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Boycottwatch.org on the alleged boycott by the Presbyterian Church
Palestine Media Center implicates Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in boycott
Presbyterians meet with terrorists
The Presbyterian Church's side of the story, such as it is
My letter to the Presbyterian Church
National Review: Presbyterian Church "betrays Christians"
IRS and Antiboycott Compliance Office contact information Needed: proof of cooperation between PCUSA and a government that is boycotting Israel, if antiboycott laws are to apply.
Office of Antiboycott Compliance
Complaint filed against PCUSA on October 4, to IRS and Office of Antiboycott Compliance
- Update 2 October 2004 http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Presbyterians+stand+by+divestment+vote&intcategoryid=4 "The group [Presbyterian Church USA] is sticking to its position after meeting here Tuesday with Jewish religious leaders and organizational officials, who aired their sentiments face to face with the Presbyterians for the first time since the decision in July." Noting the absence of any attempt by Presbyterian Church USA to do more than give lip service condemnation of the Palestinian terrorists for their ongoing litany of violence against civilians, while taking very specific and tangible actions against Israel, Omdurman.org must assume that PCUSA is "with the terrorists." It is therefore Omdurman.org's opinion that Presbyterian Church USA is, even if its basic intentions are not malicious, providing (nonviolent) aid and comfort to the Palestinian terror movement and must therefore be treated as an enemy organization.
- Update 4 October 2004 The activities of Presbyterian Church USA have been reported to the Internal Revenue Service (TE/GE Division) and the Office of Antiboycott Complaince. This is not a legal opinion (which Omdurman.org is not qualified to provide) as to whether PCUSA's actions violate its 501(c)(3) tax exemption or antiboycott regulations; it is a statement only that its actions are being brought to the official attention of government entities that have the authority to make this determination.
Omdurman.org encourages readers to
take the following measures against Presbyterian Church USA for its (nonviolent) aid
and comfort to Palestinian terrorists.Again, it is Omdurman.org's position that PCUSA's invocation of active sanctions against Israel while giving lip service condemnation to Palestinian terrorism shows very clearly where it stands. Per http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/israel.htm, Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), writes, "As I made clear in a statement of May 28, 2002, “Palestinians are called, once and for all, to cease striking terror in the hearts of Israeli Jews by stopping attacks on noncombatants while they are carrying out the activities of their daily lives or the celebrations of their peoplehood." The Palestinian terrorists have responded during the past two years by "calling" hundreds of Israelis to hospital beds, wheelchairs, and graves with an ongoing litany of mindless violence but PCUSA has not called for any tangible sanctions against them or their supporters. PCUSA's insistence that Israel dismantle its security fence-- the most nonviolent possible method of stopping Palestinian violence-- shows quite clearly that PCUSA is indeed "with the terrorists" even if it does not approve of their violence.
- Omdurman.org accordingly directs readers' attention to the IRS/ Office of Antiboycott Complaince
information shown below and encourages them to take appropriate action.
- Omdurman.org
encourages all Americans (and everyone else who dislikes the
perpetrators of the Ma'alot school massacre, Munich massacre, Seder
bombings, 9/11 massacre, Iraqi head-choppers, and Beslan school
massacre) to boycott, shun, and ostracize the
Presbyterian Church USA. Don't attend fundraisers or other activities that benefit PCUSA. Church members should cut their donations to
only what is necessary to support their local minister, if he/she is
not sympathetic to the activities described here. Church members should
refuse to support the activities of the church's General Assembly.
- Omdurman.org reminds Presbyterians that there are other Presbyterian-denomination churches in the United States.
- Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches (doesn't seem affiliated with PCUSA)
- Directory of Presbyterian Churches
- Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) (includes a list of churches and their locations)
- Omdurman.org
encourages individual churches to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church
USA and incorporate as independent religious institutions, or join
another national Presbyterian Church organization.
http://www.boycottwatch.org/abi/divest002.htm
"In 1977, the US Congress passed a law creating the Office of Antiboycott Compliance within the Department of Commerce to make sure that the Arab boycott of Israel does not take root in the US. Such actions would create de facto foreign policy; an area that Congress affirmed is under its jurisdiction. The law established that no US persons may take actions in support of an unsanctioned foreign boycott of a nation that is friendly to the United States. The law mainly applies to Israel, and as a result, nobody in the US may engage in a boycott of Israel in support of the Arab boycott of Israel."
"...In the meantime, a vote was taken at the 216th annual General Assembly of Presbyterian Church, USA, and in a 431-62 margin, the church voted to divest from and boycott Israel in support of the Palestinian Authority and its cause. Boycott Watch believes this is a clear violation of the US Antiboycott laws and has sent a letter to the church with a copy to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance outlining the violations. The letters requested that the church nullify the vote and that the Office of Antiboycott Compliance investigate the matter."
Palestine Media Center implicates Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in boycott
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=7&id=47
Shows direct communication of a site that lists a domain as BoycottIsrael to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
18/08/2004 (August 18 2004)
By LISA TARAKI and OMAR BARGHOUTI
Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
Dear Rev. Kirkpatrick,
On behalf of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural
Boycott of Israel, we salute the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for its
persistent commitment to justice and peace in the Holy Land, especially
as recently manifested in its courageous and principled general
assembly resolution calling for divestment from companies that in
effect help to perpetuate Israel's illegal military occupation of the
Palestinian territories by doing business with it. This latest position
proves once again the Presbyterian Church's moral consistency in
dealing with injustice and oppression. Your Church was among the first
to condemn the colonial wall Israel is establishing on occupied
Palestinian land, and it has always called for a comprehensive and just
solution to the conflict in accordance with the precepts of
international law.
...Our campaign is specifically focusing on boycotting Israeli academic
institutions -- mostly state controlled -- because they have
contributed, directly or indirectly, to maintaining, defending or
otherwise justifying Israel's colonial policy, including the
construction of its colonial Wall. The Israeli academy's silence is a
telling sign of its complicity in this policy.
Since scholars and intellectuals have historically shouldered the moral
responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to
abolish apartheid in South Africa, and in the spirit of international
solidarity, moral consistency and universal resistance to injustice and
oppression, we have called upon our colleagues in the international
community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli
academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to
end Israel's occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.
...Warm regards,
Dr. Lisa Taraki
Coordinator, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
of Israel; teaches sociology at Birzeit University in Palestine
Omar Barghouti
Secretary, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; independent researcher and dance choreographer
Campaign's Email: info "at" BoycottIsrael.ps
*Posted by www.counterpunch.org on August 17, 2004.
http://www.wlns.com/global/story.asp?s=2446131&ClientType=Printable
"[Reverend Nile] Harper's 24-member delegation met yesterday with the south Lebanon commander of Hezbollah. Washington calls Hezbollah a terrorist group, but Lebanon it sees as a legitimate resistance movement against Israeli occupation of Arab lands." Reverand Nile Harper's church is in Ann Arbor, Michigan
This is interesting because, to run afoul of U.S. antiboycott laws, the boycott must be made in support of a foreign government's boycott efforts and not independently. A meeting between representatives of the Presbyterian Church with a terrorist organization could (by suggesting collusion or collaboration) conceivably push the church over the line.
The Presbyterian Church's side of the story, such as it is
I say "such as it is" because the above letter from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel goes far beyond the measures the Presbyterian Church says it is taking:
http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/israel.htm
"The assembly authorized exploration of a selective divestment of church funds from those companies whose business in Israel is found to be directly or indirectly causing harm or suffering to innocent people, Palestinian or Israeli. It did not approve a blanket divestment from companies that do business in Israel, as is being reported in some places."
[Sure, and that is why they are getting letters of appreciation from a group that lists an E-mail address at BoycottIsrael.ps and that has "called upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions"]
My letter to the Presbyterian Church, 24 September 2004Mr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly CliffK "at" ctr.pcusa.org
Presbyterian Church, USA
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
cc: BoycottWatch.org, John Detterick Jdetterick "at" ctr.pcusa.org
Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Detterick,
I read the Web page http://www.boycottwatch.org/abi/divest002.htm and I take very seriously the participation of a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt religious organization in an alleged anti-Israel boycott. My personal opinion is that the statement at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/israel.htm mitigates it very little:
"The assembly authorized exploration of a selective divestment of church funds from those companies whose business in Israel is found to be directly or indirectly causing harm or suffering to innocent people, Palestinian or Israeli. It did not approve a blanket divestment from companies that do business in Israel, as is being reported in some places. This action was taken in response to an overture from the Presbytery of St. Augustine, representing the churches in northeast Florida."
Furthermore, the following by a pro-Palestinian group contradicts this excuse: http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=7&id=47
By LISA TARAKI and OMAR BARGHOUTI
Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202-1396
Dear Rev. Kirkpatrick,
"On behalf of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, we salute the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for its persistent commitment to justice and peace in the Holy Land, especially as recently manifested in its courageous and principled general assembly resolution calling for divestment from companies that in effect help to perpetuate Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian territories by doing business with it."
-----------------------
In my personal opinion, your organization's actions give aid and comfort to terrorists and encourages them to continue their violent activities. Even though the terrorists cannot possibly win a military confrontation with Israel (or the United States or Russia, two other major targets of terrorism), the Presbyterian Church's actions offer them ongoing hope that an ongoing campaign of violence and attrition will, through engagement of left-wing organizations and "useful idiots" in the U.S. and Israel, achieve the desired results. (Much as John Kerry's and Jane Fonda's actions during the Vietnam War encouraged the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to continue the Vietnam War after a series of military reverses.)
Israel is a fellow democracy and a friend and ally of the United States. Whereas Israel has had to take some unpalatable measures to protect itself from terrorism, so has the United States-- and you experience them when you have your luggage opened and searched by the TSA whenever you travel by air. I am sure you are aware that this violation of what would otherwise be your Constitutional right against being searched without a warrant or probable cause was made necessary by militant "Islamic" terrorists who seized four aircraft and piloted them into buildings full of innocent people or into the ground. I have of course experienced these security procedures as well. I do not necessarily like them but I place the blame where it belongs, on militant "Islamic" terrorists, and I recognize these security measures as reasonable and necessary for the protection of law-abiding and innocent people.
Similarly, the wall against which your organization protests was made necessary by a long litany of acts of mindless violence against innocent men, women, and even children. Please remember that Palestinian terrorists have knowingly and willfully murdered Israeli children (Ma' alot and other incidents), blown up Seders (Passover services) and secular civilian targets, and intentionally murdered civilians regardless of age and sex. Israel did not build the security barrier, the Palestinians built it with their own actions. The Palestinians can take it down by ceasing their violent activities permanently, although today's Wall Street Journal reported yet another one.
We could probably argue about this all day but the bottom line is that the Presbyterian Church needs to reassess its actions very promptly and intensively while reading what Boycottwatch.org has to say, and also in the context of its responsibilities and obligations as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.*
Regards,
William Levinson
Webmaster, Omdurman.org (Web site on the threat of militant "Islam," as opposed to genuine Islam, to civilized Humanity).
*I am not an attorney and I cannot give you legal advice as to whether the Church's actions conform to or violate its tax-exempt status but I encourage the Church to examine this on its own.
National Review: Presbyterian Church "betrays Christians"
http://nationalreview.com/comment/kontorovich200409220850.asp (excerpts only, follow link for complete article)
September 22, 2004,
8:50 a.m.
Presbyterian Preachiness
The Presbyterian Church betrays Christians.
...The Presbyterians have not divested their funds from any of the cruel regimes of the world: not from China for its ethnic cleansing of Tibetans, and its repression of Muslems and Falun Gong; and not even from Sudan, currently engaged in the extermination of Africans in Darfur.
One would expect the Presbyterian Church to use its economic clout with an eye to punishing the many regimes around the world that oppress their fellow Christians, and call attention to their plight. However, the church has not taken action against such nations as Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, or North Korea (whose government has reportedly murdered 300,000 Christians), where anti-Christian persecution has been detailed by Christian human-rights groups.
...Since the creation of Israel, Christians have been able to worship there unmolested and unafraid. Israel does not afford Christians this treatment as a matter of sovereign grace or condescension, but rather because it shares the American values of religious freedom and pluralism. The Presbyterians have set themselves against the best and only friend and protector of Christianity in the Middle East. They have done so to support a movement that has slaughtered Christians and defiled their holy places. Yasser Arafat, to whose aid the Presbyterians now come, massacred Christian civilians in Lebanon when his Fatah organization was based there. ...The Presbyterians' action takes the side of those who have cynically defiled holy Christian sites. The Church of the Nativity has been turned into terrorist hide-out and Manger Square into a place where people are publicly executed without trial.
- Militant "Islam's" persecution of Christians today
- The Twenty-First Century's Christ Killers: What would happen to Jesus in militant "Islamic" nations today?
Contact Information, Internal Revenue Service and Antiboycott Compliance Office
Omdurman.org is not qualified to provide legal advice as to whether the
Presbyterian Church USA and/or Anglican Peace and Justice Network is
engaging in activities that jeopardize their 501(c)(3) tax exempt
status. Per discussion with the IRS, actions "contrary to public
policy" or contrary to the organization's stated mission may be cause
for revocation of its tax exemption. The Presbyterian Church IS,
however, being reported to both agencies as of 4 October 2004; it shall
be left up to the government to determine whether it should be
sanctioned. See http://www.guidestar.org
and search for "Presbyterian Church USA" in Louisville KY to get the
Employer Identification Number, which should be used in the filing of
any complaint with the Internal Revenue Service.
IRS Contact Information
You may contact IRS Customer Service operations concerning tax-exempt organizations at (877) 829-5500 (toll-free number). The call center is open 8:00am to 9:30pm Eastern Time. Or you may write to us at the following address:
Internal Revenue Service
TE/GE Division, Customer Service
P.O. Box 2508
Cincinnati, OH 45201
Office of Antiboycott Compliance
http://www.bxa.doc.gov/ComplianceAndEnforcement/oacrequirements.html
"The antiboycott laws were adopted to encourage, and in specified cases, require U.S. firms to refuse to participate in foreign boycotts that the United States does not sanction. They have the effect of preventing U.S. firms from being used to implement foreign policies of other nations which run counter to U.S. policy."
Per a telephone message from this office, this law would apply only if evidence could be provided that Presbyterian Church USA was making efforts to comply with another government's (e.g. an Arab government's) boycott of Israel. (If they are doing it by themselves, and not in furtherence of a foreign government's boycott, the law does not apply to them.) If anyone can provide proof of cooperation between PCUSA and a foreign government in this matter, please send it to the address below and also to Omdurman.org (E-mail at bottom). So far, all we have is the letter from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to PCUSA. It is conceivable (not legal advice, I am not a lawyer) that proof of two-way correspondence between PCUSA and this entity-- especially if the Palestinian group is tied to the Palestinian Authority-- could be sufficient.
Where to Get More Information:
U.S. Department of Commerce
BIS/Office of Antiboycott Compliance, Room 6098
Washington, D.C. 20230
(202) 482-2381
or by E-Mail
Department of the Treasury
Office of the General Counsel, Room 2004
Washington, D.C. 20220
(202) 622-1945
