Testimony for Hearing on Ohio H.B. 476

Testimony for Hearing on Ohio H.B. 476

December 7, 2016

Connie Hammond

Columbus, Ohio

To: Senator Bill Coley, Government Accountability and Reform Committee

Chairman Coley, Vice Chair Seitz, Ranking Member Yuko: I appreciate being able to talk today about the position of the United Methodist Church on Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions and my own personal concerns with regard to amended HB 476.

I am a member of the United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)and Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church, Jewish Voice for Peace and several other associations of concerned citizens whose purpose is to promote peace.

The United Methodist Church is deeply rooted in social justice and has a long history of supporting boycotts and divestment to oppose violations of human rights – a strategy we assume in light of our Social Principles and the United Methodist Book of Discipline. The United Methodist Church has supported boycotts on behalf of farm workers and against apartheid South Africa.

In October 2010, United Methodist clergy and laity from around the United Statescame together to create a grass roots organization to respond to a plea for help from Christian church leaders in Israel/Palestine called the Kairos Palestine document. The Kairos document was a letter to the international community from Palestinian Christians that described their realityliving under a harsh military occupation. They requested us to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement called for by Palestinian civil society.

The Kairos Palestine document states, “The aim is to free both peoples from extremist positions of the different Israeli governments, bringing both to justice and reconciliation.” They further state that “through our love, we will overcome injustices and establish foundations for a new society both for us and for our opponents.” The signers consistently call for nonviolent means of effecting change.

This document inspired the United Methodists for Kairos Response, and is also my inspiration.

The United Methodist General Conference, the global policy making body for the entire church, decided in 2012 to call on all nations to ban products made in illegal settlements beyond Israel’s internationally recognized borders. (Resolution # 6111– Opposition to Israeli Settlements) In November 2014, UMKR launched a church-wide boycott of six consumer products produced in Israeli settlements.

While UMKR does not call for boycotts of products made in Israel, HB 476 states that the bill pertains to boycott of products or divestment of funds from the “government of Israel or with a company operating in Israel “or in territory controlled by Israel” as an expression of protest against the policies of the government of Israel.” This language is an attempt to legitimize the illegal Israeli settlements and commercial enterprises built on occupied Palestinian land in conflict with international law and long-standing official U.S. foreign policy. Any member of our church who complies with the social principles of our church would be punished under HB 476 by denial of the ability to contract with any state agency or department.

In June of 2014 the United Methodist General Board of Pensions decided to exclude the private prison company G4S from its portfolio. Divestment from the private security firm, G4S, was also supported by the United Church of Christ and Friends of Sabeel North America. Just this week it was announced that the security company G4S has sold most its Israeli business amid widespread condemnation for its complicity in Palestinian human rights abuses, including illegal detention and torture of Palestinian children.

In 2015 the United Methodist General Board of Pensions made a principled decision to exclude investments in 39 companies involved with human rights violations, including 5 Israeli banks and an Israeli construction company.

These measures were adopted after careful study and deliberation, in addition to consultation with United Methodist mission personnel working in the occupied territories with United Methodist supported projects. (Please see their statement issued January 14, 2016, below).

The UMKR is deeply concerned about the wave of local, state and national anti-BDS legislation like HB 476 introduced in the United States over the last two years. These legislative efforts threaten to limit our first amendment rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. They also contradict the United Methodist Church’s longstanding policies of supporting nonviolent economic advocacy as a means for supporting human rights and dignity of all people.

Speaking for myself, I have been deeply concerned aboutthe ongoing and institutionalized human rights abuses and violations of international law for decades. I finally had the opportunity in 2013 to travel to Israel/Palestine and witness these problems. I attended a conference at the Sabeel International Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem and was able to tour some areas in Israel and Palestine.

When we hear about settlement expansion, it may seem pretty innocuous, despite the fact that Israel’s settlement expansion has been opposed by every U.S. administration for over 50 years. I saw what settlement expansion means to people living in the West Bank, namely, loss and contamination of agricultural land, loss of mineral rights, and the demolition of homes and other structures.

We visited the farming villages in area C of Palestine that are, like many Palestinian villages currently targeted with illegal eviction orders. Area C is 61% of the land in the West Bank and is under complete Israeli civil and military control since the Oslo Accords. The 1993 Oslo Peace Accords stipulated that Area C be gradually transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) by 1998. This transfer has never taken place.

The World Bank considers area C to be absolutely necessary to the development of a viable economy in the West Bank. The government of Israel approves less than 1.5% of the building permits in the West Banks. (1) In Anata, we met a man whose home was demonlished 6 times by the Israeli government. Each time, they rebuilt, but he told us that reconstructing the family is even harder than rebuilding the house.

Viewing the separation wall from rooftops in Anata offers stunning realization of the damage done by separating people from their land and water resources. (3)

We visited the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. It is severely overcrowded, as the population has grown, but the area of the camp has not and there are chronic water shortages, another violation of human rights.

We spent a day with Arab Bedouins in the Negev who were being forcibly relocated from their traditional lands into small towns where they would have no employment or means of support.

At the same time, the energy, vitality and graciousness of the people continually amazed me and demonstrated that if given a chance, the people of Palestine would make this land a paradise.

Members of the U.S. Congress have also expressed concern about human rights violations that are occurring because of the illegal occupation. On February 17, 2016, 11 members of congress, including Senator Patrick Leahy, sent a letter to the Department of State asking for an investigation of several specific violations of human rights and asking for a determination of whether these would trigger the Leahy Law and, if so, to take appropriate action to suspend U.S. Military Aid to Israel. In June, 2015, Representative Betty McCollum and 18 Members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary Kerry concerning the 2013 the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) “Children in Israeli Military Detention: Observations and Recommendations” that they found extremely disturbing. (4)

Another concern is the disturbing report by Amnesty International on the intimidation and attacks by the Israeli government on human rights defenders in Israel. Israeli authorities have passed a number of laws that restrict the space for opposition to Israeli government policies and actions. Among other things, they have made it a “civil wrong” for any Israeli citizen or institution to call for a boycott of Israeli institutions or companies in response to Israel’s occupation or illegal settlements. Passing HB 476 would put us on the path to similar restriction of free speech in Ohio. (5)

With respect to the amendment, I would like you to consider that former Ohio Treasurer, Representative Kevin Boyce voiced his concern prior to house vote on 476. He statedconcerns were basically the instabilityof the region and that the investments in bonds are long-term, non-liquid investment. This could potentially tie up $260,000,000 in Ohio tax money that is could be needed here. I am sure that this money could be well-invested in Ohio cities and companies doing business in Ohio and that such investment would create jobs and stimulate our local economy.

Shamefully, Ohio currently ranks 48th in the nation in infant mortality. This is not because of lack of infrastructure, but rather due to social determinants of heath created by poverty.(Personal communication, Dan Skinner, Ph.D.) Certainly investment in Ohio could reduce some of the inequality that currently contributes so heavily to this.

There does not seem to be any other nonviolent way that the government of Israel can be held accountable for the illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, discrimination against Palestinian citizens inside of Israel, and the expansion of illegal settlements, and the virtual siege of Gaza, and the continued denial of the right of return of refugees. These actions are both unethical and unsustainable. I believe that BDS is a moral and effective tactic for encouraging Israel to create policies that will allow all the people of the land to live with dignity, security and peace.

I believe that the movement for nonviolent economic boycott can be catalyst for social change that would benefit both the citizens of Israel, the people of Palestine and the international community by encouraging the state of Israel to adopt policies that would allow all the people of the land to live with dignity, security and peace.

Please vote no on this bill.

Are there any questions?

Thank you.

(1) accessed 12-5-16. According to statistics published in September 2015 byB'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Israel has partially or completely demolished a total of 1,049 houses between 1999 and 2004 in the West Bank, and 927 houses between 2006 and August 2015. In East Jerusalem, 988 houses built without permits were destroyed between 1999 and 2014, as per B’Tselem statistics published on Sept. 17, 2015. This came amid talks about over30,000 housesin Jerusalem without permits, which means Israel only granted permits for a few houses, but there are no statistics in this regard.

2) Children in Israeli Military Detention. Observations and Recommendations. Unicef, February, 2013.

3) Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The separation wall makes another 9.4% of the land inaccessible. The wall was found to be in violation of international law by the International Court of Justice and has been condemned by the U.N. Security Council.

4) This report estimated that seven thousand Palestinian children, ages 12 to 17, from the Occupied West Bankwere subjected to arrest, detention, interrogation, and/or imprisonment by Israeli army, police, and security agents during the last decade. UNICEF initiated their report in

response to concerns regarding the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment of Palestinian children that they say appears to widespread, systemic, and institutionalized throughout the process and made 38 recommendations for actions that should be taken by authorities in Israel.

5) Israeli Government Must Cease Intimidation of Human Rights Defenders, Protect Them from Attack. Amnesty International, April 12, 2016.

A statement from all the living United Methodist missionaries who've served in the Holy Land - Jan. 14, 2016

Aspast and present United Methodist missionaries in the Holy Land, we affirm non-violent means of addressing the many injustices we’ve seen during our years of service. While there aretransgressionson all sides, we believe that the illegal occupation of Palestinian land is the root cause and source of the conflict. We are therefore encouraged by the recent action of United Methodist fund managers to disassociate from certain Israeli banks and hope they will continue this trend by removing from our portfolios companies and institutions that profit from the occupation. Such decisions will ultimately contribute toward the end of hostilities and reverse the cycle of violence in Israel/Palestine.
Yours in Christian Service,
Rev. Alex and Brenda Awad, Rev. Kristen Brown, Rev. Bob and Peggy Hannum, Janet Lahr Lewis, Bob May, Rev. Peter Miano, Rev. Sandy Olewine, Rev. Romeo Del Rosario, and Tina Whitehead