Response

Published by Friends of Sabeel, September 26, 2005

A Call for Morally Responsible Investment:

A Nonviolent Response to the Israeli Occupation

The Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek: Director, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Farid Esack: Theologian from South Africa. Amneh Badran: Former Director, Jerusalem Center for Women. Jeff Halper: Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Jerusalem. Shamai Leibowitz: Israeli human rights attorney from Tel Aviv, member of Courage to Rufuse and Gush Shalom. Salpy Eskidjian: Former Programme Executive, Middle East, World Council of Churches. Bishop Frederico Pagura: Methodist Bishop from Argentina, co-president World Council of Churches. Josh Ruebner: Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation . . . and many more.

For program updates and a complete list of speakers, please visit our website: www.sabeel.ca

The website will be regularly updated with information on: conference program and speaker list, applications for registration (subject to approval by the conference planning committee; we will make every effort to welcome as many people as possible, while ensuring a diversity of participation), conference fees, travel, accommodations, and opportunities for conference co-sponsorship.

To reach out to organizational representatives of churches, CROs and NGOs around the globe who are interested in learning about economic strategies as they pertain to ending the Israeli occupation and promoting a just peace for Israel & Palestine.

Vision
We recognize the beginnings of a global movement on Morally Responsible Investment and related economic strategies to bring a just peace in Israel-Palestine. This will be the focus and locus of much related peace work in the coming years. Thus Canadian Friends of Sabeel seeks to draw together at this conference churches, CROs (Church Related Organizations) and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) working for a just peace in Israel-Palestine to explore the emerging non-violent economic strategies to achieve this end (including shareholder initiatives, partial divestment and boycotts.) We are inspired to this effort by the call from Sabeel Ecumenical Center Jerusalem for Morally Responsible Investment and we are responding to that call. We look forward to participating organizational representatives contributing to the realization of this vision with their own perspectives and experiences.

If you are part of an organization that has been working for a just peace in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, you may be interested in joining us as we explore and dialogue about morally responsible investment as a non-violent response to the Israeli occupation. This conference is primarily designed for organizational representatives - international, national, regional and local.

In addition to the program of over 15 internationally recognized speakers, the conference will include equal time for discussion and question periods, small group workshops, non-denominational theological reflection, and networking.

Conference Fees
Fees include Conference Registration, lunches and the Conference Dinner. US$125/CD$150/Pounds110

Registration deadline: September 30, 2005
Late Registration fee: $50

We particularly welcome registrations from the global south and encourage you to apply early in order to ensure sufficient time to secure your visa for travel. Some bursaries are available for financial support for participants from the global south; please contact us for further information.

Conference Co-sponsorship

Includes 1 registration
US$250/CD$300/Pounds215 (minimum)

Conference Supporter Co-sponsorship

This conference is supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and has been organized in cooperation with:

Canadian Friends of Sabeel
Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation (NECEF)
World Council of Churches
Friends of Sabeel - North America
Friends of Sabeel - Scandinavia
Friends of Sabeel - U.K.
General Board of Global Ministries,

Initiatives)
National Council on Canada Arab Relations
Pax Christi U.S.A.
The United Church of Christ USA and

"I send you my warmest good wishes for a successful conference ....We are committed and indeed passionately so, to peace, security and justice for all in the Holy Land." —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The World Council of Churches joins Palestinian Christian group Sabeel and an international representation of church organizations and NGOs for Toronto conference on morally responsible investment in response to Israeli Occupation

Representatives of major Christian denominations in North America, Europe and the Global South will gather in Toronto at the invitation of Canadian Friends of Sabeel from October 26-29 for an international conference on morally responsible investment to learn and discuss economic strategies for ending the Israeli occupation of internationally-recognized Palestine and to promote nonviolent means for attaining a just peace for both Israel and Palestine. The Rev. Robert Assaly, coordinator for Canadian Friends of Sabeel in Ottawa stated that, "The event is in response to a growing movement among Christian churches around the world to adopt nonviolent measures that will influence corporate policy as it pertains to investments and operations in Israeli occupied areas." Sabeel, based in Jerusalem and with support groups in the U.S., Canada, and many European countries, advocates ending occupation through nonviolent means that are based on international law and existing United Nations resolutions.

A Call for Morally Responsible Investment: A Nonviolent Response to the Israeli Occupation will offer lectures and workshops by key figures in the Christian and Jewish peace movements, including a video message by Nobelist Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and key presentations by Methodist Bishop Frederico Pagura of Argentina who is a co-president of the World Council of Churches; Shamai Lleibowitz, an Israeli human rights attorney in Tel Aviv working with the Israeli peace bloc; Jeff Halper who coordinates the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; Amneh Badran, a former director of the Jerusalem Center for Women; and theologian Rev. Naim Ateek, who is director of Sabeel in Jerusalem. Ateek, author of Justice & Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation and of the study paper for which the conference is named, will address the serious ethical and moral issues confronting Christians that pertain to illegal military occupation. Other key presenters will be: Farid Esack, a theologian from South Africa; Salpy Eskidjian, former Program Executive, Middle East, of the World Council of Churches; and Josh Ruebner, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Official pronouncements from mainstream Protestant denominations on church investment strategies was initiated by the Presbyterian Church USA in its 216th General Assembly last year when it approved several measures opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine, including a call for its corporate witness office to begin gathering data to support a selective divestment of holdings in multinational corporations doing business in Israel/Palestine. That set a precedent for other others long frustrated by decades of Israel's violations of international law, its illegal military occupation and more recently its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which includes the restructuring of the West Bank with bypass roads and settlement satellites, the ongoing construction of a separation wall that seizes 11% more of Palestinian land on the West Bank, and continued militarization of the Holy Land. That move by the Presbyterians strengthened the faith-based movement supporting a two-state solution in Palestine/Israel based on existing agreements and international law. There followed similar statements and resolutions from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Consultative Council, the United Church of Christ, various conferences of the United Methodist Church, and others, which have established a new strategy for working for a just peace for western Christians.

The Toronto conference on morally responsible investment will be an opportunity for leaders within the various denominations to gather for lectures, discussions and workshops, non-denominational theological reflection and networking.

Co-sponsors of the event include: World Council of Churches; KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives); Pax Christi USA; Common Global Ministries, United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Brothers of the Christian Schools, Christian Brothers Conference U.S./Toronto; Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; Episcopal Peace Fellowship; Americans for Middle East Understanding; American Friends Service Committee; Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America; and Jewish Voice for Peace. A current list of co-sponsors is available at the Canadian website <www.sabeel.ca>. The conference planning committee continues to seek co-sponsorships and donations from church-related organizations and others interested in conference leadership participation.

Registration for the conference is by application only. Rev. Assaly said that anyone working within an organization striving toward a resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict may be interested in exploring morally responsible investment as a non-violent response to the Israeli occupation.

Conference application information is available online at: <http://www.sabeel.ca>



Volume 7 Number 39 - Tuesday, September 27th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY