American Lutherans pass resolution calling for an end to U.S. support to Israel

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted on Aug. 12 in favor of a resolution that calls for the U.S. government to withhold financial and military support from Israel unless it stops constructing settlements on Palestinian territories. The church body also voted to screen investments against companies that aggravate the conflict between Palestine and Israel at their triennial Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans.

The first resolution also asks for the cooperation of the U.S. government and the U.N. Security Council to "launch a more determined effort for a negotiated agreement that ends the occupation, achieves an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and provides security and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians."

The second resolution (C2) named Caterpillar Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Motorola Solutions and Group 4 Securicor (G4S) as companies that contributed to the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the violation of human rights of Palestinians.

The main sponsor of the two resolutions was Isaiah 58, a Lutheran group that focuses on the conflict at the West Bank. The leader of the group, Jan Miller, stated in a press release, "By adopting this investment screen, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is taking an important step to ensure that we are not profiting from, or complicit in, injustice in the Holy Land and elsewhere."

Other denominations voted on similar resolutions earlier this year with mixed results. In May, the United Methodists voted to withdraw from the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation at their General Assembly citing that the campaign overlooks anti-Israeli aggression.

In June, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), Southern Baptists and the Unitarian Universalists voted on resolutions dealing with the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. The Presbyterians passed a resolution to pressure Israel to leave territories that were occupied during the 1967 war while the Unitarian Universalists voted against a campaign to divest investments to corporations involved in the conflict. Southern Baptists made a commitment to "support the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign state and reject any activities that attack that right by promoting economic, cultural, and academic boycotts against Israel."