AMP applauds efforts of UM Kairos Response committee

(CHICAGO 05/03/2012) – The American Muslims for Palestine whole-heartedly thanks the members of the United Methodist Kairos Response committee for their hard-fought efforts to get the United Methodist Church to divest from companies that profit from the occupation of Palestine.

Though the divestment petition was not successful and the United Methodist Pension Board will continue to invest in the occupation, the fact the Kairos Response committee was able -- after a protracted struggle – to get the petition before the general assembly is already a victory. For weeks, the petition sparked discussion and education about Israel’s illegal and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people, and this is what we need in order for the movement to achieve its goals of justice for the Palestinian people.

The Kairos Response team called for divestment from Motorola Solutions, Hewlett-Packard and Caterpillar. And despite broad-based support from the Palestine solidarity movement in the United States, the petition was voted down.

But all is not lost: “We have succeeded in raising awareness amongst the general public and in our churches about the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians… and the colonization of their lands. The brutal reality of the Israeli occupation can no longer be hidden, and the myth that Christians are leaving the Holy Land because of Muslim pressure has been exposed as false,” the Kairos Response team said in a statement immediately following the vote.

They went on to say that a number of regional United Methodist conferences already have divested, individual United Methodists will continue to divest their portfolios and “the large Quaker financial services corporation, voted last month to divest from Caterpillar.” Other churches will follow.

AMP fully supports the United Methodist divestment effort and will do so going forward. We also offer our full support to the Presbyterian Church, which will consider divestment at its next conference this summer.

Together, all of us who believe in justice and human rights are making a difference in the cause for Palestine. Standing shoulder to shoulder we will continue to educate the American public and advocate for Palestinian human rights until they are able to live in freedom with the dignity that is their inherent and God-given right.

The vote may have been lost but the debate was won. The United Methodist divestment effort is a hopeful reminder that, globally, we are on the way to ensure human rights and dignity for all people.