GA Update: Middle East

By Jan Orr-Harter

Some of the toughest items were up today, Committee 14 on all issues related to the Middle East.

On Iraq, the assembly voted down an effort to derail the overture and then voted overwhelmingly to support US withdrawal on the stated schedule for troops and contractors and against the establishment of permanent US bases after our withdrawal.

The Middle East Study Committee report, "Breaking Down the Walls," was approved overwhelmingly with amendments and will go out to the church. It was juggled a bit to account for what many perceived as a lack of balance. It still contains positions calling for an end to the occupation, a freeze on Israeli settlements, an end to violence on all sides, resumption of peace negotiations with help from the US and others and an end to the blockade of non-military items into and out of Gaza–and many, many other helpful steps that can be taken by and within the church. Thank you to Committee Chair Susan Andrews (PPF National Committee member) and all involved in this long process.

The Mission Responsibility Through Investment report was approved and we are now "denouncing" Caterpillar, but not divesting at this point. An additional effort on the floor to support divestment gained about one-third of the delegates support, which is a significant number on such a ground-breaking issue. So Presbyterians will not be the first major denomination to divest. Likely, that will occur in some other US religious body before the 2012 assembly–unless peace breaks out or Caterpillar comes to its senses.

I remember, from the divestment struggle on South Africa in the late 1970s and early 1980s, that Caterpillar was one of the worst corporations lending support to apartheid there. The quote that stays in my mind from the head of Caterpillar then was: "We would rather loose business in Nebraska than in South Africa."

After having driven 1007 miles on I-35 from Texas to MN, I find it ironic that the ethanol corn explosion and the Obama-sponsored TARP funding has fields bursting with corn and I-35 under repair from top to bottom, providing thousands of jobs to farmers and construction workers and a huge boost to Caterpillar with a ribbon of yellow CATS from the bottom to the top of the nation. Perhaps Nebraska is looking a little more valuable to Caterpillar these days.

That suggests that a boycott could emerge in municipalities and institutions who could require that future construction projects/road projects, etc not be awarded to contractors who plan to use Caterpillar equipment. Look to the usual suspects: colleges and small towns in America where citizen impact makes a big difference. If I had any money, I'd buy stock in John Deere.

Moving on, the assembly did not adopt the "apartheid" language, not because it deemed it untrue, but because it deemed it unhelpful to a mutual solution. On the "Kairos" document from mid-east Christians, the assembly did not exactly endorse it, but endorsed its spirit. GA received this major epistle from one part of the body of Christ to the rest of the body and commended it to the churches for study, with the creation of a study guide.

Now...most interestingly...GA went on with simple voice votes to adopt overtures that, to me, contain far further reaching statements, if implemented. They passed the Baltimore overture lifting up the Goldstone report, calling for Israel and Palestine to create independent investigations of Israel's attack on Gaza in late 2008-2009, if they dispute the Goldstone conclusions. The Goldstone conclusions lay the ground work for international sanctions on Israel due to human rights violations. That passed on a simple voice vote–but it's not so simple!

Sailing through equally was, in my view, the most important overture at GA on the Mid-East: 14-09, which called for universal enforcement of US law regarding military sales to foreign nations with regard to human rights abuse. In theory, the United States does not approve arms transfers and sales to nations with horrible human rights records. If Congress moved in this direction, it implies cutting off the fire hose of US military funding and sales going to Israel. In the history of peace negotiations, in Central America, for instance, the side that the US funds never comes to a serious negotiation table until US military funding has been cut off by Congress. This pattern holds in country after country. Stop (or even decrease) the funding, and negotiations for a mutual peace suddenly become a high priority for all. In the current political climate this has positive potential in that the US desperately needs to cut spending somewhere–and cutting funds for this continued conflict would be my vote, though politically requiring a great deal of courage in Congress. On the other hand, with the slow economy we have the problem of enormous numbers of US families whose incomes are dependent on the these arms sales to Israel.

PPF has lent its support to the Israel-Palestine Mission Network, which carried the ball on these issues, at high cost in every way. You know who you are–thank you. Rather than being discouraged that some items fell away, let's find a way to make excellent use of the Middle East Study Committee report, "Breaking Down the Walls," throughout the church and the nation. The bottom line is this: actively put this report in the hands of local Presbyterians for study and action. Go for the bottom line, not the bottom drawer. Stay tuned.