London: Bishop Riah to call for church action on divestment
Bishop Riah Abu El Assal, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, is coming to London next Thursday to speak appeal for churches to campaign against investing in unethical companies operating in Israel. Bishop Riah's plea to the recent General Synod for them to hear the voices of the Palestinian church before it is too late led to the overwhelming majority voting to divest of any shares held by the Church of England in companies which profit from the illegal occupation - notably Caterpillar. Criticism of this decision has mainly focussed on the recent election result and on the 'peacemaking' intentions of Israel in unilaterally disengaging from Gaza, suggesting that now is the time to be 'positively engaged' with Israel rather than attempting economic pressure to end the occupation. Bishop Riah will respond to these criticisms and describe the effects of continuing occupation. The evening, hosted by the Amos Trust and Palestine Solidarity Campaign takes place on Thursday 16th March from 7.30-9pm at All Hallows on the Wall, 83 London Wall, London EC2M 5ND. for more details see: www.palestinecampaign.org or e-mail: info@palestinecampaign.org info@amostrust.org