Pittsburgh Presbyterian churches advance BDS policy

Pittsburgh Presbyterian churches have approved motions demanding the United States enact a “full trade embargo on Israel.”

The overture, approved at a Feb. 12 Pittsburgh Presbytery meeting, now goes to a vote at the church’s General Assembly meeting this summer.

Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill and Valley View Presbyterian Church in Garfield introduced the overture titled “Recognition that Israel has Violated the International Law Prohibiting Genocide.”

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

Comprised of two motions, the overture seeks to:

“1. Direct the PC(USA) Stated Clerk and Office of Public Witness to demand the US Congress and the President to enact a full trade embargo on Israel until the United Nations determines the following conditions are met: (a) the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory has ended, (b) Israel’s apartheid policies are abolished, (c) Israel’s illegal separation barrier is demolished, and (d) Palestinian refugees are granted the right to return to their homeland.

2. Encourage Presbyteries, congregations, and individual clergy and laypeople to call upon their Congressmembers and President to impose a full trade embargo on Israel until the United Nations determines the conditions listed above are met.”

According to The Pittsburgh Presbytery general minister, the Rev. Jessica McClure Archer, the two motions will be presented to the General Assembly by the Presbytery of the Redwoods, in Northern California, and the Presbytery of San Francisco. Pittsburgh’s presbytery will “concur” with those two presbyteries, meaning it will sign on to but won’t present the overture.

The rationale for the overture, as presented to The Pittsburgh Presbytery, is the PCUSA’s commitment “to non-violent solutions to internal conflicts, including that between Israel and Palestine.”

Non-violent solutions, the rationale argues, are “more pressing than ever in Israel/Palestine in the wake of the deadly attacks by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis” and “Israel’s response” which “has killed at least 67,0000 Palestinians, including at least 20,000 children.”

The resolution’s cited figure for Palestinians allegedly killed by Israel was sourced from reports issued by an agency within the Hamas-administered government in Gaza, and it does not distinguish between combatant and civilian deaths or account for fatalities caused by Hamas’ actions.

The rationale goes on to claim Palestinians have been suffering “under a brutal Israeli military occupation, a crippling blockade on Gaza, more than seven decades of forced exile, apartheid policies and a barrier that separated Palestinians not only from Israelis but also their own land and fellow people.”

The rationale ignores the fact that Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005. Its claims of apartheid, a term created and used to explain the racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s, are refuted by the integration of Arab citizens into Israeli life — including serving in the Knesset and maintaining professional careers such as doctors, lawyers and judges in Israel. It also ignores the thousands of Palestinian terror attacks that have necessitated a variety of security measures.

Overtures, McClure Archer explained, come from individual congregations in what is known as a “session,” which is their council. The session then votes on those matters which are presented to the local presbytery and, if approved, go to the General Assembly, made up of commissioners from presbyteries from across the United States, for a vote.

Pastor Chad Collins of the Valley View Presbyterian Church — one of the two local churches to introduce the overture — has been a vocal critic of Israel and Zionism. He has served as a national organizer for the Friends of Sabeel North America which, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is a “driving force behind various Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns against Israel, including those initiated by mainline Protestant churches in the U.S.”

In October 2023, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Sabeel published a statement referring to Hamas and other terror organizations as “armed Palestinian resistance groups.”

Members of the Collins family have been arrested for their involvement in anti-Israel and antisemitic events.

In 2025, his daughter, Nesta Collins, was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct stemming from her behavior at an anti-Israel encampment outside the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.

Another daughter, Micaiah Collins, was charged with conspiracy, defacing and damaging religious property, making false statements and possession of destructive devices in a superseding federal indictment. She was charged along with Mohamad Hamad and Tayla A. Lubit, who were initially arrested for vandalizing Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s building and a sign at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Last month, Chad Collins spoke at an East End Food Co-op meeting, urging its members to vote to cease selling Israeli products at the grocery store.

David Knoll, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh associate vice president of public affairs, called BDS a “discriminatory and divisive campaign that advances an anti Israel agenda, undermines inclusivity and obstructs the pursuit of peace.”

The Rev. Charissa Howe has been the pastor of Sixth Presbyterian Church — which introduced the overture with Valley View — since May, 2025. She previously served as the director of chaplaincy at the Allegheny County Jail.

Knoll said the Federation is committed to dialogue with The Pittsburgh Presbytery.

“After a challenging decade in our relationship with the Presbyterian community, we have made significant progress in rebuilding mutual respect and understanding,” he said. “We will continue to cultivate friendships, deepen dialogue and strengthen community with the many within the Presbyterian community who are committed to open conversation, genuine friendship and greater understanding of our Jewish community.”

It is a message with which McClure Archer agrees.

“We remain committed to ongoing conversation with our Jewish partners,” she said. “We have been intentional about developing community and mutual respect, and mutual understanding.”

The 227th Presbyterian General Assembly will take place June 22-July 2, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.