[Elder of Ziyon] BDS Fail: Methodists reject divestment

From JTA:

The Methodist Pension Board rejected a proposal to divest from companies that supply products to Israel's military.

The United Methodist General Board of Pension and Health Benefits unanimously approved a resolution earlier this month that would allow the board to continue to invest in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard. Petitioners had called for divestment from the three companies, saying that they supply products to Israel that are used to violate the human rights of Palestinians.

The board resolved to continue to urge the companies to protect and respect human rights, as well as to seek a remedy for any human rights violations including, but not limited to, the Palestinians.

"The board of directors strongly believes that divesting of stock in a company where you have a dispute is not an effective tool to impact a company's policy or practices," said Tim Smith, a member of the board of directors' United Methodist Church Principles Committee. "If you sell stock as a protest, another investor simply purchases it. As an investor, having a seat at the table with a company has generally proved to be a more powerful means of communicating with a company's management."

I guess the BDSers better concentrate on tiny Yuppie food co-ops and insecure second-tier pop singers.

(h/t Mike)

--
Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 3/15/2012 02:45:00 PM