Divestment? From Israel? That's the rumbling issue that's raising eyebrows, as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) holds our biannual meeting di tutti meetings.
For all the kerfuffle, I don't know that what the Presbyterian Church is considering can even be meaningfully described as "divestment." Sure, there are folks out there advocating for that approach, but that's not what's being done. At no point has any proposal been seriously considered that would sell my oldline denomination's collective holdings in all businesses that operate in Israel. That's just not going to happen.
The question, for Presbyterians, is whether or not we can treat businesses that operate in Israel in the same way we treat businesses that operate in the United States. For example, the PC (U.S.A.) does not invest in U.S. businesses that build or design weapons. We also do not, as a matter of principle, invest in the very profitable businesses that own or manage privatized prisons: We don't hold stock in Lockheed Martin or the Corrections Corporation of America. Do such businesses serve the security of the United States? Sure, on some level, as icky as it is. Would we be wealthier if we'd laid all of our money into them? Just click the links above, and see how profitable human brokenness can be.
