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| Presbyterian
Church Violates US Antiboycott Laws - General Assembly of Presbyterian Church,
USA, votes For Illegal divestment at Convention. |
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| August 1, 2004 |
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| Summary: The Presbyterian Church voted to take
part in an illegal boycott - Boycott Watch wrote the church to inform them of
the violation and sent a copy of the letter to the US agency enforcing those
laws. |
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As early as 1921, years before the establishment of
the State of Israel, the Arab world declared a boycott of Jewish interests
which is still enforced today as the Arab boycott of Israel. Administered by
the Arab League, the Arab boycott of Israel includes boycotting Israeli
products, companies that do business with Israel, and even goes as far as
blacklisting ships that have docked in Israeli ports, thus not allowing certain
ships to dock in the ports of Arab countries, regardless of the cargo.
In 1977, the US Congress passed a law creating the Office of
Antiboycott Compliance within the Department of Commerce to make sure that the
Arab boycott of Israel does not take root in the US. Such actions would create
de facto foreign policy; an area that Congress affirmed is under its
jurisdiction. The law established that no US persons may take actions in
support of an unsanctioned foreign boycott of a nation that is friendly to the
United States. The law mainly applies to Israel, and as a result, nobody in the
US may engage in a boycott of Israel in support of the Arab boycott of Israel.
Over the past two years, a campus based divest-from-Israel campaign has
begun to get universities to halt all investments and educational joint
projects with Israel. In November, 2003, Boycott Watch wrote a letter to the
Office of Antiboycott Compliance detailing how the divest-from-Israel campaign
was indeed created as a boycott in support of the Arab boycott of Israel and
that the boycott was intended to spread outside of universities. The Boycott
Watch letter also detailed that the originator of the divest-from-Israel
campaign was in fact a consultant to Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Authority,
which is part of the Arab League, and a signatory to the Arab boycott of
Israel, thus proving that the divest-from-Israel campaign is indeed a direct
function of the Arab boycott of Israel.
While some have claimed that
the Palestinian Authority has disavowed secondary and tertiary boycotts of
Israel, a July 2004 Boycott Watch letter to the Office of Antiboycott
Compliance detailed that Yassir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have
continually been, and are indeed actively engaged in the furtherance of the
Arab boycott of Israel via actively seeking international economic isolation of
Israel. Thus, the Palestinian Authority is actively engaged in international
economic warfare against Israel while it is telling the US that it wants to
have peace and normalized relations with Israel. It is disingenuous for the
Palestinian Authority to claim it wants peace while it is actively trying to
destroy Israel economically.
In the meantime, a vote was taken at the
216th annual General Assembly of Presbyterian Church, USA, and in a 431-62
margin, the church voted to divest from and boycott Israel in support of the
Palestinian Authority and its cause. Boycott Watch believes this is a clear
violation of the US Antiboycott laws and has sent a letter to the church with a
copy to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance outlining the violations. The
letters requested that the church nullify the vote and that the Office of
Antiboycott Compliance investigate the matter.
In an article in The
Forward about the vote, senior members of Presbyterian Church compared Israel
to South Africa and its former apartheid practices. Boycott Watch informed the
church that there is no legitimate comparison of the two. Israel is the only
country in the Middle East that has laws specifically protecting every resident
from discrimination regardless of the religion practiced or citizenship. In the
Arab world, however, Jews are subject to the Dhimi laws, a set of laws that not
only allow, but prescribe specific methods of discrimination against Jews. Many
Arab Israelis live harmoniously in Israel, and Israel openly welcomes Israeli
Arabs who want to live in peace. Israeli Arabs are even represented in the
Knesset, Israel's parliament.
That is not the case, however, in Arab
countries and in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority, where Jews
may not live per dictates of the Arabs. The fact remains that Israel welcomes
members of all religions in its cities, but Arabs do not. Boycott Watch further
pointed out that in Bethlehem, prior to the Palestinian Authority taking
control of the city, was almost entirely populated by Christians. Due to the
discrimination under the Palestinian Authority, however, most Christians have
moved out of the city and many Christian tourists visiting the Holy Land no
longer go to Bethlehem for fear of being attacked. Bethlehem is now primarily
an Arab city, and the few Christians remaining are directly associated with the
church and live in fear.
The assertion, therefore, that Israel is
practicing apartheid is not only false, but may be considered libelous. The
hatred of Jews by the Arabs is so bad that US soldiers in Iraq who happen to be
Jewish have been mandated by the Pentagon to have their religious designation
removed from their military ID cards as a safety precaution. Additionally,
Christians who work in Saudi Arabia, for example, are forbidden to openly wear
crosses or practice Christianity. The fact is that it is the Arabs who are
discriminating against non-Muslims, especially Jews.
Boycott Watch is
at the forefront of challenging illegal boycotts and has advised the church to
immediately nullify the vote and take appropriate measures to make sure that
the church is not engaged in violations of the US antiboycott provisions.
Boycott Watch will be watching this matter closely and will report any and all
correspondence we receive regarding this matter. |
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| Start Of Boycott Watch letter to Presbyterian
Church, USA |
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Boycott Watch
...So you can decide for yourself
what the truth is.
Mr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the
General Assembly
Presbyterian Church, USA
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick,
My name is
Fred Taub and I am the President of Boycott Watch, an organization that
monitors and reports about boycotts. I am writing in regards to your recent
216th annual General Assembly of Presbyterian Church, USA, in which a 431-62
vote was taken to divest from -- and therefore, by definition, boycott --
Israel in support of the Palestinians Authority and its cause.
In an
article about that vote in The Forward, senior members of your organization
were quoted comparing Israel to South Africa and its former apartheid policy,
which appears to be the basis for the resolution. As a result, you should be
aware that there is no legitimate comparison of Israel to what was apartheid
South Africa. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has laws
specifically protecting every resident from discrimination regardless of the
religion practiced. In the Arab world, Jews are subject to the Dhimi laws, a
set of laws that not only allow, but prescribe specific methods of
discrimination against Jews. Many Arab Israelis live in harmony in Israel, and
Israel openly welcomes them. Israeli Arabs are even represented in the Knesset,
Israel's parliament.
That is not the case, however, in Arab countries
and in cities administered by the Palestinian Authority, where Jews may not
live per dictates of the Arabs. The fact remains that Israel welcomes members
of all religions in its cities, but Arabs do not. In Bethlehem, for example,
most Christians have moved out of the city and many Christian tourists visiting
the Holy Land no longer go to Bethlehem for fear of being attacked by Arabs.
Christians have also been specific targets of attack by Arabs. On the day I
write this letter, several churches were bombed in Iraq, no doubt showing
hostility toward non-Muslims. Even in Jordan, which has a peace treaty with
Israel, Jews are reported to not be permitted to become citizens.
The
claim, therefore, that Israel practices apartheid is not only false, but may be
considered libelous. The hatred of Jews by the Arabs is so bad that US soldiers
in Iraq who happen to be Jewish are mandated by the Pentagon to have their
religious designation removed from their military ID cards as a safety
precaution. Christians who work in Saudi Arabia, for example, are forbidden to
openly wear crosses or practice their religion openly. The fact is that it is
the Arabs who are discriminating against non-Muslims, especially Jews. The
apartheid claim is therefore preposterous.
The primary point of this
letter is to inform you that the Arab world created a boycott against Israel
before Israel was even established, and that the US Congress passed laws
forbidding US persons from participating in unsanctioned foreign boycotts of
countries friendly to the United States. These laws, as part of the Export
Administration Act, are administered by the Office of Antiboycott Compliance
under the Department of Commerce. These laws also protect the US by preventing
citizens from creating de facto foreign policy that can undermine US foreign
policy, which Congress affirmed in the law as being its domain.
Boycott
Watch is therefore advising you that since divestment is in fact a form of
boycott, your vote and actions taken in furtherance of the Arab boycott of
Israel may be in direct violation of the US antiboycott laws; and that any
actions taken in support of a boycott may result in a federal investigation and
the imposition of penalties, including fines. Boycott Watch therefore strongly
urges that your General Assembly vote to nullify its divestment and boycott
decision against Israel, and that you ensure that no action whatsoever is taken
by your church in support of the Arab boycott of Israel.
Sincerely
yours,
Fred Taub
President,
Boycott Watch
CC: Ned
Weant, Director, Office of Antiboycott Compliance |
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| End Of Boycott Watch letter to Presbyterian
Church, USA |
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| Click
Here to read the article in The Forward.com by Eric Greenberg |
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