November 11, 2016                                      By Merle Showers

Upper New York Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel

In 2015, we as an Annual Conference voted to divest in several companies that were doing business in Israel that supported the occupation of Palestine.  HP (Hewlett Packard) was one of those companies, because it supports Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and its people by supplying some of the security equipment/technology to control the Palestinian people.

Our General Board of Pensions (now Wespath) has worked very hard to get HP to stop supporting this occupation, but to no avail. This is in keeping with a 2012 General Conference Resolution (6011) that says, “We call on all nations to prohibit any financial support by individuals or organizations for the construction and maintenance of settlements … on Palestinian land.”   HP continues to support an occupation that our government and the international community have said very clearly is illegal.  It makes a resolution to the conflict impossible.

Therefore, our Upper New York Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel is asking all of us and our churches to not buy HP devices (copiers, laptops, computers, etc.). We don’t support violence or war, but peacefully we can use our buying power to encourage action.  Our action can be our prayer for the peace of Palestine/Israel.