United Methodists are responding to Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth ,a statement of faith and urgent call to action from Christians in Palestine. UMKR seeks, through nonviolent means and in partnership with Palestinian Christians, freedom, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis.
Divestment Home Page
Divestment resources from previous General Conferences
Primary Resources for GC 2016 Delegates
Resolutions for General Conference 2016
Four resolutions with varying approaches to divestment from the Israeli occupation have been passed by annual conferences and other bodies of the UMC and will be considered at GC 2016.
See the resolutions
Q & A for General Conference 2016 Resolutions
Get answers to many common questions for each of the four resolutions coming to General Conference 2016
See the Q & A
Petition to the UMC General Board of Pension & Health Benefits
A petition for those who participate in the services of GBPHB - UMC clergy and employees - asking the board for occupation-free investments.
Read it and sign it_Is_Not_Enough
Divestment Q & A
A great resource, our first Q & A on the subject of church divestment from the Israeli occupation.
Read it
Investing Is Not Enough
Some in the church suggest that instead of divesting from the Israeli occupation, our church should focus just on "positive investing" - investing in the Palestinian economy. Find out why Palestinians and justice advocates worldwide agree that investing in Palestine will never be adequate action, as long as the Israeli occupation continues.
Read it
The Companies
Excellent research by United Methodists and allies such as Who Profits in Israel, about the companies that are supporting and profiting from the Israeli occupation. See also companies complicit in the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
Learn more about the companies
Corporate Engagement
The history of United Methodist and ecumenical advocacy with Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions, the companies that have been the focus of much divestment advocacy in the UMC.
See the history
UMKR Letter to the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBPHB) - April 2016
Who Supports Divestment
See the broad range of UMC bodies, allied organizations, companies, financial institutions, unions, retail chains and more who support divestment from the Israeli occupation.
See the support
Why Divestment? Why Now?
An excellent article by David Wildman of the UMC General Board of Global Ministries, written in 2006 and still a timely statement for all United Methodists to see.
Read it
Resolution for General Conference 2012
The divestment resolution that began the advocacy of UMKR, adopted by the General Board of Church & Society and endorsed by the General Board of Global Ministries and dozens of the UMC bodies and allies.
See the resolution
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In the 1980s, the UMC General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBPHB) (today named Wespath) divested $77 million from 17 companies doing business with South Africa. In the 1990's, the General Board divested more than 800,000 shares of Kmart stock over the issue of “adult” books carried by its Waldenbooks subsidiary. Both these actions reflected the church's unwillingness to profit from activities our denomination opposes.
For years, our denomination has opposed Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. In 1996, the United Methodist General Conference declared that “continuing efforts by the State of Israel to build settlements in the occupied territories violate both international law and the spirit of the Declaration of Principles [the Oslo peace process].”
In 2004, the General Conference passed Resolution 312, stating:
“The United Methodist Church opposes continued military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, the confiscation of Palestinian land and water resources, the destruction of Palestinian homes, the continued building of illegal Jewish settlements, and any vision of a 'Greater Israel' that includes the occupied territories and the whole of Jerusalem and its surroundings.”
The vote to affirm this in 2004 was 877-19. This is still the position of our church today. This resolution was adopted with stronger language in 2012 (Resolution #6111) and was re-adopted in 2016 and 2024 - see "Opposition to Israeli Settlements on Palestinian Land."
Yet there are still companies in the portfolios of Wespath and other United Methodist agencies that profit from Israel's occupation.
We need to make sure our church funds are not being invested in companies and other properties that profit from or support the oppression of the Palestinian people that we clearly oppose. In the words of Rabbi Brant Rosen, "At the very least, will we be ready to put our money where our moral conscience is?"
Do you know the investment policy of the United Methodist Church?
¶717 Sustainable and Socially Responsible Investments—In the investment of money, it shall be the policy of The United Methodist Church that all general boards and agencies, including Wespath, and all administrative agencies and institutions, including hospitals, homes, educational institutions, annual conferences, foundations, and local churches, make a conscious effort to invest in
institutions, companies, corporations, or funds with policies and practices that are socially responsible, consistent with the goals outlined in the Social Principles. All United Methodist institutions shall endeavor to seek investments in institutions, companies, corporations, or funds that promote racial and gender justice, protect human rights, prevent the use of sweatshop or forced labor, avoid human suffering, and preserve the natural world, including mitigating the effects of climate change. In addition, United Methodist institutions shall endeavor to avoid investments in companies engaged in core business activities that are not aligned with the Social Principles through their direct or indirect involvement with the production of antipersonnel weapons and armaments (both nuclear and conventional weapons), alcoholic beverages or tobacco; or that are involved i n privately operated correctional facilities, gambling, pornography or other forms of exploitative adult entertainment. The boards and agencies are to give careful consideration to environmental, social, and governance factors when making investment decisions and actively exercise their responsibility as owners of the companies in which they invest. This includes engaging with companies to create positive change and hold them accountable for their actions, while also considering exclusion if companies fail to act responsibly.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline 2024
Only the UMC's General Conference, a legislative body that meets once every four years, can speak for the denomination or make amendments to the Book of Discipline. This global gathering is a key time for justice advocates to raise awareness and make progress on key social and political concerns in our church. Since our founding in 2010, UMKR has had a significant presence at every General Conference and has made the cause of Palestinian rights an prominent issue for the denomination.
At General Conference 2024, held in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23 to May 3, the church made a historic decision. The conference adopted a resolution that calls on all the denomination's investment managers to avoid investing in the government bonds of countries that are maintaining prolonged illegal military occupations, namely Israel, Morocco, and Turkey. The UMC became the first church in the world to take this stand, a powerful witness of our Wesleyan values.
Inspired by this action, the Presbyterian Church USA adopted a very similar resolution two months later. These church actions were helpful trailblazers for a Jewish Voice for Peace campaign starting in that season: Break the Bonds.
Learn more about the UMC's groundbreaking divestment call in UMKR's report.
See UMKR's information and resources for the occupation bonds divestment resolution.
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