Professor Chebat is associated with the McGill SPME chapter

Dear Spiritual Leaders of the United Church of Christ, I understand that the United Church of Christ will soon be presented three Resolutions (3, 15, and 16) aiming at divesting church funds from companies doing business with Israel.

For the sake of the United Church of Christ credibility, I strongly urge the rejection of these resolutions. I strongly agree with the principle that The United Church uses its financial power in a way which expresses its values.

However, if the United Church wants to express that occupation is not appropriate, it could refuse to do any business: 1-with China, which occupies Tibet since at least 60 years, without having been attacked by Tibet, or 2-with India, which has been occupying Cahsmere since 1947, or 3-with Russia, which has been occupying Japanese islands since 1945, once WWII was over.

If the United Church wants to express that it refuses to do any business with dictatorial regimes, I propose it severes its financial links with: 1-Egypt and Tunisia, where the respective presidents seek for additional terms in spite of the Constitution 2-Iran, where elections are a plain farce 3-Saudi Arabia, where there is not even an appearance of democracy

If the United Church wants to express its defence of Human Rights, I suggest it divests its funds 1-from Algeria, where the Berbers have been denied any expression of their mother tongue, where 200,000 civilians have been killed by both the islamist insurgents and the national army, 2-from Sudan or all oil companies doing business there, for the way millions of Christian and animist Black minorities have been displaced and crushed by the islamist authorities simply because they are not Muslims, 3-from Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia (and so on) where female citizens are treated as second class citizens, denied elementary justice and slaughtered like sheep in the name of honor of the family.

I agree with the strategy. I remain deeply convinced that the target is wrong. In the name of justice, use the divestment strategy in a way that expresses a fair relation between the fault and the punishment. If spiritual leaders do not do it, who will do?

Yours respectfully,

Jean-Charles Chebat, Ph.D., FRSC, FAPA, FSMA Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec Past President of the Academy I of the Royal Society of Canada. Montréal (Qc). CANADA H2T 3A7 tel: 1-514-340-6846 fax: 1-514-340-6432 email: jean-charles.chebat@hec.ca

http://www.hec.ca/chaireomerdeserres/ http://www.hec.ca/chaireomerdeserres/en/