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Ameinu opposes all efforts to bring about divestment from Israel.

New York, New York, - The divestment campaign supported by the Presbyterian Church and by others is a singular example of selective morality. This campaign calls for sanctions against the Jewish state because of its human rights violations against Palestinians. However, it ignores the systematic terrorist attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians. It also ignores the human rights abuses by other states in the region--systematic abuses far worse than Israel's.

No one should interpret our opposing the divestment campaign as support for any Israeli violations of human rights. On the contrary, Ameinu regularly and consistently speaks out against human rights violations as part of our continued advocacy for a negotiated two state solution.

Promoters of divestment claim that divestment will force Israel to make peace. Ameinu rejects this claim. Rather than helping to create the reconciliatory environment necessary for the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calls for divestment are an obstacle to making peace because divestment pronounces Israel the sole cause of the conflict. The divestment campaign ignores the origins of the occupation--a war against Israel by neighboring Arab states. In addition, the divestment campaign ignores the concessionary and conciliatory stance by Israel in the peace talks at Camp David in 2000. By analogy, divestment links Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the treatment of Blacks in apartheid South Africa, and thus de-legitimizes Israel's very existence.

In addition, the divestment campaign strengthens the position of rejectionists on both sides. Jewish and Israeli rejectionists rightly claim that the campaign is anti-Semitic, and then use the rise of global anti-Semitism as a pretext for their opposition to Palestinian self-determination and to territorial concessions. The divestment campaign also strengthens the hand of Palestinian extremists who interpret divestment as supporting their violent campaign to bring about Israel's eventual extermination.

A lasting peace will require an economically vibrant Palestine tied to an economically vibrant Israel by trade and peaceful, economic cooperation. Supporters of peace should not only oppose divestment; they should encourage investment in both economies. Investment in Israel and in Palestinian strengthens the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians who wish to live side by side in peace and prosperity.

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