Network of United Church Members Calls for Boycott and Divestment to End the Occupation

News Advisory

July 24, 2012

Notice of News Conference July 31st

Network of United Church Members Calls for Boycott and Divestment to End the Occupation

The United Network for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel is a growing group of more than 150United Church members and friends who are independent of the United Church’s structure but active within it.  This Network, in agreement with the call of the ecumenical Palestinian Christian Kairos document entitled A Moment of Truth, released in 2009, advocates for boycott and divestment of Israeli products produced in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, as the primary remaining non-violent means of ending the brutal occupation that began in 1967.

The United Network agrees with the majority of the Report of the Working Group on Israel/Palestine Policy, which was produced by a small investigative group within the United Churchand is to be debated and decided upon at the upcoming national General Council meeting to take place in Ottawa in August.  Some members of the Network have been elected to go to that General Council as Commissioners, and will therefore be able to voice their support for the recommendations of the Report, as well as advocate for the passage of Proposals that will be before the General Council that call for actions that go beyond the limits of the Report itself. Representatives of the Network have recently produced a video, available athttp://www.unjppi.org/seek-justice-pursue-peace.html and will be discussing the Report’s merits and weaknesses, as well as the Network’s upcoming advocacy and action plans, at a News Conference scheduled for 11 am on July 31^st to be held at Trinity - St. Paul’s United Church, 427 Bloor Street West, in Toronto.

  

This Network’s mission statement is as follows:

In discipleship of Christ, and in solidarity with churches and other partners in the Middle East as well as globally and in Canada, this Network covenants to engage, consolidate, nourish, and channel the energy in the United Church of Canada toward the goal of a just peace in Palestine/Israel, primarily through calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and for equal rights for all who live in Palestine/Israel, by facilitating education, promoting partnerships, coordinating advocacy, advancing policy and encouraging action.

For further information related to the News Conference, please contact:

Brian McIntosh, interim national chairperson of the United Network, at 416-817-2606.

… 30 …