The craziness continues to grow! The quiet Quakers are now trying to get companies to divest their investments in companies that do business with Israel. They along with the Presbyterian Church are trying to enforce their opinions regarding the Palestinian issue by using the same technique that was successfully used against South Africa.
It is amazing to me to see these religious organizations being taken in by the misinformation or shall we say propaganda that is constantly being the PLO and their Hamas co-conspirators. For example, have you seen the new hotels that are being erected in Gaza? Check out this site:http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g660378-West_Bank_and_Gaza-Hotels.html and you will see something that is not seen on the nightly news.
The normal blather on the news is that both Gaza and the West Bank are slums of tent cities and filth everywhere. I think this site blows that idea away.
I would imagine that some of those in leadership of the Quakers and Presbyterian Church have not been to Israel, Gaza or the West Bank. If they had, I doubt that they would have promoted this miscarriage.
One can only hope that saner heads will prevail.
A prominent national Quaker organization has joined a campaign urging a large retirement fund to divest its holding in companies it says profit from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Quaker group, announced its support of the “We Divest from Israel's Occupation” campaign, which has significant Jewish support.
The campaign asks TIAA-CREF, one of the world's largest retirement funds and manager of AFSC's employee accounts, to divest from companies including Caterpillar, Motorola, Elbit, Veolia, and Northrop Grumman.
Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports the campaign, said in a statement:
“This is the first time a client of the fund has joined the divestment campaign, standing with campaign leaders Jewish Voice for Peace and the more than 40 organizations who have already signed on, including Jewish, Christian, and secular organizations from across the country and Israel/Palestine.”
The AFSC board said they were joining the campaign “as a matter of conscience and an expression of our unwillingness to remain complicit with violence and oppression occurring daily in Palestine and Israel, which is contrary to all that we know to be true and right.”
In a letter to TIAA-CREF, Arlene Kelly, chair of the AFSC's board of directors, said the board “urges you to refrain from investing in any company that contributes to perpetuating the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, provides products or services to Israeli settlements, or provides products or services that enable violent acts that target civilians.”
John K.S. Wilson, TIAA-CREF's director of corporate governance, wrote back that the fund is “unable to alter our investment policy” in response to the AFSC's concerns.
“We are unable to create custom-made funds, which in essence would require all CREF participants to subsidize the cost of a fund that only a small percentage of clients might access.”
It is amazing to me to see these religious organizations being taken in by the misinformation or shall we say propaganda that is constantly being the PLO and their Hamas co-conspirators. For example, have you seen the new hotels that are being erected in Gaza? Check out this site:http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g660378-West_Bank_and_Gaza-Hotels.html and you will see something that is not seen on the nightly news.
The normal blather on the news is that both Gaza and the West Bank are slums of tent cities and filth everywhere. I think this site blows that idea away.
I would imagine that some of those in leadership of the Quakers and Presbyterian Church have not been to Israel, Gaza or the West Bank. If they had, I doubt that they would have promoted this miscarriage.
One can only hope that saner heads will prevail.
Quakers Now Targeting Israel Via Investments
Newsmax Staffers - Newsmax, July 3rd, 2011A prominent national Quaker organization has joined a campaign urging a large retirement fund to divest its holding in companies it says profit from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Quaker group, announced its support of the “We Divest from Israel's Occupation” campaign, which has significant Jewish support.
The campaign asks TIAA-CREF, one of the world's largest retirement funds and manager of AFSC's employee accounts, to divest from companies including Caterpillar, Motorola, Elbit, Veolia, and Northrop Grumman.
Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports the campaign, said in a statement:
“This is the first time a client of the fund has joined the divestment campaign, standing with campaign leaders Jewish Voice for Peace and the more than 40 organizations who have already signed on, including Jewish, Christian, and secular organizations from across the country and Israel/Palestine.”
The AFSC board said they were joining the campaign “as a matter of conscience and an expression of our unwillingness to remain complicit with violence and oppression occurring daily in Palestine and Israel, which is contrary to all that we know to be true and right.”
In a letter to TIAA-CREF, Arlene Kelly, chair of the AFSC's board of directors, said the board “urges you to refrain from investing in any company that contributes to perpetuating the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, provides products or services to Israeli settlements, or provides products or services that enable violent acts that target civilians.”
John K.S. Wilson, TIAA-CREF's director of corporate governance, wrote back that the fund is “unable to alter our investment policy” in response to the AFSC's concerns.
“We are unable to create custom-made funds, which in essence would require all CREF participants to subsidize the cost of a fund that only a small percentage of clients might access.”
The CIA report on the economy in the Gaza Strip….
ReplyDelete"High population density, limited land and sea access, continuing isolation, and strict internal and external security controls have degraded economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - the smaller of the two areas in the Palestinian Territories. Israeli-imposed crossings closures, which became more restrictive after HAMAS violently took over the territory in June 2007, and fighting between HAMAS and Israel during December 2008-January 2009, resulted in the near collapse of most of the private sector, extremely high unemployment, and high poverty rates. Shortages of goods are met through large-scale humanitarian assistance - led by UNRWA - and the HAMAS-regulated black market tunnel trade that flourishes under the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. However, changes to the blockade in 2010 included moving from a white list - in which only approved items were allowed into Gaza through the crossings - to a black list, where all but non-approved items were allowed into Gaza through the crossings. Israeli authorities have recently signaled that exports from the territory might be possible in the future, but currently regular exports from Gaza are not permitted."
The luxury hotels are not owned or operated by Palestinians. They are there for Jews and rich tourists.
No offense intended…just keeping it real.
--David
David, look at http://www.tradearabia.com/news/ttn_191709.html
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the oweners of the hotels in Ramallah in West Bank. It is Saudi and I doubt that Jews would be welcome.
Additionally, Jews are not allowed to go into West Bank or Gaza. It is unsafe for Jews to go there.
Your assertion is that the hotels are for Jews is totally inaccurate.
Okay, but my main point is the CIA report on the general economy of the Gaza Strip --a few luxury tourist hotels notwithstanding. So throwing out photos of the Grand Palace Hotel with rates at $120/night while Palestinians' average income is $2/day provides quite a contrast.
ReplyDeleteFew countries in the world outside Africa have a lower GDP per capita than the Gaza Strip.
--David
David, when Israel left Gaza there was a burgeoning greenhouse industry producing flowers and vegetables that were shipped throughout the world. The Israelis left the greenhouses intact and within days of the turnover, they were trashed and remaining plants thrown out. They had the basis for an industry, but they destroyed it. I do not feel sorry for them.
ReplyDelete