C OF E BACKS FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT

The Church of England has voted to pull investments in its $8 billion fund from irms not on track to meet the provisions of the Paris Agreement on climate change by 2023.

Members of the General Synod voted for a motion that affirmed the national investing bodies’(NIB) current approach to tackling climate change, which combines scrutinising companies’ business plans through the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) shareholder engagement (including leveraging the threat of disinvestment), and increased investment in renewable energy.

However, the Synod voted against a proposal to bring forward the deadline from 2023 to 2020.

The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly rejected a similar move in May. (WCC)

WCC CONDEMNS VILLAGE DEMOLITION

As reports unfolded on July 12 of Israel announcing the demolition of a Bedouin village within days despite a temporary injunction, World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned the plans for demolition, saying it violates human rights, particularly those of vulnerable children, who live in Khan al-Ahmar.

“Demolishing the homes and especially the school in Khan al-Ahmar is an inhumane decision violating the human rights of people already living in extremely difficult conditions because of decades of injustice”, said Tveit. “The WCC joins many in the international community who are condemning the threat to demolish this village, and calls for an immediate stop to any demolition already underway.”

Around 180 Bedouin are thought to live in wooden and tin houses in Khan al-Ahmar, tending to sheep and goats, while 170 children in the surrounding area use its school.

The situation must be resolved not only within the bounds of international law but also on a foundation of justice and peace for the people who live in the village, said Tveit.

“Bulldozing homes and destroying a school cannot be defended legally or morally as an expression of self-defence of a state”, said Tveit. “This must be seen as an unacceptable act of cruelty against people that Israel has a duty to respect and protect.” (WCC)

ATTACK ON EGYPT COPTS

An attack by a mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday July 9 has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets.

A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense in the village of Menbal, 225km south of Cairo, which was also home to Gaber Mounir Adly, one of the 21 men beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015.

Monday’s attack took place after Muslim villagers in Menbal accused a Coptic Christian, Abdo Adel, of publishing a post on his Facebook page that insulted Islam, said the source.

The Muslim villagers filed a complaint with police in the nearby city of Matay and Adel was arrested the following day on charges of insulting Muhammad and contempt of Islam. He has been told he will be remanded in custody for 15 days, pending further investigation.

Three days later, on Monday evening, the police were called in at 11.30pm because a mob was attacking Copts and their properties in the village.

Windows were smashed and some of the Copts sustained minor injuries.

Police have now arrested 90 Muslim villagers on charges of mobbing, attacking Coptic houses and the police, and inciting sectarian strife. (World Watch Monitor)

NIGERIAN PRESIDENT PEACE PLEDGE

The Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to end the killings in the restive regions of the Middle Belt, amidst growing pressure to deal with the situation.

A spate of attacks over three days – from June 22-24 – left more than 200 dead in 11 villages, in three local government areas of Plateau state. That violence was the latest episode in a series of attacks targeting predominantly Christian communities in the Middle Belt.

On July 5, as he met with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), from 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, President Buhari described the recent killings as ‘wicked’, ‘condemnable’ and ‘completely unacceptable’.

Two days earlier, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) had called on Buhari to resign.

In a statement signed by Msgr Augustine Akubeze, the president of CBCN, the bishops said: “If the president cannot keep our country safe, then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens. He should no longer continue to preside over the killing fields and mass graves that our country has become”, they said. (World Watch Monitor)

For more news follow us at www.lifeandwork.org