August 13, 2009

United Church of Canada Press Release

No National Boycott, but Churches Encouraged to Act

Kelowna: While officially backing away from declaring an outright
boycott against Israel, the 40th General Council of The United Church of
Canada has left the door open for that action to emerge from within its
constituencies across Canada.

Meeting in Kelowna, British Columbia, the Council adopted a
multi-faceted resolution on August 13, two days after it had repudiated
the "provocative, unbalanced and hurtful" language that had accompanied
a few of the proposals it received calling for action on the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

"The United Church has not begun or approved a boycott at the national
level," said the Bruce Gregersen, General Council Officer for Programs,
in summing up the actions of the Council.

"However, it has stated its encouragement and recommendation to its
member bodies, that they are free to study, discern, and pray, and to
undertake their own initiatives, which may include economic boycotts as
a means to ending the occupation [of Palestine]," said Gregersen.

With a sense of urgency, the Council recommended that United Church
Conferences, presbyteries, congregations, and community ministries
immediately enter into consultation, dialogue, study, and prayer, and
then undertake appropriate action toward ending the illegal occupation
of Palestinian territory. It also asked these bodies to enter into
conversation as to how to move the two peoples toward reconciliation,
including, but not limited to, economic boycott.

Comments around the debate covered a range of responses.

Nora Carmi, a Palestinian Christian refugee from Jerusalem, and an
official guest of the Council, said, "I have had enough of hearing that
it is two peoples to blame, and that it is a balanced situation.

"It [a boycott] has to include Israeli items made in the occupied
territories.... You can choose the boycott that you want. It is not
going to bring down the state of Israel," said Carmi, who is Coordinator
for community-building and women's programs with the Sabeel Ecumenical
Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem and a member of the steering
committee of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The Rev. Wendy Rankin, of Morden, Manitoba, said, "Boycot t is a
time-honoured method of making a point."

In noting that the United Church had previously participated in the
Nestle boycott, and the boycott against South Africa in support of
ending apartheid there, she asked, "Where has our courage gone?"

The Rev. Mark Ferrier, of Mount Forest, Ontario, said, "Earlier we took
no action of proposals that asked for a boycott. This is a back-door way
to bring this back. We want to boycott boycott!"

The Rev. Doug Varey, a United Church minister serving w ith the Zambia
Theological College in Kitwe, Zambia, said boycott is nasty, but it is
used "in order to exert influence."

Said Varey, "Only an outsider can do something about it ."

Speaking later, Gregersen said it was hard for the Council to find the
common ground that it was seeking. "However those who were concerned
that the church would implement a boycott will be relieved that no
national boycott will be undertaken," said Gregersen. "And those who
seek strong action by the church to resist the occupation will recognize
the importance of what the church has done."

The Council also voted to direct its General Secretary, General Council
"to engage in consultation, dialogue, and study with relevant partners
and other interested parties concerning implications of past and future
actions to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and enter
into conversation as to how to move the two peoples toward
reconciliation, including, but not limited to, economic boycott."

It has asked that the General Secretary report back to the next General
Council (in three years) and provide continuing guidance to the other
levels of the United Church in the meantime.

The group voted to record its convictions that a just peace in the
Middle East will require:

* the denunciation of human rights abuses committed by Israel and
Palestine, as documented by Amnesty International and the United
Nations, that will result in member states of the United Nations taking
subsequent, appropriate actions

* that the occupation and siege of Gaza by Israel cease, requiring the
full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza

* that the Government of Canada and member states of the United Nations
support international efforts to alleviate the humanitarian and economic
situation in Gaza

* the withdrawal of Israeli military forces to pre-1967 borders and
ending all forms of violence by the Israeli Government upon the
Palestinian people

* the cessation of suicide bombings and other violent attacks directed
towards Israeli civilians on the part of Palestinians

* recognition that East Jerusalem, West Bank, and the Gaza Strip
constitute an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 and
Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem must be
dismantled

* the recognition by the emergent State of Palestine of Israel's right
to exist as a Jewish state within safe and secure borders

* the recognition by the Israeli Government and the emergent state of
Palestine of equal citizenship rights, protections, privileges, and
responsibilities for all of their respective citizens regardless of
religious or national origins.

The Council asked the General Secretary to inform the Prime Minister of
Canada and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in writing, of the above
convictions and urge that Canadian policy and commitments in the Middle
East reflect this position.

The United Church of Canada's participation in the Ecumenical
Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel was affirmed by the
Council. The church was asked to seek further ways of augmenting its
physical presence in the Middle East.

In addition, the proposal passed by the Council supports the principles
of the World Council of Churches' Amman Call, particularly those that
promote peace-making, bridge-building, and the development of long-term
strategies for peace and right relations.

The decisions on the Israel/Palestine issues were made by commissioners
meeting in one of three decision-making commissions at the Council.

For further information, please contact:

Mary-Frances Denis

Program Coordinator, Media and Public Relations
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 - mdenis@united-church.ca

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Background: As usual the Israel lobby and Zionist owned media organizations have gone all out to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.

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