Presbytery of Philadelphia Calls for Positive Investment

The Presbytery of Philadelphia has submitted an overture (“ On Pursuing a Creative Course of Action”) to the 220^th Presbyterian General Assembly calling for “active investment in projects that will support collaboration among Christian, Jews, and Muslims and help in the development of a viable infrastructure for a future Palestinian state”. The overture calls on the GA to reject divestment and other initiatives of the BDS movement. 

The rationale to the overture points out that “the long-term-success and effectiveness of any response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will require the active participation of both Israelis and Palestinians, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the region, the United States, and around the world”. It also calls for “rejecting the targeting of companies who are used as a proxy for Israel, and who would be required to implement policies that are illegal under American law”.

This overture joins overtures from the Presbytery of New Covenant (“On Ethical Investment and Divestment”) and the Presbytery of National Capital (“On Rejecting the Use of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction”) calling for rejection of the MRTI proposal to divest from 3 companies (Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions) doing business in Israel. PFMEP strongly concurs with all three of these overtures, and also commends the Presbytery of Chicago for rejecting, by an overwhelming margin, an overture endorsing the MRTI divestment proposal.