"Jewish Voice for Peace" on the Divestment Issues in the PC(USA)

In February, Liat Weingart, one of the co-directors of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) spoke to the Chicago Presbytery to offer his perspective on the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s current approach to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Currently, we are investigating the possibility of "selective divestment" of funds from companies that profit off of human rights abuses in Palestine. Accusations of anti-semitism abound with assertions that the PC(USA) has sided solely with the Palestinians and against the Israelis. The claim is that divestment would basically cripple the Israelis economically. Here is Weingart's speech, which is definitely an alternative Jewish view that supports and encourages our denomination's approach.

This is a very complicated issue. On the one hand, there are clear human rights abuses. On the other hand, it is understandable why Israelis want to control land so close to their capital. It's an issue that reveals to us how messy real life usually is. It is not filled with white and black issues, but saturated with variousl shades of grey.

Meanwhile, here is what our denomination's leadership has said on the issue.

(Part of what Kirkpatrick addresses is a related issue regarding a new church development for ethic Jews, which is another really big issue today. Readers will have to wade through that in order to reach the divestment issue material.)

Edit: Since we're on the topic, I just came across this article in the Christian Century.