Boycott and Divest Products Supporting Occupation

Monadonock Quaker Meeting
Jaffrey, New Hamphsire, adopted May 2015

Endorsed and approved by Northwest Quarterly Meeting, June 2015,
for forwarding to New England Yearly Meeting

2015-039: Minute Supporting Boycott and Divestment of Products Supporting Continued Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territory:

Monadnock Quaker Meeting calls for Friends to join the non-violent action of boycotting products made in Israel’s illegal settlements and to divest from companies that support and benefit from Israel’s military occupation and repression of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. As Quakers we endeavor to listen deeply to all sides in any situation of conflict in the belief that all sides deserve a respectful hearing, and that no lasting solution to conflict can come unless the just claims of all sides are in some measure satisfied. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which so sorely torments the international community generally and the peoples of the Middle East in particular, Israel’s claim for security is fully heard and supported by our government. The claims of the Palestinians, on the other hand, are not widely recognized or discussed in this country. We support the rights of Jews, Palestinians, and indeed all people to live in peace and security.

The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory beyond the 1949 Armistice line (the Green Line) is illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory. Article 49 of that Convention specifically prohibits an occupying power from transferring members of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Thus the steady acquisition of Palestinian land for Israeli settlement development is illegal and is eroding the Palestinians’ right to a viable homeland. We support the non-violent actions of Israelis and Palestinians to bring about an end to this occupation.

We join with the AFSC, Britain Yearly Meeting, various other Monthly and Yearly Meetings, and religious and civil society organizations in the U.S. and throughout the world in taking such steps in working for peace. In the tradition of the Friends’ statement “that Friend speaks my mind,” we acknowledge that some of the text in this minute is adopted and/or adapted from Minutes of other Meetings.

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