A petition is coming before the United Methodist Church’s General Conference at its gathering in Fort Worth next month asking the church to divest of its holdings (investments in the United Methodist pension fund) in Caterpillar because Caterpillar supplies bulldozers used by Israel to destroy the homes of Palestinians suspected of, or arrested for, acts of terrorism against Israel and which are also used in the construction of the wall surrounding portions of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  (To read about this petition  click here and to read more about the construction of the wall see this  Wikipedia article.)  First, a reminder that the United Methodist Church is a big tent with people on both the left and the right of any issue.  Second, the church looks for concrete ways to pursue justice, rather than simply talking about it.  In the case of this call to divestment it is felt by proponents that this will put pressure on Israel to find alternative ways of working for peace with justice - ways that do not involve bulldozing down homes and building walls.  Though I also believe that there must be a better way of bringing about peace than building walls and bulldozing homes, I do not support this call for divestment.  I believe United Methodists have a role to play as peacemakers.  I’m not convinced that divestment will accomplish this.  It does not recognize the events that precipitated the building of the wall.  I also believe it will only serve to alienate rather than influence Israel.  It might give a small show of support for Palestinians but it does little to bring about real change.   In my previous post I described an effort we’re undertaking to bring about understanding and dialogue between Muslims, Jews and Christians.   In the end I think this is what must happen not only in America, but in Israel as well.  Several groups are fostering such dialogue, building relationships between Israelis and Palestinians, and encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to search for a new way forward.  This week there was a fascinating story on Fresh Air on NPR about a group called  Combatants for Peace.  It was founded by a former fighter with Hamas and a former member of an elite unit of the Israeli military.  Both have come together to try to eschew military solutions and to build relationships to work for peace (to listen to the story  click here).  Another group is the  Arava Institute which brings together Israelis, Palestinians and North Americans to study the environment and ecology in Israel and Palestine, and in the process participants develop friendships that are transformational.  The supper I had last night with the Rabbi and the Palestinian was possible because both of them met at Arava.  The young Palestinian told me that he had never met a Jew, though he spent his entire life in Gaza, until he went to study the environment at Arava.  Until that time he only knew hatred for the Jews.  But spending time with Palestinians and Jews studying together and working together changed him.  He came to see Jews as people, he came to understand their concerns.  This did not change his desire to see justice and peace for his people.  But it changed how he would seek to approach attaining justice and peace.  Likewise Jews participating in the program have their views of Palestinians transformed by hearing their stories and building friendships with them.  I don’t think this kind of transformation will be fostered by the United Methodist Church’s divestment of $5 million worth of Caterpillar stock - in fact, I think our ability to foster this kind of understanding will be diminished by this action.