SEPTEMBER, 2004: We have great news! The Presbyterian National Assembly has voted 491 to 62 for divestment.

AND Anglicans recommend divestment to pressure Israel.

OCTOBER, 2004: A resolution was passed by the National Lawyers Guild to initiate divestment from Israeli companies.

JANUARY, 2005: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) issued a statement on a direct strategy of divesting from Israel. The statement targeted the occupation itself, rather than simply Israel. ICAHD called on the international community to work as a whole to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law.

January 25, 2005: The Faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville adopted a resolution demanding that the University divest from companies that provide the Israeli Army with weapons, equipment, and supporting systems: Caterpillar, General Dynamics, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, and Raytheon.

FEBRUARY 21, 2005: Ths list of supporters is growing! The World Council of Churches [WCC] gives nod to Israeli divestment proposal.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) on February 21 urged its members to consider economic measures to oppose Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and praised the action of a U.S. denomination [Presbyterian Church (USA)] that has started a process of selective divestment from companies linked to the occupation. Full article

FEBRUARY 22, 2005: The University of Michigan - Dearborn Student Government passed a resolution calling for immediate divestment from Israel. This was the first time any U-M student group has passed such a resolution, and one of the first nationwide.

FEBRUARY 27, 2005: New Profile, another voice from "the other Israel", endorses divestment.

APRIL 1, 2005: Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian peace advocacy organization , calls for economic sanctions against Israel similar to those imposed against South Africa during the apartheid regime, saying that the churches' other options for ending Israel's occupation have been 'exhausted'. Sabeel had earlier relesased a report, A Nonviolent Response to the Occupation: A Call for Morally Responsible Investment"[PDF] that addresses the legal, moral, and theological foundations for divestment and recommends the model of selective divestment advocated by the Presbyterian Church USA and the World Council of Churches, as well as actions by the Episcopal Church (USA) Social Responsibility in Investments Committee to investigate possible corporate actions.

JUNE 5, 2005: The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts calls for divestment and boycott of Israel.

"The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts calls for the end of all American military and economic aid to Israel. Additionally, the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts supports the following means to bring pressure to bear on Israel: Divestment initiatives that seek to withdraw institutional investments from Israel state bonds and corporations that do business with Israel; academic boycotts of Israeli academics and academic institutions." Full statement [PDF]

JUNE 11, 2005: The New England Methodists Pass Divestment Resolution.

The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 11 passed a resolution calling for voluntary selective divestment from companies that profit in a significant way from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, an unmistakable message to the Israeli government that people around the world are waking up to the realities of the occupation and will not stand by while Palestinians have their land, water and basic human rights taken from them. Text of the resolution

JUNE 25, 2005: The top committee of the 75 million-member Anglican Communion, the Anglican Consultative Council, in an unanimous vote, approves resolution urging divestment.

JULY 5, 2005: Kenyan Anglican Church backs Israel divestment call AND the 25th General Synod of the United Church of Christ approved overwhelmingly the use of multiple nonviolent strategies, including economic leverage, to promote peace in the Middle East. The UCC also called for the dismantling of the Apartheid Wall. [Disciples of Christ also called for dismantling of the Wall and payment of reparations on July 28, 2005.]

JULY 9, 2005: Palestinian civil society - Palestinian refugees, Palestinians under occupation and Palestinian citizens of Israel - calls upon people of conscience throughout the world for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of human Rights. Palestinian Call To the World [PDF]

JULY 13, 2005: Civil society organizations committed to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories and to achieving the PalestiniansÕ still unrealized rights, including the right of self-determination, today identified the coming year to inaugurate a global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end the occupation and comply with international law and all relevant United Nations resolutions, as the United Nations International Conference in Support of Middle East Peace concluded this evening in Paris.Ê

AUGUST 5, 2005: Presbyterian Church announces list of companies targeted for potential divestment. The companies named as profitting from Israel's occupation are: Caterpillar, ITT Industries, Motorola and United Technologies for supplying the Israeli military. The New York Times reported that based on the number of shares the Presbyterian Church owns in the four companies, their investment comes to about $60 million.

AUGUST 6, 2005: Veterans for Peace vote for divestment at their annual conference. VFP "calls for boycott, divestment, and other actions against economic activities that support IsraelÕs continued occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands and the denial of fundamental human rights to Palestinians both in Israel and in the occupied territories". Text of the resolution

AUGUST 8, 2005:Jewish Voice for Peace applauds Presbyterian Church's announcement of companies targeted for perpetuating occupation. Group also applauds stance taken by United Church of Christ. JVP press release

AUGUST 13, 2005: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA] launches "Peace Not Wall" campaign and denounces the apartheid barrier Israel is building along the West Bank, saying that Israeli policy throughout the territories has brought "extreme hardship" to Palestinians. The resolution which was overwhelmingly approved by the assembly urges ELCA to move toward stewarding financial resources - both U.S. tax dollars and private funds - in ways that support the quest for a just peace in the Holy Land."

SEPTEMBER 2005: "23 out of 38 Episcopal Church provinces met in Jerusalem for ten days. Their position is for morally-responsible investments and they commend corporate investments that support the infrastructure of a Palestinian state. Moreover, they support dialogues with corporations connected to the occupation. Before the EC declares an official response, a 12-page investigative report about the conflict was given to the ECUSA's National Concerns Committee recently. The full council will decide whether or not they will accept the recommendations.

September, 2005 Federation of the European Jews for a Just Peace (a coalition of 18 Jewish groups from nine European countries) and many of its affiliated groups launch a campaign for divestment and boycott of Israel.

OCTOBER 7, 2005: University of Michigan Faculty announces the beginning of the formal divestment process with the formation of an investigative committee.

November 2005: Members of the Roman Catholic/ Pax Christi Diplomatic Church and Peace Church wrote a divestment resolution for introduction in the meeting's agenda.

November 28: The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) publicly calls for divestment from and boycott of the State of Israel until such time as the full individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people are realized. The party calls on all civil society institutions and organizations and on governments around the world to implement a comprehensive divestment and boycott program.

November 28, 2005 - City council of Arbizu (Basque country) voted to boycott Apartheid Israel. The boycott consists of a consumer boycott of Israeli products as well as a boycott of all the firms, Basque or not, which make business with Israel, and non-cooperation with Israeli initiatives on the field of culture, education and sports. more

November 29: Connecticut United For Peace at its Annual Conference voted to divest from Caterpillar and to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel. [PDF HTML]

December 15, 2005 - The first Norwegian governmental body to boycott South African Apartheid, the Provincial Parliament of Sor-Trondelag (which includes Trondheim, Norway's third largest city and comprises almost 20 percent of Norway's population) voted by a majority to boycott Israeli goods. more

Feb 7, 2006 - The Church of England's general synod - including the Archbishop of Canterbury - voted last night to disinvest church funds from companies profiting from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. The main target of the plan will be the US earth-moving equipment company Caterpillar which has supplied vehicles used by Israel to demolish Palestinian homes... The Rt Rev John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford, who is chairman of Christian Aid, told the meeting that the problem in the Middle East was the government of Israelrather than Caterpillar but that it was vital that the church should invest only in organisations which behaved ethically... more

Feb 10, 2006 - Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, a group including some of Britain's most prominent architects is calling for an economic boycott of Israel's construction industry to protest the building of Israeli settlements and the separation barrier in the Occupied Territories. more

Feb 18, 2006 - Campaign for pro-Palestinian divestment seeks more momentum at the World Council of Churches assembly of mainline Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox churches that together represent more than 500 million followers and billions of dollars in stock holdings. more

May 29, 2006 - The Canadian Union of Public Employees - in Ontario votes in support of boycott, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel... more

May 30, 2006 - The largest university and college lecturers' union in Britain, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, voted to boycott Israeli academics and institutions who do not publicly dissociate themselves from Israel's "apartheid policies". Union members also will not submit articles to Israeli research journals... more

June 8, 2006 - The Congress of South African Trade Unions , representing 1.2 million workers in the African country, published a letter expressing enthusiastic support for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) boycott of Israel. more

July 3, 2006 People of Ann Arbor demand divestment from the Apartheid State of Israel at the City Council, Monday night, July 3, 2006. At the Council meeting, as one participant reported "many of us spoke, and all of us chanted "Free Free Palestine" inside the meeting... We will return to Ann Arbor City Council on Monday, July 17, at 7 PM, to keep peacefully demanding divestment from Apartheid Israel."

The photo shows the pro-divestment advocates outside the Ann Arbor City Hall, right after the City Council meeting.

August 3, 2006 Palestinian Filmmakers, Artists and Cultural Workers call for cultural boycott of Israel In the face of the ever escalating crimes of the occupation.

August 10, 2006 United Church of Canada will consider a resolution in favor of "ethical investment" during its August convention. It call for divestment from Israeli entities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and from companies that profit from the occupation, and will financially encourage Palestinian small businesses. Appeal for support (.doc)

August 22, 2006 Locarno Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival ban Israel.

August 3, 2006 Palestinian Filmmakers, Artists and Cultural Workers call for cultural boycott of Israel In the face of the ever escalating crimes of the occupation.

August 10, 2006 United Church of Canada will consider a resolution in favor of "ethical investment" during its August convention. It call for divestment from Israeli entities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and from companies that profit from the occupation, and will financially encourage Palestinian small businesses. Appeal for support (.doc)

August 22, 2006 Locarno Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival ban Israel.

August 24, 2006 Filmmaker Ken Loach joins the cultural boycott of Israel.

August 29, 2006 Irish Tramline Veolia/Connex has called off plans to train Israeli personnel to operate a tramline in East Jerusalem following pressure from Irish trade union representatives inspired by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

September 4, 2006 Great news! United Church of Canada passes divestment resolution. More on Israel lobby pressure and how motion was passed

September 5, 2006 Palestinian architects and engineeers request that the Venice Biennale's 10th International Architectural Exhibition cancel the country exhibition of Israel [as part of the cultural and academic boycott of Israel].

September 16, 2006 Israel shunned by attendees at the Venice Biennale's 10th International Architectural Exhibition. Despite a request from Palestinian architects, Israel participates. But as a MOMA/Architectural Foundation blogger reports "You could see the relative successes of the publicity games over the opening weekend in the bags on people's shoulders.... And even after all the other shoulder bags had been handed out, Israel couldn't have given them away." "I wasn't anxious for an Israeli bag, even before I had seen the content of their pavilion..."

September 23, 2006 Irish academics call on EU to stop funding Israeli academic institutions until Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories.

September 27, 2006 Israeli companies shunned due to Israel's war crimes and apartheid policies.

December 3, 2006 Dutch bank divests holdings in J'lem light rail, cites settlements. [alt. link]

December 16, 2006 Over 85 British artists, writers, film-makers and other culture workers call for a cultural boycott of Israel in support of the boycott call of their Palestinian colleagues.