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.
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.
Start Of Boycott Watch letter to Presbyterian
Church, USA
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
End Of Boycott Watch letter to Presbyterian Church,
USA
Click
Here to read the article in The Forward.com by Eric Greenberg
