Invest In Peace

Dear Fellow Methodists and brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church,

I write as a lifelong Methodist in the UK, a Methodist Local Preacher and a member of the UK Methodist Conference.

I fully support the proposals that are coming forward to your Conference for divestment from the Israeli Occupation. Last year I traveled to the West Bank and Israel and was absolutely shocked by the treatment being meted out to the Palestinian people. Just the scale of the blatant theft of land that the illegal Israeli settlements represent, as well as the all pervasive sense of repression by which the Israeli army seeks to control ordinary decent people means that it would be quite wrong for any Church to profit from such activities. Furthermore, Israel’s human rights abuses cost money - if we can stop even some of that money supporting such activities, we will have done good.

Our own UK Methodist Conference has taken a strong and consistent stand against the Occupation and we have an ethical investment policy regarding it. Please vote for divestment, so that a just peace may be established for all the peoples of Palestine and Israel.

Stephen Leah
York, UK