- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S.
Episcopal Church, considering a review of investments in companies that
do business with Israel, said on Thursday a high-level fact-finding team
came back deeply disturbed after visiting the West Bank and nearby areas.
-
- "Israel has a right to defend itself. But it appears
that, in the name of security, injustices are being done to the Palestinians
that amount to collective punishment," said Jacqueline Scott, a member
of the Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice
Concerns.
-
- She was part of a delegation that also included members
of the church's Social Responsibility in Investments committee and Phoebe
Griswold, wife of Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the 2.3 million-member
church.
-
- The investments committee is scheduled to issue a report
to church leaders later this year on whether the Episcopal Church is profiting
from its investments in corporations that help support Israel's occupation
of Palestinian territories or that may be harmful in general to Palestinians.
-
- It is not known how much of the church's roughly $3.6
billion portfolio might be affected or what companies could be involved,
but the issue is heating up in America where the Presbyterian Church USA
also has a study under way that could lead to divestments. The latter,
with 2.4 million members, has a portfolio valued at $8 billion.
-
- In addition, the World Council of Churches, the main
body uniting non-Catholic Christians, encouraged its members earlier this
year to sell off investments in companies that make money from the Israeli
occupation.
-
- "What the commission members found the most shocking
of all was that the Wall or Separation Barrier or Fence, as it is variously
called, is perceived by all parties as being almost entirely underwritten
by the American taxpayer," said Michele Spike, another member of the
commission.
-
- The wall, which Israel said it had to erect as a security
measure, "invades Palestinian fields, dividing grazing lands -- including
the valley of the shepherds at Bethlehem -- and, at times, encircling Palestinian
cities," she added.
-
- Any action on possible divestment by the Episcopalians
would first be considered by the church's annual general convention in
2006.
-
- The report issued by the church on Thursday said the
divestment issue is complex and more work is needed.
-
- Kim Byham, a member of the church's Executive Council
and that group's liaison to the investments panel, said a period of "active
engagement" with targeted companies would come before any divestment.
He told Reuters that divestment "is not something that's on the horizon
nor is it automatically ruled out."
-
- He said the task of finding exactly which companies are
involved and whether they are reflected in the church's investment portfolio
is a complex one.
-
- He was part of the team that visited the area earlier
this month, and said he found that the occupation was "taking its
toll on both sides."
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