A Presbyterian Leader, in Syria, Criticizes Israeli Occupation
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DAMASCUS, Syria — On a visit to Syria’s capital, the head of a U.S. Presbyterian Church delegation called on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories and said Monday that his church may withhold investments to pressure Israel.
“The occupation by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza [Strip] must end because it is oppressive and destructive for the Palestinian people,” the Rev. Nile Harper said in an interview.
Harper, of Ann Arbor, Mich., warned that the General Assembly of his church, which holds investments in U.S. firms worth $8 billion, had instructed its investment agency to study the possibility of withdrawing its money from U.S. corporations whose products “are being destructively used against the Palestinians” by Israel.
The 24-member delegation traveled to Lebanon on Sunday and met with a commander of Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group but Lebanese officials view as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation of Arab lands.
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