Those Non-Divesting Presbyterians

In 2004, I wrote a column for TCS entitled Those Divesting Presbyterians, in which I roundly criticized the Presbuterian Church (USA) for its decision to divest from multinational corporations doing business in Israel. As an ex-Presbyterian, I am pleased to see that the PCUSA's Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues has recommended that the divestment lenguage be watered down to provide that "financial investments of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as they pertain to Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, be invested in only peaceful pursuits," whatever that mealy-mouthed formulation means. Apparently a diehard minority is clinging to the old policy, even though it's demonstrably both anti-Semitic and a bad investment strategy.