Clinton Reaffirms Opposition to BDS

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has restated her opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), as her church, the United Methodist, convenes a conference which will consider, among other issues, proposals to expand its participation in the boycott.

In a two-page reply to a letter from the Israel Action Network, an affiliate of the Jewish Federations of North America, Clinton wrote that “I believe that BDS seeks to punish Israel and dictate how the Israelis and Palestinians should resolve the core issues of their conflict.

“I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority, and that we need to work together — across party lines and with a diverse array of voices — to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel,” Clinton said, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The quadrennial United Methodist Church General Conference starts Tuesday in Portland, Oregon. They are slated to consider four resolutions calling for divestment from three companies that pro-Palestinians have accused of working with Israeli security forces in Yehudah and Shomron: Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola.

In January, the Methodists’ pension fund removed five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio, saying the investments contravened its policy against investing in “high risk countries” and its commitment to human rights.

Clinton did not name the church in her reply.

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