In the weeks preceding the conference, 16 New Jersey pulpit rabbis were asked to contact 24 of their local Methodist colleagues. The rabbis asked ministers to persuade conference delegates to maintain a "balanced" stand on Israel-related issues.

"We had a number of conversations, but we also had a number of rabbis who just never got through" to Methodist colleagues, said Allyson Gall, the executive director of the AJC's Metro New Jersey Area, who coordinated statewide Jewish outreach to Methodist clergy.

"The Methodists knew that a rabbi was calling about the resolutions, and all of the delegates received a letter that Jewish groups put together" expressing opposition to the divestment resolutions," she said.

In Texas, representatives of B'nai B'rith, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the AJC attended committee meetings and met with Methodist leaders at the Fort Worth convention.

From the convention floor, Ethan Felson, associate executive director of JCPA, paid close attention to the nuances of parliamentary procedure. He was pleased at the rabbis' grassroots efforts.

"This demonstrates that the partnership we have with our friends is highly valued. Many delegates stepped up to the plate because they heard what we were saying and they cherished the relationships they have with their Jewish communities back home," he said.

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, the U.S. director of inter-religious affairs at AJC, called the effort "a tremendously productive conversation. Many of the Methodists admitted they didn't have as much information as they should. I think that reveals Israel is not an issue that is central to them in a way that is central to us."

To Gordon, the Jewish presence at the Methodist convention was a prologue to more lobbying efforts on behalf of pro-Israel interests.

"The epilogue will be later this summer when the Presbyterians meet in their own General Assembly and there are already divestment resolutions on the table pushing in the same direction," he said.

"If the Methodists had passed this stuff, it would have made it a lot more difficult with the Presbyterians," added Gall. "What we really want are investments that will help the Palestinians.

Local stories posted courtesy of the New Jersey Jewish News