ACTION
ALERTS:
CANADA MUST DEFEND INTERNATIONAL LAW !
Contact Prime Minister Paul Martin and
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew - Demand that Canada respect
International Law
Please contact us if you know of a Palestine-related event
of interest to people living in Ottawa that we have not listed.
|
Message
from IMOPA
August 6, 2004
SUPPORT
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ITS STAND REGARDING ISRAEL
Please, please take a minute (literally!) to send an email of support
to the Presbyterian Church, which has announced its plan to initiate a
process of selective, phased divestment from multinational corporations
doing business in Israel. The vote was passed during the first week of
July at the 216th annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(USA). The Presbyterian Church is now under heavy pro-Israel attack by
letter, telephone, fax, and email.
Also please encourage the Church to divest from Caterpillar, which the
Church is already contemplating doing. See their press release
below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter Example:
Subject: Divestment from multinational corporations doing business in
Israel
Good afternoon
I encourage you to go on with your plans - Caterpillar should indeed be
at the top of your list. This company is making profits on
destruction and deaths being caused by the Israeli army (government)
which is using Caterpillar bulldozers in the commitment of nothing less
than war crimes.
Please, please do not bow to the pressure and intimidation of
pro-Israel advocates. After all, they are in fact, acting on
behalf of a foreign government; one that has continued (so far) to act
in contravention of international law, human rights, world opinion and
certainly, the ethical standards of conduct which Americans hold so
dear.
Respectfully,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fledgling divestment movement must grow.
Even a one sentence email such as "Thank you for your decision to
divest from Israel." would be great. Just click on the web addresses
below and write what your heart tells you.
PLEASE, PLEASE DO IT
Your message will go directly to the Stated Clerk of the General
assembly of the church.
Click
here for email form:
Office of the General Assembly - Web site: www.pcusa.org/oga
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Investment and Loan Program, Inc. - Web
site: www.pcusa.org/pilp
Louisville, Kentucky
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF THE USA
The Presbyterian Center in Louisville continued to be inundated with
letters this week protesting the 216th General Assembly's decision July
2 to initiate a process of selective, phased divestment from
multinational corporations doing business in Israel.
Jewish leaders and groups continued to criticize the Presbyterian
Church (USA) for taking actions it says are anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic and which ignore the violence perpetrated by Palestinians
in the region. Interfaith relations officer Jay Rock of the Worldwide
Ministries Division spent much of the week in New York, conferring with
various Jewish groups.
Victor Makari, area coordinator for the Middle East, also spent much of
the week explaining the PC(USA)'s position on the Israel-Palestine
conflict and the actions taken by the General Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, coordinator for Mission
Responsibility Through Investment, began the painstaking work of
researching PC(USA) policy on the Middle East and various corporate
ties between multinational corporations and the Israeli government in
order to prepare the specific divestment strategy called for by the
Assembly. He said the divestment process, which usually involves
dialogue with offending companies before any stock-selling occurs, will
probably initially focus on Caterpillar, the machinery giant that sells
bulldozers to the Israeli Defense Forces. That process will be
developed at a meeting of MRTI in New York in early November.
Your
Comments
canpalnet-ottawa.org
|
|
