Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 11

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace
1. Even if Israel does not fulfill its obligation to end the practice of child detention
(which goes against Israel’s ratification of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the
Child), the General Assembly endorses the recommendations of the Military Court
Watch organization at least to halt the human rights abuses of children by the
military occupation in the West Bank: no night raids to arrest minors; every child to
be told his or her legal rights in a language each understands; every child granted
access to an attorney before interrogation; every child’s parents present during
interrogation; and every interrogation A/V recorded and made publically available.
2. the Assembly urges Congress to hold hearings into the use of US made and
subsidized military and police equipment by the Government of Israel in carrying
out policies that abuse human rights, violate Geneva Accords, or oppose American
principles of religious liberty and non-discrimination;
3. in keeping with the initial intention of the United Nations that Jerusalem be an
international city to honor and provide access to the holy places of three faiths, the
General Assembly emphasizes the importance of having vital communities of all
three faiths present. In practice, this means (i) calling on the Israeli government to
be transparent and accountable in dealing with Muslim and Christian sacred sites,
affording them the same protections as Jewish sites, allowing freedom of worship
and all necessary permits for properly designated religious personnel, and allowing
internationally authorized archeologists to review claims that affect traditional
Muslim and Christian areas of living and worship (as World Heritage sites are
reviewed); and (ii) inviting Christian, Jewish, and Muslim dialogue groups,
congregations and communities, here and in Israel-Palestine, to discuss questions of
religious liberty vis-a-vis those practices which highlight Jewish objects and customs
in Jerusalem and other locations to the actual and potential detriment of other
religious communities.

E. For acknowledgment and confession of our complicity in the injustices in IsraelPalestine, that:
1. the Presbyterian Foundation and Board of Pensions refrain from investments that
support violence against Israelis or Palestinians, including finance and support for
the economic activity and expansion of settlements outside of Israel’s internationally
recognized borders, in accord with previous General Assembly actions.
2. Appropriate agencies of the Assembly support measures by the Internal Revenue
Service (or related units of the United States government) to investigate and possibly
revoke the 501(c)(3) status for organizations, and tax deductions for individuals,
that promote and finance the development or operation of Israeli settlements, which
are illegal under international law and obstacles to peace.
3. The General Assembly affirms the traditional freedom of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) and other religious, civic, and private organizations in the United States to
determine their own practices of investment or ]