Wider Action Among Illinois Meetings

Seeking Palestinian Human Rights and Peace:

David Hadley Finke, Convenor of Illinois Yearly Meeting reports wider action among Friends on the Earlham BDS site (bdsearlham.wordpress.com/support/). He notes:

May 20, 2011

I am happy to see this leadership coming from the Earlham community.

A proposal (concerning TIAA-CREF’s investment in selected companies profiting from the oppression of Palestinians) came to our Blue River Quarterly Meeting from St. Louis Monthly Meeting, at our spring 2011 session (minute available soon.) It specifically called on AFSC to give leadership in calling for divestment, since TIAA-CREF runs their pension program.

The Quarter united with that, and is forwarding it to the annual sessions of Illinois Yearly Meeting. As presiding officer of that body, I hesitate to say more, but will be glad to forward any action that comes from our meeting in mid-June.

June 30, 2011

The Illinois Yearly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends united with the concern brought both by St. Louis Monthly Meeting and Blue River Quarterly Meeting, to urge American Friends Service Committee to seek for the TIAA-CREF pension funds to divest from 5 corporations whose business and/or products oppose Palestinians.

Soon thereafter we learned of the favorable action from AFSC, which you can read about here: http://tinyurl.com/44kflp8

Blue River Quarterly - Minutes CILCA - north of Springfield, IL Spring 2011 - Fourth Month

April 16, 2011 - Saturday 11:15 a.m.

13) Sandra Tamari brought to us a concern about TIAA-CREF, and BDS ( Boycott-Divestment- Sanctions) in support of Palestine. They are a pension fund business and invest in a bus company that that only serves the settlements and not the Palestinians, a company that provides weapons to Israel, Caterpillar which sells bulldozers specifically outfitted for military use such as bulldozing homes and orchards; and Motorola which designs and sells surveillance systems to Israel. The AFSC uses TIAA-CREF. St. Louis Friends have sent a letter to AFSC asking them to encourage TIAA-CREF to divest from these five companies. [See statement below.] BRQ unites with the statement of St. Louis Friends and will both contact AFSC to express our concern and take the concern to ILYM sessions this summer asking that they also unite with this statement. There is a website where our clerk can sign on to this concern, as St. Louis Friends have done.

There are plans to hold a workshop early in YM sessions to acquaint Friends with this issue. BRQ can submit this concern to be included in the advance documents.

Minute approved by St. Louis Monthly Meeting: Palestinian civil society organizations have asked for support of a boycott, divestment and sanctions action (BDS) against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, until Israel complies with international law. The St. Louis Religious Society of Friends affirm the nonviolent nature of the BDS movement and its support of the fundamental equality of all parties in this conflict. We see BDS as a challenge to discriminatory Israeli state policies that diminish the humanity of another people. It is a nonviolent challenge to political systems and institutions, not individuals, that deny the equality of Israeli Jews and Palestinians.

In keeping with this belief, St. Louis Meeting requests that the American Friends Service Committee approach TIAA-CREF, the company which invests their employee pension funds, to insist that they divest from companies providing military arms to Israel. These arms are being used to build the “separation” wall which in fact confiscates Palestinian land and water, to maintain and augment the illegal Jewish Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, to enforce ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem, to harass and kill Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, and to maintain the apartheid system of unequal rights, depriving Palestinians of the rights guaranteed by the United Nations to all people.

These companies, in which TIAA-CREF invests, include Veolia, Elbit, Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions, and Northrop Grumman.

We ask that our Clerk write to AFSC with this message and to make this statement public to the media. We also ask the Clerk to forward this minute to Blue River Quarterly Meeting for its consideration.

14) We will gather tomorrow at 9:30 to conclude our business. Following a brief silence we adjourned for dinner.

April 17, 2011 - Sunday 9:30 a.m.

15) Friend Tom Paxson shared with Friends a statement from the World Council of Churches titled An Ecumenical Call to Just Peace. He requested that we distribute the document widely for consideration. Bobbi Trist presented the concern to BRQ and read pertinent sections from the 7 page document. Dawn reported that this document was sent to BRQ Friends via email and that the ILYM Peace Resources Committee considered this statement at their meeting a few weeks ago and is encouraging Friends in the YM to read and consider this statement. It is, or soon will be, posted on both the ILYM website [insert url] and the PRC blog [insert url]. The Peace & Services Committee of Urbana-Champaign MM has united with this statement.

We welcome the receipt of this document and are much appreciative of Friends influences on its development, particularly the diligent labors of Tom Paxson. We celebrate the growing awareness that has led to its creation. BRQ Friends unite with the Spirit of this document and recommend it for study by individual Friends, monthly meetings and by ILYM.

We agreed to contact Tom and Judi to learn if they will attend YM sessions this year. If so werequest that he offer a workshop about this document. It was noted that if Tom is not attending Barbara Kessel from Urbana-Champaign might be willing to lead a workshop. We need also to be aware that it may be too late to add a new workshop for this summer's sessions.

16) Friends approved the minutes above and we adjourned to prepare for worship.

Web address:

http://www.blueriverquarterly.org/tiki-index.php?page=Minutes