BDS in the Pews: a new report from NGO monitor

The anti-Israel forces have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to push Boycotts, Divestments and Sactions through the mainstream Christian churches.

An important new report BDS IN THE PEWS: European, US, and Canadian Government Funding Behind Anti-Israel Activism in Mainline Churches examines the source of this funding.

From the NGO Monitor Report:

"BDS strategists view the churches as a key target for promoting the BDS agenda: “religious institutions are seen in many communities as embodying important moral and ethical principles... Divestment campaigns that target companies such as Caterpillar have been initiated in a number of major Christian churches. Not only will successful divestment campaigns financially weaken the Occupation, but will raise both the public profile and legitimacy of the BDS campaign.”

In spite of the self righteous posturing of many BDS groups, some organizers are very clear about the goals of the BDS movement

"Dr. Norman Finkelstein, a BDS supporter, critiqued the BDS movement for being “dishonest” about their goals, saying, “We have to be honest, and I loathe the disingenuousness. They [BDS] don’t want Israel… And they think they’re very clever because they know the result of implementing all three [demands] is what? What’s the result? You know and I know, what’s the result? There’s no Israel.” (emphasis added)

Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil, a Northern California BDS campaigner, responded to Finkelstein in Al Akhbar: “Finkelstein rightly asks whether the real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel. Here, I agree with him that it is. That should be stated as an unambiguous goal. There should not be any equivocation on the subject. Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel.” (emphasis added)

“BDS does mean the end of the Jewish state… Ending the occupation doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t mean upending the Jewish state itself.” (Ahmed Moor, leading U.S. BDS activist) (emphasis added)"


Church based BDS initiatives in 2012 include:

"In May, the United Methodist Church (U.S.) voted down an anti-Israel divestment resolution, but passed a resolution calling for selective boycotts of settlement products.

In July and August, anti-Israel resolutions supporting divestment and/or boycotts are to be debated and voted upon at the national policy gatherings of the Presbyterian Church-USA and the United Church of Canada.

The Episcopal Church (U.S.) in July will deliberate on a resolution that, according to an email action alert with the subject line “The Episcopalians Need Our Support Too!” circulated by Anna Baltzer of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, “is similar to the ground work that the Methodists and Presbyterians were laying several years ago as part of their long-term campaign” for divestment and boycotts.

The Church of England at its General Synod in July will deliberate and vote on whether to recognize the World Council of Church’s Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and a Palestinian “right of return”.

Who funds the church based delegitimization efforts?

"A number of European governments, plus the United States and Canada provide funds for these church-based efforts to delegitimize Israel. These tax-payer funds are disbursed as grants to church-based humhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifanitarian NGOs, which then transfer these funds to highly politicized pro-Palestinian NGOs, including Christian groups that promote BDS, the one-state solution and, in many cases, antisemitic supercessionist, or replacement, theologies within mainline churches worldwide."

To find out how your government might be financing the delegitimization efforts against Israel, read the full report at NGO Monitor

Did JVP lie About TIAA-CREF?

Did JVP lie about TIAA-CREF's divestment from Caterpillar? Did JVP lie about their "huge" victory?

An email from Adalah NY certainly implies that the victory may not have been quite as "huge" as JVP originally claimed. Once again TIAA-CREF is being targeted for not doing what JVP claimed they already did. Can't keep up with the lies? Don't worry. None of us can. Incidentally, Adalah NY has been involved with the JVP campaign since the very beginning- Adalah members attended Rebecca Vilkommerson's campaign launch 2 years ago. With $900 million remaining in Caterpillar stock, I'd be willing to venture that TIAA-CREF's "divestment" wasn't quite as "huge" a victory as JVP originally claimed

Be afraid, TIAA-CREF. Be very afraid. Adalah is going to SING. And DANCE. And CHANT. That'll show you.

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Adalah NY's email:

Tell TIAA-CREF, Divest from the Israeli Occupation!

What: A street action with songs, music, dancing, and chants calling on TIAA-CREF to divest from the Israeli occupation of Palestine
When: Tuesday, July 17, 12:30 - 2:30 PM
Where: TIAA-CREF headquarters in New York - 730 3rd Ave (between 45th and 46th Sts)

Why: TIAA-CREF has made a historic decision to divest $72.9 million of Caterpillar stock from their Social Choice fund. But this is only the beginning! TIAA-CREF still invests over $900 million in Caterpillar in other portfolios. In addition, its Social Choice fund contains investments in Motorola Solutions, which developed the surveillance and communications systems for use in illegal Israeli settlements and the apartheid wall, and Hewlett-Packard, which owns the biometric monitoring system used in Israeli military checkpoints, provides data storage solutions for illegal Israeli settlements, and coordinates information technology for the Israeli Navy. TIAA-CREF also continues to hold onto its investments in Elbit, Veolia, Northrup Grumman, and Africa Israel, all of which are complicit in the illegal Israel occupation of Palestine.

Join us on July 17 during the TIAA-CREF shareholders' meeting to demand that TIAA-CREF live up to its motto "For the Greater Good" and divest from all its holdings in companies profiting from the violation of international law and Palestinian human rights.

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For more information on the campaign, visit our TIAA-CREF campaign page and WeDivest.org.

Organized by Adalah-NY. Endorsed by Brooklyn For Peace; Jewish Voice for Peace - NY; Jews Say No!; Siegebusters; Queers Against Israeli Apartheid; International Socialist Organization; Jewish Voice for Peace - Westchester; WESPAC Foundation; Women in Black, Union Square (list in formation).


Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel
c/o WESPAC Foundation
52 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States

San Francisco and Haifa: Sister Cities

Haifa and San Francisco are sister cities- the reasons seem obvious. Both are cities on a hill, both have a diverse population, both are centers of high-tech, and both sit on an earthquake fault. Just as San Francisco functions as a "sanctuary" city, Haifa too provided a sanctuary for people of the Bahai faith, and today is the home of the Bahai World center. Last week, Haifa mayor Yona Yahav came to San Francisco, to celebrate and promote Haifa's 35 year old relationship with the "City by the bay".

While here, Yahav attended a screening at the Kabuki Sundance Theater of the Israeli film “The Matchmaker,” which was filmed in Haifa. He also spoke at the World Affairs Council discussing Haifa as a model of coexistence in the Middle East. Haifa, with a population of almost 600,000 is third-largest city in Israel. Haifa’s residents consist of Jews, Arabs, Christians, Bahai, and other communities living side-by-side. His theory as to why his city seems to be an island of Arab-Jewish cooperation. “In our city,” he said, “nothing is holy.”

Stronger relations are being promoted between San Francisco and Haifa, sister cities with much in common. How's that BDS movement going, btw?