MINNEAPOLIS — July 9, 2019 — The 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) today approved a comprehensive report on Israel/Palestine, and other resolutions calling for the United States to withdraw military aid to Israel until it follows U.S. foreign assistance law and to embrace the United Nations Goldstone report.

In 2008 at its 218th General Assembly meeting in San Jose, California, the Presbyterian Church (USA) affirmed the obligation of the Church to speak to U.S. and foreign governments when it sees those governments violating the commandments of God; endorsed the Amman Call created in 2007 by the Christian Churches in the Middle East which then called upon our denomination to take significant actions in our policies for seeking a just Israeli-Palestinian peace, assuring that we remain active partners in this effort; called for Presbyterians to travel and take pilgrimages to Israel/Palestine in a manner that offers a full view of life conditions for both Israelis and Palestinians; and strengthened its resolve to monitor closely U.S. corporations that support or profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In addition to these justice issues affecting all Palestinians, the Assembly was very concerned that intensified Israeli control of Jerusalem and the West Bank was accelerating the shrinkage of the Christian population in the Holy Land—a matter of real urgency at this point. Thus the Assembly voted to create a Middle East Study Committee (MESC), appointed by the present PC (USA) moderator and the two most recent past moderators, that would report to the 219th meeting of the General Assembly in 2010.

The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) stands in strong support of the ”Freedom Flotilla” which was attacked by Israeli Defense Forces in international waters on May 31, 2010. We express our sympathy for the loss of life and hold those who were killed and injured and their families in prayer. We commend the people of the flotilla for taking on the delivery of aid in a show of non-violent solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza and deeply regret that a military action by the Israeli Defense Forces has resulted in violence and loss of life. We call on our church leadership and the Obama administration to insist on a full and complete investigation, carried out by non-military officials.

Dear Mr. President-elect,

We write as Presbyterians committed to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel, first to congratulate you on your historic victory, and second to outline concerns for those peoples related to the historic mission of our church. The authors of this letter, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, have also invited signatories from across the Presbyterian Church (USA) because of our Christian hopes at this season and also because of the desperate realities for many in the occupied territories.

Amman, Jordan, 18-20 June 2007

Almost sixty years have passed since the Christian churches first spoke with one voice about Arab-Israeli peace. For the last forty years the Christian churches have called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In the very place where Jesus Christ walked upon the earth, walls now separate families and the children of God - Christian, Muslim and Jew -- are imprisoned in a deepening cycle of violence, humiliation and despair. The Palestinian Christians from Gaza to Jerusalem and to Nazareth, have called out to their brothers and sisters in Christ with this urgent plea: "Enough is enough. No more words without deeds. It is time for action."

From Presbyterian Principles for Interfaith Dialogue adopted as a policy statement by the General Assembly in 1999.