Islamic publication applauds statement by PCUSA leader By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, October 18, 2004 Al-Jazeerah, an Islamic publication that strongly supports Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians, has published a Presbyterian leader's letter endorsing the 216th General Assembly's call for divestment of stock in corporations doing business with Israel. The action by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has received widespread criticism from secular and Jewish groups. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), defended that action in a letter to members of Congress. Al-Jazeerah called Kirkpatrick's letter a "powerful response … particularly important for what it says about Congress's habitual bias in favor of Israel and its refusal to address the quest of the Palestinian people to end the occupation and establish a state of their own." The General Assembly's resolution on Israel and Palestine acknowledged that both sides had been excessive in seeking their goals. However, it did not recommend a bipartisan approach to resolving the issues of Israel's right to exist and the Palestinians' seeking an independent state. Instead, it sought penalties against Israel alone by calling for "phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel, in accordance to [sic] General Assembly policy on social investing, and to make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly Council for action." The PCUSA's pro-Palestinian resolution was also endorsed by a Presbyterian minister speaking last week at Duke University in Durham, N.C. "The Presbyterian Church has put its money where its mouth is," said the Rev. Mark Davidson, pastor of the Church of Reconciliation, a More Light congregation in Chapel Hill. Davidson repeated what Kirkpatrick has said – that the divestment would target only companies that supply the Israeli military. But the wording of the General Assembly's resolution included no such limits. Davidson was a member of a panel at a controversial pro-Palestinian conference at Duke. Several speakers urged Duke and other universities to divest of their stock in corporations doing business with Israel. However, Duke President Richard Brodhead last month rejected any call for divestiture from Israel, saying that no community consensus has formed around the conflict, according to the Durham Herald-Sun.

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