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Select Major Actions before Launch of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions Movement�

1982: following the Lebanon War and the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the American Friends Service Committee called for an end to all U.S. military aid to Israel, citing the use of U.S.-supplied weapons in violations of international law.
1988: at the height of the First Intifada, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) passed a resolution for withholding military aid to Israel as a response to human rights violations in the occupied territories.
1991: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government to withhold $10 billion in housing loan guarantees until the Israeli government agreed to a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza. (This action was very prominent in that it received prominent coverage in a major U.S. newspaper- the Washington Post.)
1994: The Episcopal Church passed a resolution calling on the the U.S. to "condition aid and loan guarantees to Israel on its abandonment of violence as a tactic of civilian control and on the release of all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.
2004: The Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly passed a higly controversial resolution calling for the Denomination initiate a process of phased, selective divestment from multinational corporations profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.
2005: The United Church of Christ calls on denominational institutions to divest ”from those companies that refuse to change their practices of gain from the perpetuation of violence, including the Occupation.”

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Post the Start of the BDS Movement- Selected Actions

2007: National Coalition of American Nuns calls for Caterpillar boycott
2010: Northern Illinois Conference of the UMC divests holdings in three companies profiting from the Israeli occupation
2012: Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation divests from Caterpillar
2012: Presbyterian Church (USA) votes to boycott Israeli settlement products
2013: Mennonite Central Committee votes to divest from companies that support Israel’ occupation of the West Bank and Gaza

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Growth of a Movement

2014: Presbyterian Church (USA) divests from companies complicit in Israeli occupation
2015: United Church of Christ passes resolution for boycott and divestment
2012-2016: United Methodist Church divests from G4S and five Israeli banks
2016: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to develop a human rights social criteria investment screen in the case of Israel and Palestine
2016: Unitarian Universalists divests from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Motorola Solutions, and Caterpillar Inc.
2016: Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men calls for boycott and divestment
2019: The Episcopal Church divests from three companies involved in human rights abuses against Palestinians
2023: (December) Leaders of the United Church of Christ, United Church of Canada, and the Disciples call on the US and Canadian governments to “recognize [that a] genocide [is] underway [in Gaza] and take immediate steps to end it, preventing further loss of life.”

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Some Recent Statements and Actions I

2024 Nearly 1000 Black pastors publish a full-page ad in The New York Times calling on Pres. Biden to stop Israel’s offensive operations in Gaza.

2024 [February] The African Methodist Episcopal Church calls on the U.S. government to withdraw all support from Israel, charging the U.S. is aiding Israel in "mass genocide."

2024 [July] The United Church of Christ executive leaders call for an end to the genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinians in Gaza.

2024 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) divests from Israel Bonds.

2024 Unitarian Universalist Association calls on congregations to sign sign the Apartheid-Free Pledge and engage in BDS

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Some Recent Statements and Actions II

2024 Episcopal Diocese of New York divests from four companies providing surveillance and weapons technologies used in the Israel’s military occupation of Palestine.

2025 Central Committee of the World Council of Churches calls for implementing sanctions and accountability through international law.

2025 The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Churchwide Assembly passed a historic resolution that officially used the term "genocide" to describe Israel's military actions in Gaza and called for a halt to U.S. military assistance. (The vote passed by a vote of 742 to 38.)

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Some Recent Statements and Actions III

General Synod of the United Church of Christ

passes a resolution calling for an end to genocide in Palestine.

2025 General Assembly/Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) condems Israel’s genocide in Gaza, permanent displacement of Palestinians, and illegal annexation of land.

2025 Wespath, United Methodist Church, managing pensions and health benefits of more than $26 billion, divests from and excludes bonds of governments maintaining prolonged illegal military occupations, including Israel.

2025 Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of over thirty U.S. denominations and Christian organizations, joins over 100 global organizations in calling for an end to Israel’s weaponization of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

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Organizations related to denominations

Mennonite Action United Methodist Kairos Response Disciples Palestine Solidarity Movement The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Pax Christi USA Community for Justice in Palestine, Alliance of Baptists	S u mud: For Justice in Palestine and Israel (ELCA) US Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network Episcopal Peace Fellowship Quaker Israel Palestine Network ABC Palestine Justice Network UCC Movement for Palestinian Solidarity Unitarian Universalist for Justice in the Middle East

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Organizations

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Resources

Kairos Palestine II: A Moment of Truth in a Time of Genocide
Visualizing Palestine: Turning statistics and facts on the ground into visuals
Mondoweiss: an independent online news organization
Institute for Middle East Understanding: assisting journalists, educating the public
Friends of Sabeel North America: books and articles
U.S. Lutheran Palestine Justice Network: Boycott Planning Guide

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Current Campaigns

Apartheid Free Communities

Red Candle: Light for Palestine

Let Children Live

Complicit Corporations: Expose & Divest

Picket & Pray

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Center Palestinian voices in your churches, universities, public schools, etc. Invite Palestinians in your area to present in study groups or speak in your church. Contact organizations like Friends of Sabeel–North America, American Muslims for Palestine, Palestine Christian Alliance for Peace, or your denominational headquarters as they may have a speakers bureau.
Another important item of Legislation is H.R. 3565, the ¨Block the bombs¨Act initiated by Representative Dalia Ramirez (Chicago) which calls for the U.S. to stop supplying certain offensive weapons to Israel.

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Films

In her 2020 film, ‘Til Kingdom Comes, Director Maya Zinshtein shows how The nickels, dimes, and dollars collected in hundreds of churches across America shape the political decisions in the U.S. Congress and the State of Israel.

In his 2021 film, The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation, celebrated Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi uses an innovative approach to expose the increasingly brutal tactics that Israel has used in its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since 1967.

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