StandWithUs Canada is profoundly saddened and disappointed by the announcement by the ?United Church of Canada (? UCC ?)? ?encouraging divestment from ?selected companies doing business in Israel. According to the UCC's 42nd General Council website, this includes "divestment from and economic sanctions against all corporations and institutions complicit in and benefiting from the illegal occupation”.
The decision came after intense lobbying by BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) activists within the UCC of Canada, in coordination with the international BDS movement targeting Israel. The goal of BDS is anti-peace, and designed to weaken and demonize Israel.
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?The statement, which also urged members to discourage “tourism which bolsters the oppression of Palestinians”,? was ?clearly anti-Israel.
In fact, pressuring Israel with divestment and boycotts sets back the cause of peace, and actually harms the Palestinians, as was evidenced by the push to boycott SodaStream, which resulted in the loss of 2,500 jobs for Palestinians in the West Bank ?. ?
It is difficult to comprehend the focus of the UCC leadership. At a time when Christians are being slaughtered, theIr churches aflame, and their communities being ethnically cleansed from the Middle East, the UCC has decided to punish Israel with their bigoted, divisive, anti-peace resolution.
Unfortunately, it is also difficult not to attribute their stance to the world's oldest hatred. StandWithUs Canada is proud to support those UCC church leaders who have rejected this resolution.
Rev. Andrew Love, the founder of Bridges Not Boycotts, a group that opposes anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) policies in liberal Protestant churches, said, “The ugly face of anti-Semitism has found a warm embrace in the BDS campaign against Israel.”
Meryle Kates
Executive Director
StandWithUs Canada
merylek@standwithus.com
Phone: 416-966-0722
