26 Oct 2019; MEMO: The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church in America has decided to withdraw its investments in Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar and the Israel Discount Bank for benefiting from the Israeli occupation, media agencies reported on Friday.
The Episcopal Church ban would prohibit investments in “any corporation that supports or benefits from the denial of human rights in or through the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip.”
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church also directed the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee “to pursue continued engagement with Facebook, Booking.com and TripAdvisor, urging them to address human rights violations.”
According to a statement by the church, it is “seeking to ensure that the companies take all necessary steps to end their complicity in the occupation.”
The Episcopal Church has set up a human rights investment screen for investments relating to Israel and Palestine.
Commenting on this, head of the Palestinian Initiative Movement, Mustafa Al-Barghouti stated “the BDS has achieved a new victory through the decision of the Episcopal Church in America, which has decided to withdraw investments from companies serving the occupation.”
