The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) decided last week to boycott the products of two Israeli companies after having narrowly defeated a larger-scale boycott of three international companies whose products "benefit the Israeli occupation." According to the Presbyterian Church, the two companies beauty product manufacturer Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, and date growers Hadiklaim Central Agricultural Cooperative Society Ltd. sell products manufactured in settlements situated on "Palestinian land." The assembly voted in favor of boycotting these companies by a majority of 475 to 180. At the Presbyterian Church's (U.S.A.) biennial General Assembly, held in Pittsburgh, voters struck down a proposal to divest from three companies: Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard, by a razor thin majority of 333 to 331. Divestment advocates said the targeted companies "profit from the occupation" by providing bulldozers, surveillance technology and other products to the Israeli military. A subsequent vote instead affirmed a policy of investment in support of peace in Israel and the Palestinian territories. That proposal passed by a much wider margin, 369-290 with eight abstentions. In another debate, the assembly voted 463-175 against labeling Israeli policy toward the Palestinians "apartheid," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Opponents of the motion argued that while the policies were wrong, they did not fit the United Nations race-based definition of apartheid.
