Presbyterian Overture - Newark: On Supporting Israel’s Right to Exist, But Calling for Temporary Suspension of Military Aid to the State of Israel

RECOMMENDATION

The Presbytery of Newark respectfully overtures the 218th General Assembly (2008) to do the following:

1. Reaffirm the right of Israel to exist.

2. Deplore suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.

3. Urge the Arab nations and the United States to do all possible to prevent arms smuggling into the Palestinian occupied territories.

4. Call for the U.S. government to temporarily suspend military aid to the State of Israel until the Israeli government complies with the requirements of

a. the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits using U.S. weapons against civilians or civilian infrastructure, and

b. the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits giving assistance to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.

5. Direct that the Stated Clerk of the PC(USA) communicate these recommendations to all members of the U. S. Congress and to all of the appropriate members of the U. S. Administration, including the president, vice president, secretary of state, and the secretary of defense.

RATIONALE

The Church is called to heed the voices of the prophets and of Jesus:

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4).

“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. … They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity … . The wolf and the lamb shall feed together … . They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isa. 65:18–25)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ ” (Mt. 5:43–44).

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9).

“The Church is called to be Christ’s faithful evangelist … participating in God’s activity in the world through its life for others by

“(a) healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,

“(b) ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless,

“(c) engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice,

“(d) giving itself and its substance to those who suffer,

“(e) sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.” (Book of Order, G-3.0300 c (3))

General Assemblies since 1948 have expressed their concern for peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians and all who live in the Holy Land. A summary of General Assembly statements and actions about the State of Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the Middle East since 1948 are available from the PC(USA)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. Annually, the General Assembly also publishes Human Rights Updates for the Middle East generally and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories specifically. Over the years, General Assembly statements have specifically addressed U.S. military aid to Israel:

“denying all forms of aid to Israel” (Minutes,1983, Part I, p. 796);

“make continuation of U.S. aid to State of Israel contingent upon an end to further settlements … and an end to human rights violations” (Minutes, 1990, Part I, pp. 105–6)

“renew efforts to make U.S. aid to Israel conditional upon cessation of appropriation of Palestinian land” (Minutes, 1995, Part I, pp. 688–89)

“make continued aid and military assistance to Israel contingent on its fulfilling the terms of the Oslo Accords” (Minutes, 1998, Part I, pp. 655–56). [Source: A Brief Summary of General Assembly Statements Resource Sheet 17 of 27 Feb. 2005 Updated March 2006. http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/resources/?17gastatements.pdf ]

Since 1948, Israeli government policy has caused enormous pain and suffering to the Palestinians in their own land by continual, unrelenting human rights violations. Examples of these include:

driving Palestinians from their homes, lands and towns;
confining them to life in refugee camps for sixty years;
destroying their commerce and economy with blockades and checkpoints;
building the separation wall that separates family members from each other, children from their schools, and people in need of medical care from hospitals;
demolishing homes of civilians;
arresting and imprisoning adults and youth without trial;
creating fear and loss of life and limb through the continued presence of armored tanks, armed soldiers, and random attacks on civilians.

These policies are also eliminating the Christian communities in the Holy Land. http://www.openbethlehem.org.

Israeli, U.S., Palestinian, and international human rights organizations as well as the U.S. government and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have all documented these gross violations of internationally recognized human rights by Israel against Palestinians living under Israel’s illegal military occupation.http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Index.asp

The U.S. provides Israel with more than 10 million dollars a day in military aid; Israel relies almost exclusively on this U.S. military aid to continue these human rights violations in East Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. http://www.ifamericansknew.org

The State of Israel has also used U.S.-provided banned weapons, i.e. cluster bombs, against civilians in Lebanon during the 2006 war there. The remains of these weapons continue to kill children and other civilians. In January 2007, the State Department sent a report to Senator Joe Biden, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, claiming that Israel violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act by indiscriminately dropping cluster munitions in civilian areas in Lebanon during last year’s war.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-10-22-israel-lebanonx htm

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=SHA20061024&articleID=3595

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/79467.htm

Notable calls for suspension or conditionality of aid to Israel have been made from several organizations. Among these are:

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): “U.S. military aid to Israel has a dramatic effect on Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians. It has increasingly been used not to pay for defense but to finance the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. It keeps Israel from facing the difficult but necessary challenges of building a more democratic society, and encourages solving deep-rooted problems by military rather than peaceful and more effective means” (http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_17.shtml).

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA): “to encourage Congress to help stop Israel’s settlement building by placing conditions on Israel’s request for loan guarantees, and new military aid” (http://www.elca.org/middleeast/archived.html March 2003).

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP): “Israel’s military siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem should not be rewarded by praise or additional military aid” (http://cmep.org/Alerts/2002May3.htm); and “The United States should condition special funds—grants, loans and loan guarantees—on Israel’s compliance with its Road Map obligations, such as removal of outposts” (http://cmep.org/Alerts/2005Sept7.htm).

The U.S. Arms Export Control Act prohibits foreign countries from using U.S. supplied weapons against civilians or civilian infrastructure and limits their use to “legitimate self-defense.”

The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act states that “No assistance may be provided under this part of the law to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

The Presbyterian church has repeatedly affirmed the right of Israel to exist.

The 217th General Assembly (2006) declared that “any suicide bombing, no matter who is the perpetrator or the target, constitutes a crime against humanity” (Minutes, 2006, Part I, p. 891).

We deplore all violence, including suicide bombings and other terrorist acts, as well as violence perpetrated by an occupying army. From September 2000 to February 2008, 1,031 Israelis and at least 4,528 Palestinians have been killed, including 119 Israeli children and 982 Palestinian children. All human life is precious. The cycle of violence must stop.

COMMENT

Advice & Counsel on Item 11-07—From the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP).

The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) advises the approval of Item 11-07 as amended below: [Text to be deleted is shown with brackets and a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown with brackets and an underline.]

“The Presbytery of Newark respectfully overtures the 218th General Assembly (2008) to do the following:

“1. [~~Reaffirm the right of Israel to exist.~~] [Express its enduring commitment to the security of Israelis, an equal commitment to justice for Palestinians, and to an enduring peace between Israel and a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. This entails an end to the cycle of violence and the shifting of funds away from military occupation and to negotiation and normalization of relations in accordance with international law, guaranteeing a State of Israel within internationally recognized borders and an end to further militarization and subsidy to all agents of violence, including targeted assassinations, suicide bombings, and measures that violate the human rights and potential for livelihood for Palestinians and Israelis.]

“2. ~~[Deplore suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.~~] [Encourage the United States and all parties to the current ‘Annapolis’ Peace Talks to negotiate in good faith, mindful of the enormous disparities in power and economic capacity between Israel and the Palestinians and the injustice, despair, and violence that has followed sidelining of previous peace agreements.]

“3. Urge the Arab nations and the United States to do all possible to prevent arms smuggling into the [occupied] Palestinian [~~occupied~~] territories.”

[Recommendations 4. and 5. remain unchanged.]

Rationale

The concerns and actions proposed in this overture are not new, although worsening humanitarian conditions in the occupied territories may add weight to its argument for a conditional suspension of our country’s proportionately massive military subsidies to Israel. Clearly there are other forms of subsidy to Israel not addressed in these recommendations.

The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) notes that the 209th General Assembly (1997) specifically called on the government of the United States “to adhere to U. S. law concerning the denial of foreign assistance to any country engaged in a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights,” (Resolution on the Middle East, Chapter “Concerning Human Rights,” Recommendation [4]). It also notes that, in a number of recommendations, the 215th General Assembly (2003) addressed related issues of United States economic assistance to the Middle East. It urged taking “steps to restructure and reallocate its present annual aid … to enable and support strategies for development of the region as a whole,” assuring that U.S. policies, strategies, and economic assistance would result in human advancement, a more equitable distribution of resources, economic growth, and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life, and ensuring that sufficient resources and economic aid are made available to the Palestinian people in order to help build and modernize Palestinian schools, create effective vocational training programs, resuscitate the Palestinian economy, … etc.”

In approving this overture—urging temporary suspension of military aid to Israel until the United States government is satisfied and can demonstrate that Israel adheres to both international law and to laws the U.S. Congress has passed with regard to terms and conditions for military assistance or the sale of arms—the General Assembly would be faithful to the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbors and consistent with historic Presbyterian commitment to international law.So far, the United Nations and various human rights organizations, including those of Israel itself, give clear evidence that the government of Israel continues to disregard international laws and UN resolutions, and violates international norms of human rights, as detailed in the overture’s rationale.

When applied to Israel, the measure of temporary suspension of military aid would not be a “punishment” to Israel, already one of the strongest nuclear-equipped militaries in the world. On the contrary, we owe it to Israel to be concerned about its long-term security and peace. Furthermore, the Presbyterian church has advocated for similar limitations on military or security assistance in relation to other countries, particularly in relation to human rights, and has used its own investment policies to reflect its moral concerns.

Above all, it is for the sake of the security of Israel, as a sovereign state and as citizens, that such suspension of military aid would arguably be beneficial. If indeed Israel is “our best ally in the region,” and if it is the “strongest democracy in the area,” then we should first expect compliance from our allies, the most democratic of states in the region, in order to be able to challenge those who may be less committed to us or to democracy.

Finally, the issue ultimately confronts our own government with the question of whether it is upholding its own laws, or is in fact violating them. For many nations in the world, particularly Muslim nations, there is a pervasive belief that the U.S. is not consistent in its human rights practice.