THE Anglican Church will tomorrow discuss whether to support a report that recommends it disinvest in companies that “support the occupation” of Palestinian lands.
The report, which is by the Anglican Justice and Peace Network and has been criticised by Jewish groups and senior clerics, is to be debated by the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham. Some of its authors are said to want the Church to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Chief Rabbi’s office and the Board of Deputies of British Jews have met senior Anglican figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
The report calls for moral pressure by the Church on companies said to be supporting controversial Israeli policies. As a last resort, the authors believe, the Church should disinvest its holdings in companies that prove unresponsive. If the report is upheld, the 38 provinces of the worldwide Church will be asked to implement it but they will not be compelled to do so.