Presbyterians: ‘Committed More Than Ever’ To Relationship With Jews
Image by Getty Images
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) said it is “committed more than ever” to working with the Jewish community after its vote to divest from three companies doing business with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
“We believe that being in relationship with the American Jewish communities in authentic ways are central to our Christian values and our shared religious history,” leaders of the church said in an open letter published on its website on Thursday.
“We recognize the hurt that these decisions have caused,” the letter said. “We ask that you remain open to us as we participate with you in all our shared spheres of interfaith relationship: our houses of worship, our shared neighborhoods, our workplaces, and even our interfaith families.”
A number of Jewish groups said the divestment vote last week was informed by the broader movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, and would precipitate a split with the Presbyterians, at least on the national level.
The letter emphasized that the divestment was from the three companies, Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett Packard, and not from Israel.
“Of central importance in our deliberations was our continued concern for Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace,” it said.
“How selective divestment may affect the many significant Jewish and Christian relationships at the congregational and national level was also part of the discussion.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
