|PIC1|Representatives at the annual Methodist Church Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, have voted in favour of drawing up new guidelines for ethical investment.

The guidelines will cover engagement with corporations or activities that support illegal Israeli activity in the West Bank or Gaza Strip companies.

Companies that are involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory may in the more serious cases lead to the decision by the Methodist Church to disinvest.

The vote took place at a key debate on ethical investment Monday morning of the Conference. Representatives further urged the Israeli government to halt any further settlement or construction in the West Bank and to immediately demolish the security barrier.

Rev Prof Peter Stephens of the London South-west District said that Israelis are “daily assaulted”.

“That doesn’t justify the things Israel does but it provides the context in which we can understand why Israel does what it does,” he said.

|TOP|One representative at the Conference warned however that, “The situation in Palestine is now so dire”, adding that Israel’s claims stemmed more from “territorial claims than from genuine concerns for security”.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to this suffering,” he said. “I believe we should not invest in companies that involve themselves in activities that defy UN resolutions.”

Conference also voted in favour of a call to Hamas and other Palestinian groups to recognise the State of Israel and to seek peaceful means to bring the occupation to an end.

The Church’s investment in this area will now be shaped and guided by new criteria to be drawn up by the Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment (JACEI).

|AD|The issue of investment in Nestle also arose at the Conference, although CFB has not taken any shares in the company that became the centre of controversy over its baby milk products.

A policy statement by the JACEI on Nestle said there were no compelling reasons to advise the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church (CFB) not to consider investing in the company, a position that concerned a number of representatives at the Conference, including Methodist Youth, present at the morning’s debate.

Rosalind Jones said that people in her local Sheffield District were “incredibly angry about the decision over Nestle or even talking about investment with Nestle”.

“People feel sold out by the Church and this phrase has been used too many times in this issue,” she said.

The CFB reported a year of good growth to the Conference but maintained a cautious approach to future growth in light of current market conditions.