The Presbytery of San Francisco has affirmed a controversial resolution by the 216th General Assembly, which called on the Presbyterian Church (USA) to begin phased, selective divestment of its holdings in corporations doing business with Israel.

But the San Francisco overture also includes a new twist.

Instead of zeroing in on Israel, the presbytery's overture would direct the denomination's Committee on Mission Responsibility through Investments (MRTI) to "recommend opportunities for investment in joint Palestinian-Israeli ventures, including those provided by organizations such as Oikocredit, which benefit both peoples."

Oikocredit – oiko is from the Greek word that forms part of the term ecumenical, meaning worldwide community – is a World Council of Churches bank established to provide loans for poor people around the globe. Whether Israelis, even in partnership with Palestinians, would qualify for Oikocredit assistance is unknown...

... The PCUSA has a large investment in Caterpillar. When the 2004 General Assembly approved the divestment resolution, the denomination owned 37,100 shares of Caterpillar stock valued at $2,893,058. The stock split recently, and those same holding were valued at $5,058,214 as of today – a gain of $2,165,156.

That 74.8 percent gain in value is one of the reasons that managers of the Presbyterian Foundation and the Presbyterian Health and Pension Board, the owners of the Caterpillar stock, have warned the denomination against making fiduciary decisions on the basis of political or social leanings.

If all of the PCUSA's funds in Catepillar had been invested in Oikocredit in June 2004, the return would been ranged from 1 percent to 2 percent annually. At 1 percent, the return would have been approximately $44,710 through January 2006; at 2 percent, the return would have been about $89,420. The two Presbyterian investment bodies would have lost between $2.07 million and $2.12 million in a Caterpillar-for-Oikocredit swap...