NEW YORK – April 20, 2012 - The General Conference of the United Methodist Church will meet in Tampa, Florida from April 24-May 4, 2012 and will be deliberating over a resolution that directs boards and agencies of the United Methodist Church to divest from corporations that sustain and profit from Israel’s military occupation of Palestine. This resolution was first adopted by the church’s General Board of Church and Society in February 2011.

LOUISVILLE, KY - February 17, 2012 - The General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to send a recommendation to the July meeting of the 220th General Assembly (national Presbyterian voting body) to divest its holdings from Caterpillar, Inc., Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions.   The original recommendation came from the denomination’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) at its meeting of September 2011. MRTI’s recommendation first went to the GAMC Subcommittee on Justice, who passed it on to the larger body by unanimous consent.

NEW YORK - Feb. 7, 2012 - This week has brought broad-side attacks on the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from the organized Jewish community in the U.S. In order to understand the latest vitriol coming from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) towards the IPMN, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one has to imagine the feeling of sheer desperation that results when a fantasy world comes crashing down. The world where Israeli government policy cannot be criticized is a thing of the past. There is vigorous debate within the Jewish community around Israel’s military occupation, and groups like the JCPA and others are losing control of the narrative.

NEW YORK - Nov. 3, 2011 - The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (IPMN) condemns the announcement by the Israeli government to accelerate expansion of settlement construction and financially sanction the Palestinian Authority as a response to the successful bid by its leadership to join UNESCO this week. The IPMN calls upon President Obama to take a clear, public stand against this decision because it threatens any hope that peace negotiations can occur between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the foreseeable future.

Dear Mr. President:

We write this open letter to confirm support within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for statehood for Palestine and hence for the admission of the state of Palestine into membership of the United Nations. We believe the admission of Palestine—currently a permanent observer—into full membership will hasten progress toward the two-state solution affirmed by international law and will contribute to a just peace for both Palestinians and Israelis…

Leaders of four denominations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons, have issued a statement backing the Palestinian Authority’s bid for membership in the United Nations.