His Eminence Sheikh Taysir Al Tamimi, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judiciary, hosted a delegation from the World Council of Churches in his Jerusalem office.
Sheikh Al Tamimi briefed the delegation on the humanitarian disasters caused by the Israeli aggression against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples
Ms. Maria Shober, the woman responsible for the WCC’s fight against racism attended, while Pastor Jin Arnon Claire Tommo led the delegation. Bishop Munib Yunnan, President of Jerusalem’s LutheranChurch in the Holy Land also joined.
The World Council of Churches is the main global body uniting non-Catholic Christians. It represents around half a billion Christians in over 120 countries. It is a fellowship of churches, now 342, active in all continents from virtually all non-Catholic Christian traditions
The group of Christian officials is on a solidarity mission with Palestine and , while denouncing the on-going Israeli aggressions against the people.
The Chief Justice explained to the delegation the effects of the destructive Israeli siege on the Palestinian people in myriad forms, including political, economic and social disasters.
Sheikh Al Tamimi praised the relationship of mutual respect and coexistence between Palestinian Christians and Muslims under the thumb of occupation for decades.
The delegation promised to transfer all they heard and saw to the World Council of Churches, their respective State Governments and their peoples.
In a related story, as reported in Ha’Aretz, the World Council of Churches.meeting in Geneva, encouraged members Tuesday to sell off investments in companies profiting from Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Central Committee, in a document approved at a week-long meeting at WCC headquarters that ended on Tuesday, highlighted the divestment push and encouraged other member churches to consider doing the same.
Reminiscent of the Anti-Apartheid boycotts which rocked the racist regime of South Africa during the 1980s, the WCC call for boycotts, calling Israel’s colonization of the West Bank as “illegal activities … as if a viable peace for both peoples is not a possibility”.
The Committee praised the United States Presbyterian Church for examining the possibility of divestment in . The Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly called last July for a "phased, selective divestment" beginning no earlier than July 2006.
"Multinational corporations have been involved in the demolition of Palestinian homes," the WCC statement said. "They were also involved in "the construction of settlements and settlement infrastructure on occupied territory, in building a dividing wall which is also largely inside occupied territory, and in other violations of international law".
"The occupation]is at the center of the cycle of violence in the region – whether it is suicide bombings or the displacement caused by the occupation… and impedes a peaceful solution to that conflict," the committee now selecting possible divestment targets said recently. No companies have been singled out but a report naming the most likely targets is due in August.
Human rights groups have urged Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction machinery, to stop selling bulldozers to the Israel Defense Forces, saying they are used to wreck innocent Palestinians’ homes in Gaza and the West Bank.
Grassroots social justice movements from across the globe have already initiated popular boycotts of Israeli products as well as divestment, responding from calls made from a cross section of Palestinian civil society groups, campaigns and trade unions.
Their solidarity was crystallized by the overwhelming support for boycotts made by the 155,000 people who participated in the fifth annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, in early 2005.
They have formed the embryo of a movement that could have enormous significance if a strong moral and ethical stance is reflected in a global movement to pressure through increasing isolation.
