ICEJ TO LAUNCH GLOBAL CAMPAIGN ON THURSDAY: PROGRAM FOR CHRISTIAN INVESTMENTS IN ISRAEL; AGAINST CHURCH DIVESTMENT

In response to the mainline Churches organized call to withdraw investments from large corporations with business ties to Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) will launch a Christian investment in Israel campaign at a press conference on Thursday. The ICEJ will reject the divestment approach and map out its plan to strengthen Israel economically.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20th, 10:00 am sharp. Int'l Convention Center-ICC Atrium Hall
(Binyanei Ha'uma, side entrance closest to the Crowne Plaza Hotel). Since the outbreak of Palestinian violence in September 2000, organized campaigns have promoted the "divestment" of corporations, universities, private donations and church investment portfolios from certain companies that do business with Israel, as a punitive measure against Israeli policies in the territories. The Presbyterian Church alone has a $7.5 billion investment portfolio with over 2.5 million shareholders. In August 2004, the Church's investment committee publicized a list of four international corporations which, according to the statement, support "the Israeli occupation" and threatened to sell the shares it holds in those companies valued at $60 million. Divestment is a growing concern of the ICEJ as well as Israel officials concerned for Israel's economic well-being. The ICEJ is working to reverse these divestment efforts and will announce active measures to counter the situation at the press conference. The press conference panel will include: Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ Executive Director, Dale Neill, President, International Christian Chamber of Commerce, Uriel Lynn, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 as a global Christian initiative to comfort the state and people of Israel as mandated by Scripture.