News – Page 6 – PJN EPF

EPF PJN Los Angeles regrets Governor Brown’s decision to sign AB2844 into law

September 27, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) Palestine Justice Network (PJN) regrets Governor Brown’s decision to sign AB2844 into law Saturday afternoon.

AB2844 was a frequently revised attempt to stifle criticism of the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian lands and the growing influence of the non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as a catalyst for social change.

By ignoring the recommendations of his own Finance Office, as well as those of the ACLU and over one hundred free speech, human rights and religious organizations, the Governor has placed the State of California on a long and expensive path which we believe will end with AB2844 being confirmed as an unconstitutional violation of Californian’s free speech rights.

Though the EPF PJN Los Angeles does not hold contracts with the State of California which would be subject to the vague wording of this bill, we will not hesitate to continue encouraging our members and friends to use the non-violent economic tools of boycott, divestment and sanctions against any government, company or organization whose goals, means or methods violate the human rights of others.

Faith Forum on Middle East Policy: Employing Economic Measures as Nonviolent Tools for Justice

September 13, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

Employing Economic Measures as Nonviolent Tools for Justice In the Israeli-Palestinian Context
August 22, 2016

The U.S. Congress and 22 states across the U.S. are considering, or have passed, laws that penalize or criminalize the use of economic measures to oppose Israeli policies towards Palestinians that many find unjust and discriminatory. The targets of these proposed laws are organizations and agencies that endorse, in full or in part, the Palestinian call for the use of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS). Such actions are anti-democratic, suppress legitimate criticism, and restrict our freedom to determine our own investment and selective purchasing practices. We affirm and defend the right of churches and organizations to witness using economic measures in the specific case of Israel-Palestine.

The BDS call, issued in 2005 by over 100 Palestinian civil society organizations, seeks to promote a nonviolent response to end Israel’s 50-year military occupation of Palestinian territories and dismantle the separation barrier, much of which is built on Palestinian land; to recognize the full equality of Palestinian citizens of Israel; and to respect, protect, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, according to UN resolution 194. U.S. churches, among many others, are clear in seeking an end to the occupation.

Churches and church-related organizations have employed such nonviolent tactics in many instances of injustice, both domestically and globally, over the decades. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the boycott of products made by slave labor are some historical precedents. Some more recent examples include:

 Support for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to seek fair wages for farmworkers who pick tomatoes used by major restaurant chains. The churches have affirmed boycotts of Taco Bell and Wendy’s in support of the farmworkers.
 Support for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) in the boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company in order to seek better wages for those who pick cucumbers.
 Support for United Farm Workers (UFW) in grape and lettuce boycotts aimed at securing fair wages for farmworkers.
 Opposition to the use of racially offensive names and logos by professional sports teams through boycotts.
 Participation in the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility to promote socially responsible practices by various companies through shareholder activism.
 Divestment to oppose the policy of apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s.
 Corporate engagement with and/or divestment from fossil fuel companies in the context
of the climate change debates.

Through the use of such nonviolent but impactful measures at the intersection of faith and finance, the churches have participated in making a difference, promoting justice, and effecting change. Indeed, when corporate social responsibility standards do not lead businesses to change their practices, then it is often only through the concerted economic pressure of civil society and public interest groups that positive political and social reforms occur.

Economic Measures (Examples of engagement corrected for accuracy, 8/25/2016) Page 1

The current effort to penalize or criminalize such use of economic leverage in the specific case of Israel-Palestine is therefore offensive and disturbing. It strikes us as an attempt to remove a responsible, powerful, and legal method of public witness as an option. To target economic measures in any way on one specific policy issue—Israel-Palestine—is selective and inconsistent. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, without dissent, the right to boycott (1982).

As churches and church-related organizations, we may not endorse all aspects of the Palestinian civil society BDS movement; nor do we all have similar policies on the use of economic leverage in the context of Israel-Palestine. However, we all share a hope and desire for an end to occupation, and we continue to advocate for that. If we choose, through debate and reflection, to employ our economic leverage to advance that policy objective, as we do many others, we understand it as our right to do so. It is an assertion of our right as stewards of our financial resources to spend and invest as we choose, and to do so responsibly, according to our theological and moral conviction, expressed in our denominational or organizational policies.

We must be clear: such an assertion of this right is an effort to change unjust Israeli policy toward Palestinians, not to delegitimize the State of Israel, nor to marginalize or isolate our Jewish neighbors, or their enterprises. Our choices to purchase and invest responsibly, and to advocate with corporations or governments, including our own, are motivated by our firm commitments to justice and peace for all people, without discrimination or exclusion.

As churches and church-related organizations, we reject any efforts by the State to curtail these rights, and will continue to exercise them, as appropriate and in accordance with our faith and policies.

American Friends Service Committee
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Church of the Brethren, Office of Public Witness
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Pax Christi International
Pax Christi USA
Presbyterian Church (USA)
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

Economic Measures (Examples of engagement corrected for accuracy, 8/25/2016)

Page 2

EPF PJN Los Angeles Calls on Governor Brown to Veto AB2844

September 13, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

Dear EPF PIN Friends:
We have the opportunity to protect free speech AND to save money at the same time! And all it takes is enough of us letting Governor Jerry Brown know that we want him to veto AB 2844.

For those who don’t know, AB 2844 is a bill that has passed both houses of the California legislature which is designed to limit the free speech rights of any person to participate in an economic boycott or divest from companies or countries which are acting in ways contrary to our values and beliefs. AB 2844 would require (under penalty of perjury) that persons/companies having contracts with the State of California greater than $100,000 in value certify that they are not “discriminating” against any country (the only one named is Israel) recognized by the US Government. Ig you think the language is odd, it is. The authors of the bill have had to rewrote it multiple times to try to hide the attach on 1st Amendment rights.

The good news is that Governor Brown reportedly does not like the bill. It is redundant in its best parts to the Unruh Act, which already criminalizes discrimination in hiring. It is expensive, with estimates by the California Office of Finance of $140 MILLION to establish the bureaucracy, investigate complaints and litigate against accused offenders. Being a fiscal hawk makes him look at the cost of this bill with an extremely critical eye, but he may need our support to stand up against the Legislature.

What can you do to help? It is easy. Copy the test of the letter below. Paste it into an email to the Governor using his own website contact page. Press Send. That’s all there is to it.

Want to help more? Send a message to your Senator and Representative with the same message to let them know you don’t appreciate them spending your money this way and taking away your right to free speech at the same time.

And for any of you who want to make our day here at EPF PIN LA, send us an email [epf.pin.la@gmail.com] letting us know you wrote the Governor (Senator, Representative).

Here is some suggested text for your letter:

RE: Veto AB 2844, An Unconstitutional Attack on Californians’ Free Speech

Dear Governor Brown,

As people of faith, the members and friends of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship strongly urge you to veto AB 2844, an unconstitutional and costly attack on Californians’ free speech and the movement for equal human rights in Israel and Palestine.

As Christians, we look at Israel and Palestine as the birthplace of our faith. And we see Jews and Muslims as our sisters and brothers in the tradition of Abraham. So we believe we have a right to speak out on issues related to the peace and wellbeing of those lands, and to choose whether and where to place our financial and moral support.

AB 2844 chills our free speech rights by falsely associating the legal and time-honored practice of boycott, divestment and sanctions with unlawful discrimination. Would the Civil Rights Movement have succeeded without the Montgomery Bus Boycott? How much poorer would be the lives of agricultural workers in California if you hadn’t joined Cesar Chavez in the fields? Would Nelson Mandela have died a prisoner on Robbin Island if the international sports and cultural boycotts and business divestment hadn’t forced his release and helped end Apartheid in South Africa?

Additionally, the California Department of Finance estimates that the bill could cost California taxpayers over $140 million in startup costs, and unknown additional millions for fielding complaints, conducting investigations and pursuing lawsuits. You have shown yourself to be a champion of fiscal prudence in bringing this state out from under crushing debt and underfunded schools and other social services. Don’t let AB 2844 tarnish that record.

Although the title and some of the content of AB 2844 have changed over time, its intent remains the same: to stigmatize and suppress protected political speech, especially advocacy for Palestinian human rights through the nonviolent tactics of boycott, divestment and sanctions. If you take away non-violent means of protest and social change, what is left?

Civil liberties groups, including the ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for Constitutional Rights　affirm that right to use economic boycotts in support of human rights and social justice causes is a protected form of free speech under the US Constitution.

Stop this attack on Californians’ free speech. Veto AB 2844.

Sincerely,

Is there an elephant in the room when we look at co-existence projects?

September 6, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

Judith Norman, who traveled in Palestine/Israel with EPF PIN in May/June 2016 reflects.

The movement for peace in Israel-Palestine is a big and messy tent. Many of the groups that are promoting a vision of peace in the region have incompatible goals, strategies, and rhetoric. The very notion of “peace” is contentious – after all, peace can simply mean the absence of conflict, not necessarily the presence of justice. When privilege or injustice goes unquestioned, the situation might appear peaceful. But is this the sort of peace we want?
One strategy for attaining peace promotes co-existence between Palestinians and Israeli Jews. The theory is that when people learn to live and work together with mutual respect, there will be no motivation for violence. Certainly, a lot of the violence involves dehumanization, and co-existence projects try to defuse this by promoting mutual humanization, like a soccer camp that enables Israeli Jewish kids and Palestinians to play together, to experience each other as normal human beings rather than as enemies.
In our visits to Palestine and Israel, we heard some thoughtful skepticism about the effectiveness of these well-meaning projects; the main criticism is that these projects do not address the root causes of the conflict, which are structural and historical violence.
Structural violence is distinct from direct violence in that it is not simply a matter of personal antagonism (which could be addressed by personal understanding). Israel’s occupation of Palestine is an example of structural violence, because it is administered through a set of violent yet impersonal institutions. For instance, the occupation involves a legal regime that subjects Palestinians to harsh and often arbitrary military law, while Israeli Jews are held to much more lenient civilian regulations. The occupation imposes a system of roadblocks and barriers that restrict (or in the case of Gaza, entirely block) freedom of movement for Palestinians. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza experience a brutal military regime that hampers, cripples, and often destroys lives and livelihoods on a daily basis, while institutionalized discrimination relegates Palestinians within Israel to second class citizenship or worse.
On the other hand, Israeli Jews experience none of this. While they occasionally (infrequently) experience direct violence, they experience none of the structural violence of the occupation. Many are unaware that it is even taking place. And this creates a disparity between the experience of Israelis and Palestinians which co-existence projects do nothing to address. Connecting on a personal level will not address violence on a structural level. In fact, by misdiagnosing the problem, co-existence projects can even make things worse. We visited with a former IDF soldier from Breaking the Silence who argued convincingly that it was the structural violence of the occupation that bred direct violence, and not the other way around. By fostering personal relationships, co-existence projects attack a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
We heard some good coming from co-existence projects. At their best, they can open up space for dialogue where Israeli Jews can hear about Palestinian experience of structural violence. In 2015 we visited a bilingual Jewish-Palestinian school in Jerusalem which was doing just that. Jewish graduates from the Hand-in-Hand school were consequently less likely to join the IDF to carry out the occupation.
So, co-existence projects might have a place, but they need to be located within the general framework of anti-occupation, pro-justice organizing. One reason why they play an outsized, imbalanced, and therefore often counter-productive role in the movement for peace is that they have a strong sentimental appeal to outside donors. The image of Jewish and Palestinian children playing together is immediately and intuitively attractive, and (particularly European) NGOs are able to secure funding to promote such programs over groups that are doing more politically nuanced anti-occupation work. This is a prime example of a problem with NGOs and foreign donors: all too often they impose an agenda that is unresponsive to the needs and best interests of people who live in the region and who almost always have a much better sense of how to address their own problems.
Co-existence projects appeal to a false and simplistic framework that assures us that the real enemy is intolerance, and that it can be combatted through tolerance and understanding. Nobody is really to blame, we all just need to work harder to understand each other. The only problem is that when it comes to Israel / Palestine, there is serious political culpability – the Israeli occupation and the institutions that maintain it (which includes US government spending). This is the elephant in the room with many of the co-existence projects, and ignoring it will not make it go away.

A Left Coast Perspective: An Update from the Diocese of California

August 31, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

EPF PIN member Vicki Gray, a deacon in the Diocese of California and a former deputy to General Convention, updates us on the work in the diocese around Palestine/Israel.

As a quick glance at a globe will confirm, California’s Bay Area is about as far from Jerusalem as one can get. But, over the past few years, it has become something of a cockpit of the discussion in the Episcopal Church around the deteriorating situation in an increasingly unholy Holy Land.

Two other characteristics of the Bay Area – beyond its geography at the edge of the Western World – are the insistence of so many locals that ours is the mother lode of progressivism in the United States – those reputed “San Francisco values” – and, more broadly, that all trends start in California and then spread to the rest of the country.

San Francisco “progressivism,” however, is often more akin to feel-good libertarianism than to any meaningful solidarity with the less fortunate beyond the horizon or even just arm’s reach. This is particularly true in the Bay Area vis-à-vis Palestinians, with regard to whom “PEP” – Progressive except for Palestine – takes on new meaning, given the local strength of the JCC/JCRC establishment and its willingness to threaten the inter-faith dialogue and to raise the canard of anti-Semitism whenever BDS is mentioned.

Such threats, accompanied by typically Episcopalian tendencies to avoid “rocking the boat,” to make-nice conflict avoidance, and, vis-à-vis Israel/Palestine, always to share-the-blame in “balanced” resolutions, had, over the years, made it difficult to move anything meaningful on Israel/Palestine through the Diocese of California Convention.
It was a bit of a surprise, therefore, when, in 2014, the convention, by a wide margin, passed Resolution 7 urging The Episcopal Church to divest from any investments it might have in certain companies whose products and/or actions support the infrastructure of the occupation and urged Episcopalians to boycott products that are manufactured in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Caterpillar, G4S, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions were cited as illustrative targets for disinvestment and, in the explanation, Soda Stream was mentioned as the sort of settlement-produced product that should be boycotted.

There were two factors that contributed mightily to passage of the 2014 resolution. One was the gruesomeness of Israel’s “Cast Lead” operation in Gaza that played out on TV screens as delegates were considering the resolution in the run-up to the October convention. It became inordinately hard to continue looking away. The other was a forceful letter in favor of the resolution from the forty members of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, a copy of which was placed on the seat of every delegate the morning of the Convention.

Passage of Resolution 7 generated some local pride by playing to California’s claim to being a trend setter – pride joyfully spread with the passage of similar resolutions by the Dioceses of Hawai’i, Oregon, and Los Angeles, and sadly diminished by the stonewall all these resolutions encountered in Salt Lake City.

Sad as our experience was in Salt Lake City, it solidified the cooperation between JVP and EPF, cooperation that will be crucial as we move forward toward 2018 in San Antonio.

With an eye to San Antonio, several delegates to DioCal’s October convention sought a way to keep BDS on the mind of the Church. Then, serendipity – God’s way of keeping a low profile – the increasingly aggressive opponents of BDS presented us with a godsend vehicle – their campaign to push legislation in state legislatures, including California’s, to silence the voices of those who support BDS and to penalize those institutions who adopt such measures. Support for BDS had become a free speech issue, with organizations as diverse as B’nai B’rith and the ACLU emerging as potential allies.

In conversations over the summer with the Convention’s Resolutions Committee, we crafted a resolution “Free Speech with regard to Boycott, Disinvestment, and Sanctions”. By reiterating DioCal’s 2014 support, however limited, for BDS, the resolution seeks to give the Diocese of California particular standing in this matter as an institution that might well be targeted by such legislation.

With retrieval of our “trend setter” reputation in mind, we hope that passage of such a resolution might also provide encouragement for other dioceses to take similar stands against what has become a nationwide effort to criminalize free speech on this matter.

The term “such a resolution” is used intentionally, given the “movable feast” nature of AB 2844, legislation that has undergone repeated amendments, while the Diocesan Resolutions Committee has sought to nail down language vis-à-vis a variety of possible outcomes. As of this writing, passage is likely, a veto is possible, as is signature by Governor Brown, either of which must occur just before the Convention convenes. Thus, current language urging rejection, will probably morph into wording urging a veto, or, in the worst case, repeal. In any event, DioCal will have taken a principled position on behalf of free speech and BDS. And, in terms of setting trends, this, if passed, might be the first resolution explicitly using the term “BDS.”

Further potentially complicating passage of our BDS/Free Speech resolution is a completely non-controversial resolution submitted by the Chancellor of the Diocese, who is now on the board of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, urging people to study the situation in the Holy Land, make a pilgrimage, and contribute to AFEDJ. There is a fear that delegates, having voted for this resolution, will consider they have “done something,” and leave them with an excuse to avoid the conflicts inherent in ours.

An interesting sidebar in the discussion of this resolution was the question recently raised in comments on our 2014 resolution: “How will people know when a product is produced in one of the occupied territories?” That highlighted the follow-up failure by proponents of the resolution to disseminate a list of such products. Mea Culpa. In an act of contrition, I have offered to work with diocesan staff in disseminating the lists of such products that are available elsewhere. That’s probably something we should all do going forward.

Given the continued pushback, it is also clear that there is still a lot of education that needs to be done. To that end, several members of the diocese have gotten together to discuss revivifying a Bay Area EPF chapter to do the educational work that is otherwise not getting done.

Stay tuned.

EPF & EPF PJN Endorse M4BL Vision for Black Lives

August 26, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

The National Executive Council of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, joined by the Fellowship’s Palestine/Israel Network, is proud to stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives in unequivocal support of its ”Vision for Black Lives” (https://policy.m4bl.org/) issued on August 1. “The policy demands listed in the platform cover a wide variety of intersecting issues, all of which are also important to the mission of Episcopal Peace Fellowship and our mission to oppose war and violence in all its forms,” says EPF executive director Allison Liles. The platform accurately describes the connections between colonialism at home and abroad and courageously advocates for the rights of all God’s people.

In pledging our support and solidarity, we do so motivated by our Baptismal vow to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” And we do so from our own long history of acting with others to give voice to those denied dignity and justice and subjected to oppression and dehumanizing conditions by the powers-that- be, be they in Ferguson, Baltimore, Haiti, Honduras, or Palestine.

In this regard, the EPF National Executive Council and Palestine/Israel Network applauds the Platform’s recognition of the commonality of the civil rights struggle of American Blacks and Black and Brown people everywhere, most notably Palestinians, who, for too long, have labored, without adequate voice in this country, against the daily indignities of an oppressive Israeli occupation. In reiterating the need for Black/Palestinian solidarity and courageously endorsing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) as a legitimate non-violent economic tool aimed at bringing about an end to occupation, the Movement for Black Lives has joined a growing coalition of organizations giving voice to those everywhere who seek liberation and self-fulfillment. The Episcopal Peace Fellowship is proud to be part of that coalition.

“As the platform so eloquently articulates, we have a shared struggle with all oppressed people – collective liberation will be a product of all of our work,” Liles said. As part of that larger coalition of Christians, Jews, and those of other faith and none, we firmly reiterate our profound love and concern for all the people of the Holy Land, both Israelis and Palestinians, and reject attempts by opponents of the Movement’s Platform to equate honest and legitimate criticism of unwise policies of the Government of Israel with anti-Semitism.

Remembering Ed Browning, 24th Presiding Bishop

August 22, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

Naim Ateek, Founder of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem and Chair of its Board, spoke at Ed Browning’s funeral in the cathedral in Portland OR on 19 July 2016:
On behalf of SabeeI and Friends of Sabeel I would like to express my deepest condolences and sincere sympathies to Patti Browning and to all the Browning family. We share your grief. We also loved Bishop Browning; and we give thanks to God for his life and witness.
It is a great honor and privilege to be asked to take part in this funeral service for a person I loved, admired, and respected greatly.
Bishop Browning was the President of Friends of Sabeel North American from its inception in 1966 until he became president emeritus in 2012. He and Patti visited us in Jerusalem a number of times. They were both dedicated to the quest for a just peace in Palestine-Israel. In one of our international conferences, Bishop Browning was the keynote speaker in Jerusalem. He and Patti were true friends and staunch supporters of Sabeel’s ministry.
When I think of Bishop Browning, two words come to mind:
The first is HUMILITY: During my high school days in Nazareth, we had to memorize the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. One of its stanzas reads, “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings …nor lose the common touch.” These words, I believe fit well Bishop Browning. During his time as presiding bishop, he met with presidents and world leaders and he had a good collection of photos with them. On a visit to their home in Hood River, I expected to see those pictures displayed in the living room. To my surprise they were relegated to a lesser visible place in the house. This is the kind of person Bishop Browning was. He walked with kings and presidents but did not lose the common touch. He was reachable, approachable, and accessible. “God gives grace to the humble.”
The second is COURAGE: Bishop Browning had a soft voice but a big heart and a great courage. In the Gospels, Jesus criticized religious leaders for having eyes but could not see. Bishop Browning’s eyes could see. He saw the agony of the victims of injustice. When he visited Palestine, he felt with the Palestinians who were living under the oppressive Israeli occupation of their country. Like Bishop Desmond Tutu who also visited us, he could see and feel the injustice and oppression. In 2003, with the help of Bishop Browning, we were able to invite Bishop Tutu to become the international patron of Sabeel. And he continues in this role to this day. Bishop Browning took a courageous stand for justice for the Palestinians. Even when it was not fashionable, he stood on the side of the marginalized. For Bishop Browning, there were no outcasts. His stance reflected the spirit of love and compassion for the victims of discrimination.
As we pay our respect for this dear friend and brother, I believe he still has a pertinent message for us all: “Don’t forget the victims of discrimination and racism in your communities. Work for their liberation.” And I would like to think that he has a special word to the leadership of our Episcopal Church, bishops, clergy, and lay: “Don’t forget the Palestinians. They too are God’s children. Champion their just cause, and work for their liberation so that they and their Israeli neighbors may live in security and peace.”

Brian Grieves shares Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s statement read at the service in Portland OR:
Ed Browning was installed as Presiding Bishop a few months before I was elected Archbishop of Cape Town and he retired the year after I did. I could not have wished for a more supportive friend – both personally and of our church – at the height of our struggle against apartheid.
Both in and beyond Southern Africa, he breathed new life into the Church and was a champion of justice for all people everywhere. He visited us in South Africa during our darkest days and gave us encouragement and hope. He fiercely challenged US politicians and corporations to bring an end to the evil of apartheid. Even while he was Bishop of Hawaii, he visited our diocese of Namibia and risked his life traveling on land mined roads to stand with people who were suffering.
Before and after our liberation he took on the challenge of another apartheid – the injustice of the Occupation of 4 million Palestinians. Patti was at his side throughout that courageous witness. May you all continue that witness with the same courage and commitment of Ed and Patti.
Whether he was advocating for women, lay people, people of colour or gays and lesbians and others to be fully included in the life of the Church, he became a conscience for justice that you are still building on now. Keep on with the journey. And should you forget, Patti will remind you.
To Patti and the family, I wish I was able to be with you. I send you my and Leah’s hugs and love. My love also to the whole Episcopal Church, which was such a faithful partner to us under Ed’s leadership. Claim his legacy and pursue the cause of justice that our Lord Jesus Christ requires of each of us.
Well done, you good and faithful servant of God, Ed Browning. May you rest in peace and rise in glory.”

Ann Coburn, co-convener of EPF PJN’s education work group and a member of the leadership team reflects:
It has been said often that Ed Browning had a pastor’s heart and a prophetic voice. Those often don’t sit easily together but with Ed they did, even after becoming a bishop when, I have experienced, the prophetic voice often disappears. For Ed this is who he was for the church, for the wider world, and for individuals like me.
I have many Ed Browning stories, as I was fortunate to have known him and worked with him, especially during his tenure as Presiding Bishop. He was a friend, mentor, pastor, and prophet to me. Two stories I share here because they are etched on my heart.
Towards the end of the General Convention in Detroit in 1988, where I was a deputy from the Diocese of Connecticut, I got a call telling me my 5 year old daughter was being given a series of tests because the doctors thought she had some intestinal bacteria or virus that she might have contracted during our recent sabbatical in Zimbabwe. Without many good-byes, I left quickly to go and be with my family. I had not been in the house more than 5 minutes when the phone rang, and it was Ed Browning wondering how my daughter was and also how I was. I was stunned that he would take the time to call when I knew that in the final hours of all conventions there was a frantic pace to pass resolutions and neatly as possible tie up loose ends. And as Presiding Bishop he had way too many demands upon his time and attention, so for him to call in the midst of all of that touched me deeply. In those few anxious days until we found out that there was nothing seriously wrong with my daughter, my own bishop never called, making Ed’s call even more precious and remarkable.
My other story has to do with Ed’s prophetic voice. I had visited Israel/Palestine once before meeting Ed and Patti Browning. I pretty much knew one narrative, the one that said little or nothing about the Palestinians. But Ed and Patti used their voices, their feet and hands, and their souls to help educate the Episcopal Church to the other narrative. Because of my growing respect for the two of them, I paid attention to what they were saying and more importantly to what they were doing. They were instrumental in the growth of Sabeel, the Palestinian Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem and its supportive network Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA). I didn’t realize at the time the tremendous pushback they received and the relationships that were strained and even severed because they dared to speak out for justice for all Palestinians. Ed’s ministry and voice led me to FOSNA and the transformation of my own heart and ministry. I never go back to Palestine without giving thanks for Ed and Patti for their courage, their faith, their justice ministry, and for leading me and countless others to use our own voices when others are silent.

Mary Miller, former EPF staff and long-time EPF member remembers:
There is so much that happened in my life that wouldn’t have except for Ed Browning’s leadership and friendship. A set of lively pictures – in my photo album and in my head – sum up my remembrances of Ed.
AMNESTY
Ed Browning and I first met long distance. As the new bishop for the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, Ed had discovered there were AWOL U.S. personnel in Europe in protest of what we were doing in/to Vietnam; many of them wanted to be able to come home. I was a program assistant for peace and justice ministries on staff at the Episcopal Church Center and part of my job was administering the Register of Conscientious Objectors. Ed’s request for help with the issue landed on my desk. Suddenly, I had a new colleague and a new friend. We worked on an amnesty resolution for action at the 1973 General Convention in Louisville and set to work with the Episcopal Peace Fellowship to make it happen. The resolution failed in Louisville and the pictures of all that are only in my head. A good amnesty resolution was adopted in Minneapolis 1976 – along with ordination of women to the priesthood, which over-shadowed everything else.
Ed moved from Europe to World Mission on the church-wide staff. We stayed in touch, and as relevant issues arose, his connection with EPF became stronger.
THE NEW PRESIDING BISHOP
Ed Browning was elected presiding bishop at the 1985 Anaheim Convention. I was national chair of EPF at the time. His installation was scheduled and the liturgy began to take shape. I was asked to be the lay person on the team assigned to present Ed with a plumbline of justice, one of the Instruments of Ministry. Barbara Ramanarine (deacon), Barbara Harris (priest) and Desmond Tutu (Bishop) chose me to hand the plumbline (a real one) to Ed. I remember that my hands were not entirely steady as we stepped forward for the presentation. His response was “I call upon all people of good will to join me in speaking out against evil and oppression.” But then, the signal to return to our assigned seats never came. Suddenly, I found myself standing next to Desmond Tutu singing “Christ is made the sure foundation” at the top of our lungs! And then the Peace. A photographer caught the moment that Ed and Bishop Desmond embraced each other – and that photo includes former Presiding Bishop John Hines, Barbara Harris and me. It landed on page one of the New York Times and into history.
CELEBRATIONS AND PROTESTS
The election of Barbara Harris to be suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Massachusetts was a milestone to say the least. It was obvious to anyone who saw Ed Browning in those days that it was a major joy for him to be her chief consecrator. Those gathered for the consecration listened, not always patiently, to protests at the appointed place in the liturgy and heard with gladness Ed’s calm response “…we will proceed.” “There’s a sweet Spirit in this place” was a Communion hymn and I can still hear it. No way to get close enough for any individual photography but there’s certainly a visual public record – as there is of the international turmoil that followed.
In mid-January 1990, on the eve of U.S. troops being sent into the Persian Gulf War, a prayer service was held at the Washington Cathedral. Afterward, a large crowd processed down Massachusetts Avenue and 16th Street to the White House, following the new EPF processional cross. The Brownings were up front all the way. We kept vigil in Lafayette Square for a time, then processed a few blocks to Metropolitan A.M.E. Church for an all-night vigil for peace rather than war. Toward dawn that January night, Ed, who had been in contact with the Administration steadily during the Fall, decided to appeal one last time to stop what was about to happen. The offices of the American Chemical Society were next door to the church and an ACS staff member (who had carried the EPF cross most of the way) went with Ed to find a phone to call Jim Baker … to no avail. Ed was heart-broken but he had tried his best and we were grateful.
At the Fall 1999 House of Bishops meeting, a new Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces was chosen. EPF had for decades protested the existence of the office though not the person chosen to fulfill it and we prepared to do so once more. Bishop-elect Charles Keyser understood our position, though disagreeing with it, and welcomed a conversation about the office and the consecration. The possibility of a prayer vigil for peace, jointly planned and sponsored, to occur before the consecration was raised and so it was. Photos show Bishop-elect Keyser facing both the Presiding Bishop and the EPF delegation, led by NEC Chair Ann McElroy. Conversations with Bishop Keyser continued over the years, thanks to the tone he established. Eventually the office portfolio became Federal Ministries (including federal prison and hospital chaplains, as well as military chaplains under the bishop’s oversight.) As the work shifted, EPF ceased to protest the office and continued work with the incumbents. The prayer vigil seems to have become a tradition: it took place when George Packard was consecrated, and again with Jay Magness. Plans are underway as the House of Bishops prepares to choose the next Bishop Suffragan for Federal Ministries.
In the early ’90s, EPF was asked to join in a Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear whistleblower who had let the world know through photographs and reporting that Israel had nuclear weapons. Vanunu had been kidnapped by Israeli agents, tried secretly for treason and sentenced to 18 years in prison. EPF said “yes!” and joined the Campaign. Ed and Patti supported the effort from the beginning. In Washington a coalition of peace groups stood vigil at the Israeli Embassy regularly, sometimes with acts of civil disobedience. Mordechai’s release was finally announced for April 2004 after he served his full term (minus 6 months – for good behavior?), including 11 ½ years in solitary. As it happened, Sabeel’s International Conference dates that year were just right for the Free Vanunu Campaign; many of us went to Ashkelon after the conference to welcome his release. My photos include Ed and Patti waiting in the hot sun, Sabeel hats offering some shade. It was a long wait but worth it. Mordechai was whisked away in a car toward some unrevealed place of refuge. As we piled into vehicles and headed our of town, it suddenly came to me: I knew exactly where we were headed – to St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem and sanctuary offered by Bishop Riah. And though it was never sad out loud that I recall, I’m very sure that Ed Browning had everything to do with it.
Vanunu stayed at St. George’s for a couple of years and is still in Jerusalem, forbidden by Israel to leave the country – a house arrest to this day.
RETIREMENT
One photo I keep was in general circulation in the late 90s – of Ed and Patti on the steps of their blueberry farm home in Hood River OR. They look younger, rested, happy. Our communications slowed but never stopped. Birthdays and Christmas remembered, notes across country, no more photos personally taken but lots and lots of memories and gratitude.
The last photo is in our living room now, one we will always treasure. At the 2015 General Convention our long-time friend Michael Curry was elected Presiding Bishop. Michael was scheduled to preach in Oregon within weeks of the election, well before his installation, and some of us conspired to get him to visit the Brownings. He was more than willing and so it was. A photo was taken of the two shepherds together and it was sent to me soon after. When Ed died that photo was included in obituaries and press releases. And the whole world has seen the two Presiding Bishops together, Ed and Michael. It still feels like a miracle.

Gary Commins, former EPF NEC Chair and EPF member reflects:
Shortly after his election as Presiding Bishop in 1985, Ed Browning visited EPF’s National Executive Council at its fall meeting at Vail’s Gate, two hours from his New York City office. Being new to the NEC, I didn’t know it, but that is not the norm for Presiding Bishops. We go to them as, in a sense – decently and in good order – we should. Ed had no agenda, no airs of office. We had a two-hour conversation. As the hour grew late, he returned to New York.
The next week I asked a friend, “how did we get so lucky?” – we the peacemakers, we the Episcopal Church. How did we elect a bishop so down-to-earth? How did we find a leader so committed to peace and justice? His episcopate, like that of John Hines, opened doors, opened hearts, turned the church to face the world, and wedded prophetic ministry to the office of the Presiding Bishop.
Twenty-four years later, at the 2009 General Convention, EPF recognized Ed and Patti Browning’s shared ministry, giving them the John Nevin Sayre, Jr. Award. We recognized them with the award; they honored us with their presence. Every General Convention’s circus schedule features multiple events competing for attention and attendance. Turnout for the Sayre Award was large: EPF was not alone in wanting to honor Ed and Patti.
Such events invite premature eulogies for the living: we heard about Ed’s ministry and Patti’s commitment to justice, especially her advocacy for the Palestinian people. But what stood out most were not the praises offered but the people gathered – family members, lay leaders, bishops, priests, and deacons; peacemakers or not, for Ed made peace with those uncomfortable with doing justice. All of us knew we had been lucky – blessed – to be touched by their ministry.
This July, two days after Ed’s funeral, I happened to attend a meeting with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, President of the House of Deputies Gay Jennings, the Rev. Naim Ateek and a handful of clergy and laity concerned about Israel-Palestine. We discussed the ways the Episcopal Church has drifted from its bold commitments to justice in Israel and the Occupied Territories to timid and tepid positions, benign and banal ineffectiveness. Throughout the meeting, like punctuation marks, each of us invoked Ed’s name, his spirit, and his ministry.
Ed, like all people the church honors, took controversial stands, braved criticism and vilification, and is remembered for what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the overall direction of his life. As we remember and celebrate the arc of Ed’s life, we pray that the direction of his life becomes the direction of our church. That would make us – us the peacemakers, us the Episcopal Church – blessed, very blessed, indeed.

Brian Grieves, long-time peace and justice officer for the Episcopal Church and EPF member, remembers:
Ed Browning opened wide the doors of our Church to literally everyone. He began his ministry as Presiding Bishop when he proclaimed right after his election “This Church of ours is open to all. There shall be no outcasts.” He lived out that vision for the rest of his life, whether for gays and lesbians, for people of color, for women in ordained ministry, for Palestinians, persons with AIDS and the list goes on. He embraced fully Jesus ministry of inclusion. In Hawaii, he preached to Ronald Reagan during an Easter service gently calling for resources to be spent on the poor instead of the nuclear arms race. Yet as prophetic as he was, he was loved for being a pastor, even by those who didn’t always agree with him. – The Reverend Canon Brian J Grieves, former diocesan staff member under Browning in Hawaii and Peace and Justice Officer for the national Church with Browning and his two immediate successors

A final service was in Hawaii on 13 August 2016. Brian Grieves shared a Hawaiian chant with which we conclude our rememberings:
Oli Chant: Kanikau Bishop Edmond Browning. Let the world know, Let the heavens sing. Let people of the world honor the name of Bishop Browning. Hear the ocean lapping on the shores or crashing on the rocks and reefs. See the clouds drifting slowly over the city. Feel the gentle breeze moving through the trees. Listen, for they are whispering the name of a man of God. A servant of God who worked tirelessly to spread the message of God’s love throughout the world. Let the world know, Let the people sing, Let all people honor the name of Bishop Edmond Browning. Father in Heaven, let the gates of your Kingdom open for your faithful son, Let the Heavenly choir honor your faithful servant Bishop Edmond Browning, Let the world remember, Let all people remember. Aloha no….Aloha no…Bishop Browning, thou great and faithful servant. Rest….Rest… Go with God.. Aloha No…….

Voices for Justice: Ann Coburn on Gaza with photos by Boyd Evans

August 8, 2016/1 Comment/in News/by Donna Hicks

Voices for Justice: Ann Coburn on Gaza with photos by Boyd Evans
On the Ground in Palestine with EPF PIN

In May/June 2016, an EPF PIN delegation spent time in Gaza. Ann Coburn writes about one visit to a building bombed in Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2014. Boyd Evans took the photos.

We were driving through Shuja’iyya, a neighborhood of Gaza City, where a year ago we had first seen the results of the massive bombing by Israeli forces in August 2014. Nine months after Protective Edge the area was mostly rubble and no rebuilding was happening. It was one of the most depressing sites any of us had ever witnessed, especially knowing that these homes belonged to civilians many of whom lost their lives in 2014.

Now almost 2 years after Protective Edge a lot of the rubble was gone and some homes were being rebuilt. These were not big construction sites, but rather it looked like the rebuilding was being done by groups of family members and friends. Knowing that the Israeli government was still restricting building materials into the Gaza Strip we all wondered out loud how these people got so lucky.

Our van drove through an open wrought iron gate into a parking area in front of what looked like a 2-story building that had escaped the bombs. We all got out of the van and walked inside passing a sign on the outside saying the building had been built with funds from one of the Gulf nations. The entry hall was an open area with a reception desk and a number of closed doors around the perimeter that apparently were offices but no one was around.

The large stone staircase took us upstairs to a floor that was so totally different from the one we had just left that it literally froze us in place. We were then told that this building had been a center for children with Down Syndrome, and fortunately they were not there when the bombs reigned down and obliterated the second floor where they had been gathered just hours before the first bombs hit. Rubble and glass was everywhere and pieces of ceiling and roof still hung precariously over our heads. Those of us wearing closed shoes were able to crunch our way from room to room; those with sandals had a harder time as glass and concrete rose above the soles of their shoes.

The most devastating sight of all was to see the small stuffed teddy bear in the hallway covered in dust and debris and the plastic toys and puzzle pieces in the classrooms that were strewn about the floor. Only hours before the bombs fell a child held that bear and played with the truck and pieced together a puzzle.

We were told that all the children were safe but there were no funds forthcoming to clean up and rebuild their center. We had to wonder whether the children were truly safe as everyone seemed to be waiting for the next bombings that they were sure would come soon. Were the children really safe from those who destroyed a place of play and sanctuary for them in a world where those were hard to find? Were the children really safe from the nightmares and the threats to their safety? Were they safe from the knowledge of family members who had been killed or wounded or traumatized?

All of this made me think of standing outside the building unprepared for what we found inside. The façade it presented gave nothing away. Then I thought of the rebuilding we had passed on the way to the center and wondered what was behind those new walls. Were they facades as well hiding empty spaces, untold stories? What about all the people of Gaza we met over those 4 days? So many seemed to be “normal”, going about their everyday lives, offering us hospitality and greeting us warmly, grateful that we were there. Even those who shared the trauma of what that tiny strip of land had gone through and continues to go through, they, too, I am sure, had facades that hid their deepest wounds and their worst nightmares. Each time we go however, I pray that maybe we pass through a layer or two of the façade.

None of us will ever know the depths of their despair and grief and mistrust and loss of hope, but being allowed a small window into their world, to walk a few steps together with them, to sit and listen to their stories has been the most transformative and life-giving experience of most of our lives.

Hospitality as an Act of Justice: Naim Ateek preaches in Portland OR

July 25, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

Sermon
Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, Portland, OR
July 17, 2016
Genesis 18:1-10a; Luke 10:38-42
Justice as Radical Hospitality
“Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work? …” (LK 10:40)
“Do not neglect to show hospitality” Hebrews 13:2

Thanks to Fr. Martin Elfert for the invitation.
I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Jerusalem and throughout the area of Palestine-Israel.
Today’s Gospel reading reflects a beautiful episode in the life of Jesus. He was visiting a home in a village. He was hosted by two women – Mary and Martha. Apparently, Jesus was a close friend of the family and the two sisters were very happy to see him. Mary was so excited she just wanted to sit at his feet and listen to his teaching. (This expression refers to a student who is eager to learn from his teacher.) Martha, on the other hand, was busy being a good hostess.

We are not told how many people were in Jesus’ company. We know that Jesus travelled with 12 disciples. In Luke 8:2-3, we read that there were others who travelled with Jesus including a few women. If all these came to the house of Mary and Martha, no wonder Martha was distracted and worried. If 16 people suddenly dropped in unannounced, wouldn’t you be worried? Hospitality was and is very important in our Palestinian and Middle Eastern culture.

Martha was overwhelmed with the preparations. She said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” The cultural implication is clear. It is important to begin with the expected hospitality and later to sit down and enjoy visiting with the guests.

I am reminded of my time as pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Shefa Amer, a small church close to Nazareth in Galilee. We had a number of older widows in our congregation. It was important to visit them individually in their homes on a regular basis. They will leave me in the living room and go to fix the coffee. I would beg them to leave the hospitality and to come and sit down. But hospitality was very important to them. I would have to wait for the coffee and the cake before I could leave. No matter what excuses I came up with, it was difficult to make the visit short. I tried to say, I don’t drink coffee and they would insist to make me hot tea. If I said, I don’t drink tea. They would insist to bring me fruits and cookies. Hospitality is deeply built in Palestinian culture.

When Jesus criticized Martha, “Martha, Martha you are worried and distracted by many things there is need for only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, (the better portion) which will not be taken away from her.” As if, Jesus was giving a contrast between two meals. Martha was preparing the physical food while he was giving Mary and his hearers the spiritual food.
I still remember when we were discussing this text after worship at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem during the coffee hour. Most of the women of the church took the side of Martha. Obviously, as in any other church, we had our Mary’s and our Martha’s. The Martha’s outnumbered the Mary’s. They felt that Jesus was harsh in his criticism of Martha. They felt that Martha was concerned about the right thing and Mary was at fault. Mary should have been helping her sister in preparing the hospitality first and later they can enjoy listening to Jesus. Hospitality is essential and comes first.

Interestingly, the story of the three visitors who came to Abraham is one of the most beautiful stories in the OT (Genesis 18). Abraham insisted on extending hospitality to them. He went and slaughtered a calf and prepared a meal for them; and then stood and waited on them (vs. 8). In some of our village communities, this custom still exists where the host, man or woman, will not eat with the guests but would stand and wait on them. [Incidentally, this story has been traditionally used as foreshadowing the doctrine of the Trinity.]

Be that as it may, there are references in both the Old & New Testament that express the importance of hospitality. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” I believe these words are a direct reference to Abraham’s story in Genesis 18.

Paul writing to Timothy, places hospitality as one of the qualifications or even requirement of an elder or bishop, “a bishop must be above reproach, married…, temperate, sensible respectable, hospitable, and apt teacher…” In the Gospel of Matthew (25), the meaning of hospitality is expanded. When we feed the hungry, when we give a drink of water to the thirsty, when we welcome the stranger, when we clothe the naked, when we care for the sick, when we visit the prisoners, when we do all this in the name of Christ for the least of God’s children, the vulnerable and the outcast, it is as if we have done it to Christ himself.

This expanded understanding of hospitality allows us to consider the deeper and radical meaning of hospitality today. I believe that when we champion the victims of injustice and discrimination, we are engaging in hospitality. When we take a stand for people whose human rights have been denied or violated, we are engaged in acts of hospitality.

For me, I think of Palestine my home. I think of my people who long to see the end of the illegal occupation of Israel to Palestinian land. Most people want to see Israel live in peace; but they also want to see a Palestinian state established alongside Israel in accordance with United Nations’ resolutions; the very thing that Israel continues adamantly to reject. Our Palestinian people would like to see the United States take a courageous stand for the political and human rights of the Palestinians in accordance with international law. To do justice to the oppressed is the supreme act of hospitality. “If you have done it to the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me,” said Christ.

Hospitality is about giving. True hospitality is rooted in God’s love for the world. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus Christ. This is the great hospitality of God, the gift of Jesus Christ. The utmost expression of Christ’s hospitality has been the giving of himself for others. His death on the cross was an act of sacrificial love, an act of hospitality for the liberation and salvation of the world. He said “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Before such an amazing love, we must, in response, practice this kind of hospitality towards others. Such hospitality can be expressed in taking a stand on human rights for all. It can be expressed in helping change unjust systems and oppressive structures so that the poor and oppressed can be liberated and can enjoy a life of freedom and equality. This is active and radical hospitality.

I am sure you have heard the famous saying attributed to the Brazilian Catholic archbishop Dom Helder Camara. He was one of the main inspirers of Latin American liberation theology. He used to say, “When I help the poor, they call me a saint, when I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.” True and active hospitality demands of us to ask the deeper questions and to become part of the answer and the solution. We must not be satisfied with addressing the symptoms, but the root causes that ail our communities and our world.

At our baptism we were asked, “Will you strive for justice and respect the dignity of every human being?” We answered, “I will with God’s help.”

Faithfulness to God demands of us to keep our baptismal covenant. Ultimately, the supreme act of hospitality is done when we champion the dignity and worth of every human being. Let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you do it to the least of these, my brothers and sisters you are doing it to me.

Canon Naim Ateek
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem

On the Ground in Palestine/Israel with EPF PJN

July 9, 2016/0 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

A delegation of PIN activists and friends traveled in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza May 22 – June 3, 2016. Here is a brief pictorial review of just a few of their encounters during that time. Throughout their time, the group met living examples of steadfastness and resistance to the occupation. These photos attempt to capture some of that spirit.
#1: The “beautiful resistance” of art and culture at Al Rowwad Center, Aida camp, Bethlehem

#2: “Justice” spelled out with rubber and plastic coated bullets collected at the Wi’am Conflict Resolution Center, Bethlehem. These weapons are lethal and are a common response by Israeli military to Palestinians peacefully demonstrating their resistance to the occupation.

#3: Horrifying art created by 4- and 5-year old children in Gaza who have known nothing but deprivation and violence. Gaza Community Mental Health Programme

#4: Gazans seek a few moments of pleasure at the beach. It is ephemeral pleasure. Fishermen’s livelihood has been nearly extinguished by the illegal, arbitrary Israeli blockade of fishing grounds. Four boys playing football on this same beach were killed in 2014 by Israeli missiles.

#5: Children heal through play and story-telling at the Qattan Center, Gaza

#6: Women in Jabaliya camp, Gaza, demonstrate their project to make and sell cleaning products

#7: Donkey carts a common form of transport in Gaza

#8: Flying kites is an important way to express the desire for freedom.

#9: Palestinians in Hebron passing through an Israeli checkpoint at Al Ibrahimi mosque. Some Palestinians must pass through three Israeli checkpoints just to attend prayers. These vile checkpoints are a component of the settler project, supported by Israeli military, to cleanse sections of Hebron of Palestinians and all evidence of their lives.

Smile You’re on the Upper West Side

June 28, 2016/4 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

EPF PIN member Rebecca Fadil reflects on her time in Gaza and on the ways in which Palestine/Israel is discussed in her community and on the ongoing work of peace with justice. A version of this was published last week on Mondoweiss.
I just returned from Gaza a couple weeks ago. I can’t begin to describe the kind of devastation the Palestinians face there every day. What shocked me the most was the profound feeling of their being treated like disposable humanity, in a cage, to live or die or grow ill from the lack of basic medical supplies, clean water, sewage treatment, electricity or simply a roof over their head. The basics- all things we take for granted. “Smile- it’s Gaza” they kept telling me. All I could do was weep.

What gets me is that while Palestinians are forced to live under and suffer the consequences of the 10 year blockade and siege in their tiny little hot open air prison– back here on the cushy west side of Manhattan we’re put under a great deal of pressure not to speak of such things and when we do, we’re often told that we’re “demonizing” Israel or making people feel “unsafe.”

One recent example; On April 19th the Task Force on Israel-Palestine at my Upper West Side Episcopal Church hosted former Israeli special forces soldier Miko Peled for a talk. Prior to the event, which did take place, the Rector of our church received phone calls from a local Rabbi and a City Councilman expressing their displeasure about hosting such an event.

On June 19th we had another event at my church, but this time organized by the Rector and led by the same local City Councilman and chair of the Jewish Caucus, entitled “How we engage the issue of Israel and Palestine in our own context. As non-Jewish and Jewish New Yorkers on the Upper West Side, how can we talk about this difficult issue without demonizing the other side?”

This reminds me of an article Mark Braverman wrote several years ago. In it he describes how there is a kind of soft bullying at work, “in which those who claim to represent the Jewish community have set the rules that Christians have obediently followed. A deal designed to relieve Christians of their guilt over anti-Semitism by making any meaningful criticism of Israel or challenge to Zionism out of bounds.” Even back in 2012 when this was written he stated, “we are seeing only the beginning of the battle that will be waged to silence this church movement.”

This June 19th event was billed as “how we engage the issue of Israel-Palestine” but the talk itself ended up being heavily focused around why BDS is a bad idea (according to this Rabbi and Councilman) and why Israel is being unfairly singled out for this treatment. If this were 1972 this argument might be more convincing when opportunity lay ahead to end the occupation and comply with UN resolutions and international law. What was heartily glossed over in this talk by the Councilman and the Rabbi is that the non-violent peaceful call to boycott and divestment only came after decades of failed diplomatic efforts, decades of peace talks, dialogue and coexistence projects, decades of occupation, and now a decade of the blockade and siege of Gaza and periodic “lawn mowing” of its civilian population, not to mention the continued theft of Palestinian land to build Jewish only settlements and roads in the West Bank on the very land the UN set aside for a future Palestinian state more than 67 years ago.

This, in psychoanalytic parlance, is called the double bind. In other words- when someone or some entity in a position of power makes contradicting demands on another whereby no response is deemed appropriate. For the Palestinians- they may not object to the occupation and continued expansion of Jewish only settlements on Palestinian land, they may not militantly resist such actions, and they may not non-violently resist through the time honored tools of civil disobedience such as boycott, divestment and sanctions. What’s left?

In the US- advocates for Palestinian human rights are now experiencing a different kind of double bind. We want to recognize the emotional and psychological fear expressed by people living here on the upper west side that feel uncomfortable when they hear the policies of the state of Israel being criticized but we also want to honor the lives of those who have been killed, maimed, live food insecure, homeless, and without water and electricity. We want to honor the lives of the 22,000 orphans living in Gaza. If we are not permitted to speak of what has happened to them, how do we honor their feelings and the truth about their lives?

If we’re “demonizing” Israel by using words to raise questions about their human rights violations, what is the name we would give to what Israel is doing to the 1.85 million people of Gaza using drones, missiles, F16’s, apache helicopters and white phosphorous?

We will continue to be criticized, shamed and ridiculed for our efforts to talk about Israel’s human rights violations against a besieged and occupied population. I keep telling myself- that’s ok with me, it’s a lot easier than living in Gaza. Smile- we’re on the Upper West Side.

We’ll have to find a way to simply embrace the friction and discomfort of our work together. People won’t like it, people will find it annoying, but we’re not doing anything wrong and advocacy for the oppressed is a long held tradition of Christian ministry.

We can assume best intentions of dialogue efforts such as this recent event on the Upper West Side, but we also have to be realistic. Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs allocated $25.5 million in 2015 for a new Anti-BDS Task Force. That budget is set to balloon upwards from there- it’s already over $30 million.

It’s difficult for non-profits like Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews Say No to bump up against that kind of money, political capital and slick marketing. Israel and its American partner organizations have a sophisticated, well funded, well organized international campaign. Small organizations advocating BDS in order to encourage policy change by political leaders rely on grassroots sharing of information, old fashioned collaboration and coordination. That’s all we have to work with. We have to use it.

On denominational levels, church leaders and institutional structures are struggling with how to react to the human rights situation in Palestine and the fallout it creates in the relationship with the Jewish community on institutional levels. This kind of conflict in the faith community is actually a marker of health. The church is used to controversy. These struggles are helping to keep the church dynamic and strong but change and growth come from the grassroots—and so what happens at the congregational level, although not receiving as much public notice, may be even more important.

Five Lutheran synods recently passed divestment resolutions. Israel knows the Episcopalians are up for a vote in 2018. There’s a lot at stake here and they are threatened by BDS, not because it’s terribly damaging economically but because it is a non-violent tool that is sending a powerful message to the world.

The Task Force along with EPF PIN and others advocating for peace and justice will continue to experience push-back. We need to be vigilant and prepared at every turn.

Voices for Justice: Witness from the Palestine Justice Network

May 11, 2016/3 Comments/in News/by Donna Hicks

EPF PJN member Harry Gunkel reflects.
A Voice for Justice

As it is for many people, “Casablanca” is one of my favorite movies. In the iconic last scene, the impossibly beautiful Ingrid Bergman is saying goodbye to gruff but good-hearted Humphrey Bogart. They are in love but must separate because they believe each has a nobler purpose to fulfill. Bogey says, “I’m no good at being noble but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

Bogey, I’m sorry, but you could not be more wrong. Released in the midst of World War II, this movie and that scene define as well as anything the rationale of the Greater Good. Three little people. Not worth a hill of beans.

The Greater Good tells us that ideologies and geopolitical ambitions ultimately hold sway over people. Because people are “little” and global causes are so much more important. But the Greater Good is a myth and a pernicious one at that. It is the narrative that fools us into thinking that endless, stupid wars are necessary and that “sacrificing” young lives and limbs is noble. The truth of the matter is that the lives and problems of people are what matter most. Caesar and his empire are false gods.

In a few weeks, I will travel to Palestine and Israel with a small group of dear friends. It is a place magnificent and tragic: a “holy land” and yet the epicenter of the myth of the Greater Good where for decades little people have been sacrificed so that a group scarred by history can feel safe, so that land and freedom belong only to one and not the other, and so that a regional foothold will shore up ideological and economic ambitions of nation states far away. Lives, homes, opportunity, and justice are given over for this.

My friends and I are going there to witness the injustices, step into the real events of today and not shy away under the guise of a pilgrimage, and to be with little people whose problems have been valued at less than a hill of beans. We will ask why so many people are being hurt so badly and whether any good at all is great enough for that.

We will visit Hebron in the West Bank where in late March a young Palestinian man was shot by Israeli soldiers. As he lay on the street wounded but still alive and moving, video documentation shows a nearby soldier shoot the young man in the head killing him. We are told later that the soldier was ordered to confirm the kill.

Confirm the kill. The kill. He was not a kill. Abdel – his name was Abdel- was a 21-year-old young adult. Abdel was a son, a brother, possibly an uncle, surely a cousin. He probably had a sense of humor, he might have enjoyed video games and music and had a favorite football team. He most likely looked forward to being married, raising a family and supporting them from his work – maybe owning a shop, or being a doctor, or driving a cab. He had dreams, all kinds of dreams. We know all these things about Abdel because he was human and was created in the likeness of God. Was Abdel also a criminal? Possibly. Certainly he was a criminal to the soldiers who were pursuing the greater good of their nation state and their ideology. When criminality is defined by the dominant majority by force and without regard to justice or ethics, then criminals will all look suspiciously similar and their acts of resistance will be called criminal.

What a brutal irony that Abdel died on a street in the holy land. Not far from where Abdel died, Jesus was born to displace any empire that wasn’t God’s. Jesus insisted – stubbornly insisted – on the sanctity and divine parentage of every human. Men, women, outcasts, the sick, prisoners, orphans, all of us. He demanded that we not forget each other or ignore each other. He showed us that even the leper, the blind beggar, the prostitute and the hemorrhaging woman deserve our full attention and care.

I sometimes like to imagine Jesus between the lines of the gospel, what he might have done and said at other times and places than we have in the texts. It helps me to imagine a fuller narrative of his life, which we are called to emulate after all. I wonder what Jesus would have said that day in Hebron. What would he have told Abdel’s mother: I am sorry for your loss but the problems of a few little people don’t amount to much in this crazy world? Would Jesus the Jew have applauded the Kill for ensuring the continuation of the Jewish state with security, soldiers, and checkpoints?

Or would he have been pastor and healer to Abdel’s family and then spoken to the soldier and his comrades and commanders to ask what was in their hearts that gave permission to kill a man in the street in the service of a cause?

A walk into the holy land is full of choices. We can visit as many churches as there are hours in the day and quietly reflect about events of the past. There are lots and lots of places for that. Or we can walk in unafraid, look baldly at the suffering and injustice, put aside narratives of great good and little people, and listen for the voice that will lead us home.