Are Anti-Israel Activists Distorting United Methodist Pensions Action?

Anti-Israel activists like David Wildman at the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries and the caucus group United Methodist Kairos Response are claiming the United Methodist General Board of Pension and Health Benefits divested from British firm G4S because of its work for Israeli prisons.

This claim is conveniently timed to precede the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly, which will consider anti-Israel divestment next week.

The United Methodist General Conference in 2012 voted by two to one against divesting from firms doing business with Israel.

Wildman told The New York Times that the sale of about 0,000 worth of G4S stock holdings was, as the article paraphrased, “intended to have a larger symbolic impact, adding to the pressure on Israel to stop building settlements and end the occupation.”

Wildman is quoted in a Kairos news release: “This is the first time that a United Methodist general agency has included human rights violations related to Israel’s illegal settlements and military occupation in a decision to divest from a company. We celebrate this strong human rights message both to G4S specifically and to other companies whose business operations support longstanding human rights abuses against Palestinians.”

Kairos claims a “top executive of GBPHB contacted United Methodist Kairos Response (UMKR) leaders this week about the sale of G4S stocks, informing them that this decision was due in large part to the serious concerns about G4S activities raised by United Methodists seeking a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

But the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits has so far said nothing publicly to confirm these claims. Instead the pensions board, in a statement it reports already sharing with Kairos, attributes divesting from G4S to its work in the prison industry, in which the pensions board resolved in early 2012 to avoid investing.

Here’s the pensions board statement:

While we did not have the opportunity to see the UM Kairos Response press release in advance, we shared the information below with them:

“The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits sold its G4S shares for reasons related to a number of that company’s business activities. Our decision was specific to G4S. Our rationale for selling G4S was that we felt the inherent nature of the company’s products and services—which are tailored to the prison industry—may not align with UMC values. We are waiting to conduct additional research after our board of directors meets in July to review and discuss the broad range of our investment policies—we may have additional comments after their deliberations.”

Please attribute this statement to Chief Investment Officer David Zellner of the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of The United Methodist Church.