Church of England withdraws investments from U.S. based Caterpillar, INC.

 

News Code: 349347

GMT: 2/10/2009 1:35:23 PM

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Church of England boycotts Israel, divests from Caterpillar

London, Feb 10, IRNA — The Church of England has confirmed that it has withdrawn its controversial investments in US-based Caterpillar Inc because of its sales of bulldozers to Israel to demolish tens of thousands of Palestinian homes.

The announcement that Britain’s state church divested Pnds 2.2 million (Dlrs 3 m) in late December came after its Synod governing council clarified its position over the weekend on its investments in companies profiting from the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

The confirmation came just in time to prevent the planned publication of a letter in the Guardian newspaper Tuesday signed by 23 theologians accusing the Church of England of not acting on its policy to promote morally and ethically responsible investments.

“We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli Government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit form the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately,” the unpublished letter stated.

The move was welcomed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) which said it was “a significant blow” to those who claimed ethical and morally responsible investments cannot be used as a peaceful weapon against Israel, even though the church insisted the withdrawal was for economic reasons.

“This is a clear message from the Church of England that they will not have their money tied up in companies that are directly or indirectly engaged in the suppression of the rights of Palestinians,” PSC general secretary Betty Hunter said.

But Reverend Gath Hewit chair of Interfaith Group for Morally Responsible Investment (IMRI) expressed concern over the Church of England’s claim that it had divested for investment reasons and not at its Synod’s instigation.

“I think it is a little bit sad that they quietly removed their holdings presumably to avoid any fuss,” Hewit said. “It appears to have been done secretly and leaked, then later announced as divestment but not at [our] instigation,” he said.

The US-based manufacturer has been criticized for several years by such human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as the United Nations for supplying weaponized bulldozers to Israel’s military which has used them to raze more than 7,000 Palestinian homes since 1967.

Caterpillar has been the target of continuing protests in the UK, including Brighton on the southern coast of England against shops selling its products (see pix).

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End News / IRNA / News Code 349347