Does positive investment promote justice and peace?

/6 Comments/in /by

On my first trip to Palestine/Israel — the equivalent of today’s witness or fact-finding trip — a US consular official said that if we didn’t get intellectual indigestion from what we saw and heard, someone had not planned the trip well.  For those of us who want to support the Palestinian community in their quest for a just peace, we may be feeling that tension, that touch of intellectual indigestion, when we consider what foreign aid and support from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) does or doesn’t do for those on the ground in Palestine. 

PJN offers this commentary.

–Donna Hicks

 

At its 2012 General Convention The Episcopal Church passed a resolution affirming ‘positive investment as a necessary means to create a sound economy and a sustainable infrastructure in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip because without these measures there can and will be no viable Palestinian state and no enduring peace,’ that  ‘in seeking to encourage such positive investment in the Palestinian territories, Episcopalians give priority to investment in the institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which provide healthcare, education, and social services without discrimination on the basis of religion, political ideology, gender, socioeconomic standing, or national identity,’ and ‘that the work of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Good Friday Offering be commended to all Episcopalians as faithful vehicles for providing economic and other support to the Diocese of Jerusalem and its institutions.’  Finally, ‘as a component of this Church’s support for positive financial investment in the Palestinian territories, the General Convention urge the Economic Justice Loan Committee to consider a loan of at least $200,000 to strengthen the economic infrastructure of the Palestinian territories.’

 

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council in its February 2013 resolution A&N008 affirmed and celebrated the ‘recommendation of the Executive Council Economic Justice Loan Committee to invest $500,000 in the Bank of Palestine in response to the recommendation of Resolution B019 of the 77th General Convention, the first such positive investment made by this Church in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories,’ and urged ‘dioceses and other entities of this Church prayerfully to consider similar investments.’

 

We would differentiate between the important charitable work to maintain the Diocese of Jerusalem’s institutions through the AFEDJ and the GFO when compared to efforts to create an economic infrastructure for a future Palestinian State.

 

While the resolution proposed by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Justice Network and passed by ten dioceses for General Convention’s consideration included the provision for a loan from the Economic Justice Loan Committee, reports from the World Bank and other research has caused us to reconsider whether this is a productive way to go.

 

Let’s start with the March 2012 and 2013 reports to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee of the World Bank.

 

The March 2012 report states, ‘Ultimately sustainable economic growth and an end to the fiscal crisis will require unleashing of the Palestinian private sector’s potential.  This in turn necessitates a lifting of Israeli restrictions on access to land, water, a range of raw materials, and export markets.’  To provide a sense of balance, the report continues, ‘But it also requires that the Palestinian Authority improves the business environment and attracts needed investment through such measures as expanding land registration in the West Bank; reforming the current collection of laws governing business; and building its own capacity to regulate the economy and ensure competition.’  The requirements on Palestine seem a mockery when one considers that the West Bank looks like Swiss cheese with the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA) isolated from one another by the Israeli government-controlled military occupation in Area C of the West Bank, annexed East Jerusalem, and Gaza most of whose land border and all of its sea border are controlled by Israel.

 

The March 2013 report states, ‘Following robust GDP growth in recent years, economic activity significantly slowed in 2012.  This slowdown reflects in part the absence of further easing of Israeli restrictions, the withdrawal of fiscal stimulus due to a persistent shortfall in donor aid, and uncertainty created by the PA’s fiscal challenges.’  The report continues, ‘The Oslo Accords of 1993 anticipated an arrangement that would last for a five-year interim period during which a permanent agreement would be negotiated. They did not anticipate the lack of forward movement on the political process that has been experienced with its concomitant economic effects.  This so called status quo belies a process whereby the continuation of restrictions and the absence of real opportunities to open up the Palestinian economy are actually having a lasting negative impact on its overall competitiveness.’

 

Even before the AHLC March 2012 report came out, Palestinians Alaa Tartir, Sam Bahour and Samer Abdelnour called up an alternate vision in an Al Shabaka policy brief Defeating Dependency, Creating a Resistance Economy. In an earlier piece described in the introduction, Sam Bahour ‘exposed the charade played by both Western donors and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to cover up the occupied territory’s inexorable economic meltdown after decades of Israeli military occupation. Arguing that the combined donor-PA approach poses major obstacles to freedom and rights, Bahour concluded: “It’s time for a new economic model, one built on economic justice, social welfare, solidarity, and sustainability.”’ 

 

The Palestinian Authority, mostly under the impetus of the Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, has worked hard to create a viable economy for a future state of Palestine, with the use of international donor money, including US tax dollars.   What is missing is a parallel negotiating track that would actually lead to an equally viable Palestinian State.  For all of Fayyad’s efforts, he has been left holding the bag as Israel has literally made the goal of Statehood less, not more, likely, through its continuing policies of Occupation, including the colonization of land upon which the Palestinians wish to build their State.  The sad conclusion is that positive investment is creating a stronger infrastructure for the Occupation, not for Statehood. 

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) describes an occupying power’s responsibilities: ‘Occupation confers certain rights and obligations on the occupying power.

The duties of the occupying power include restoring and ensuring, as far as possible, public order and safety; providing the population with food and medical supplies; agreeing to relief schemes undertaken by other States or impartial humanitarian organizations if the population is inadequately supplied; maintaining medical facilities and services; ensuring public health and hygiene; and facilitating the work of educational institutions.’

 

Victor Kattan, program director of Al Shabaka, writes about the realities of donor aid, one being that since ‘the beginning of 2011, no fewer than 60 EU-funded [European Union] projects have been demolished while 110 others are currently at risk’.

 

PJN supports the important work of AFEDJ and the GFO, but charity alone will not bring about a just resolution where the two peoples of the Holy Land can live together as equals. For that to happen, the Church needs to embrace its baptismal promise to promote justice and peace.  And positive investment may feel good, but, at the end of the day, may be an instrument of oppression.  We advise caution. 

 

Where are you on this question?

 

Report to the 400+ Supporting VOC

/1 Comment/in /by

[SlideDeck2 id=1440]

A report to the 400 + Episcopalians who supported the Voices of Conscience statement with a Petition to Executive Council.

Introduction

The Steering Committee of the Palestine Justice Network provides this report of  the recent meeting of  Executive Council, February 25-27 in Linthicum, Maryland ,to the petitioners who supported the open Voices of Conscience (VOC) letter to Council.   This report will cover reception of the documents submitted to E.C. and actions taken by Council with respect to TEC’s policy on Palestine/Israel.

Reception of the Documents Submitted to Executive Council

Submitted to Council in good order were the following documents:  VOC statement, petition of support,  Resolution from the Diocese of North Carolina, and a letter from The Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, a Palestinian Episcopal priest and founder of Sabeel, a Jerusalem-based theological center committed to the nonviolent struggle for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

We awaited with hope to hear what Executive Council might say to the distinguished signers of the VOC statement, as well as to you, the 400+ petitioners, the diocese of North Carolina  and Dr. Ateek.

The response from Council, we are sad to report, is that they declined to respond directly to any of the above documents.  There has been no formal acknowledgement of reception at all. There was no public dialogue or discussion of the  questions raised by these documents among Council members.   All requests for testimony from signers of the VOC statement, as well as from PJN observers who were present at the Council meeting, were denied.

Further, in the resolution adopted by Council on Palestine/Israel, no mention is made of these numerous communications.  Nor is there any mention of the chief theme of the VOC statement, the injustice and brutality of the Occupation.  Despite this disappointing response, we are grateful to several members of Council who attempted to engage these communications, and we know a good number of the members of Council and know all of those to be strong proponents of justice.

What Council Did

So, then, what did the Council say in its resolution adopted March 27?  The full text of A&N 008 is available in the Appendix or on the Episcopal Church’s website.  Among other things, Council established a committee to implement General Convention resolution B019, much of which is focused on interfaith activities at the local and national levels and the creation of a bibliography for studying the conflict. Council also announced in the resolution a “positive investment” of $500,000 in the Bank of Palestine.

The Response of the PJN Steering Committee to Council’s Resolution

We would note what we believe are several serious problems for the Council in the resolution they adopted:

1  The Use of U.S. Foreign Aid The resolution by Council appoints a committee to implement only B019 from 2012. It makes short shrift of the other resolution adopted by General Convention in 2012 A015, on the subject of foreign aid, which reaffirmed 1991 A149  “requir(ing) the State of Israel to account to the Government of the United States for all aid to Israel…in compliance with the Foreign Assistance Act.”    Council named by year and number several previous resolutions without providing any text from those resolutions adopted by General Convention and previous Councils.  The conclusion Council drew from that listing is that Israel could not be singled out for accountability of foreign aid as noted in the next paragraph.  Yet when the resolutions are read, that is clearly what General Convention and previous Councils intended!  We list them citing text along with other omitted resolutions in an appendix, with our commentary.

Council goes on to embrace a 2009 document, “Religious Statement on Foreign Assistance Reform,” that was put together by an ecumenical committee as reflecting the true position of the Church, which was never brought forward earlier for adoption by General Convention.  This document was produced to establish guidelines for development aid for poor countries in response to the Millennium Development Goals, which had no bearing on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  From this, Council makes a giant leap to the conclusion that “this policy should be applied through such advocacy toward its universal adherence rather than targeted for selective application to some recipients and not others.” This document, which is fine as a guide for the purposes it mentions, does not address the $3billion of military aid to Israel made annually.  But even if it did, it does not replace prior resolutions of General Convention which clearly single out Israel for special concern over its use of U.S. foreign aid, and clearly call for punitive actions.  In taking these decisions, has Council thwarted the will of GC?

2  The Use of Economic Pressure   Council affirmed the 2005 policy of corporate engagement which looks at Church investments made in companies that may be perpetuating or supporting the infrastructure of the Occupation, among other things. This was a specific request of the Voices of Conscience statement and the diocese of North Carolina. Council then made another huge leap and declared that “this Church does not support boycott, divestment or economic sanctions against the state of Israel nor any application of the Church’s corporate engagement policies toward such ends.”

This is problematic for several reasons.  First, prior resolutions have already called for withholding aid, amounting to a call for sanctions, as cited in Appendix I.  Does Council have the authority to ignore or override those resolutions?

Further, the General Convention of 2012 voted not to consider the issue of Boycott, Divestment or Sanctions (BDS) at that time. But nor did it rule out future consideration.  A resolution, B010, expressly introduced a resolve at that time which would forbid any future consideration of BDS. The National and International Concerns legislative committee decided not to consider this option and discharged it.  The House of Deputies later also rejected a substitute motion proposed by deputies on the floor in favor of BDS.  They adopted, instead, a resolution to affirm corporate engagement, which the House of Bishops then tabled. Thus, the General Convention never took a position on BDS one way or the other.  Has the Council exceeded its mandate?

What does removing BDS from further consideration really mean? Nearly 3000 Palestinian Christians have embraced this nonviolent strategy as a legitimate form of resistance to the oppression of the Occupation.  For most groups, BDS is focused on avoiding economic participation in the Occupation, and is not aimed at infrastructure of the state of Israel itself. The term Boycott, for example, is primarily focused on products made in settlements.  Over 500,000 settlers have taken over prime land and displaced Palestinian communities.  The international community, including the United Nations, considers these settlements illegal, and their presence as an impediment to ending the Occupation with the long held  formula of land for peace, the two state solution.  Even Israel’s closest ally, the United States, agrees with this position.   Thus, products made in those settlements, by obvious extension, would also be illegal.  In fact, Israel places the imprimatur “Made In Israel” on some of those products even when they are clearly made on occupied Palestinian land.  Thus, many advocates critical of settlements have chosen to boycott products made there.  Even Israeli groups like Peace Now support the idea of boycotting these products.  Why is Council foreclosing the Church’s discernment on this issue?

On divestment, is the Church really ready to say that companies in which TEC owns stock can never be considered for removal from its investment portfolio?  For example, bulldozers made by the U.S. based Caterpillar company are used to demolish Palestinian homes, water cisterns, orchards and olive groves, and are a major tool of maintaining the Occupation.  If the Church’s money managers buy stock in this company, why does the Council foreclose the option of divestment from this stock?

Indeed, why has Executive Council chosen to foreclose all consideration of any form of BDS?    

A Final Consideration:   In reaffirming TEC’s long held support for the two state solution, Council glossed over the widespread concern held by many experts, including Israelis as well as Palestinians, that this solution is virtually foreclosed by Israel’s unrelenting settlement policy.  As already noted Council chose to ignore completely the use of the word Occupation.  Why has Council refused to note that Israel is oppressing 4 million Palestinians through the Occupation?  A recently issued report by UNICEF documents the arrest and detention of over 800,000 children over the life of the Occupation.   Just how many of our tax dollars are implicated in sustaining this systemic brutality?

Your Steering Committee submits this report, as bleak as it is, with a commitment to you that we are  doubly determined to continue a witness in our Church for justice to emerge in this intractable conflict.  We are grateful that the VOC statement has invited the whole Church, including its bishops, back to a prophetic witness for justice.  We invite you to continue to join us in this journey.

APPENDIX 1:  Commentary on prior resolutions which Council referred to or overlooked  in A&N008 at its meeting on February 25-27, 2013

A010-2006:  relates to the Millenium Development Goals, not to Israel or Palestine. General Convention did not adopt any resolution on Palestine/Israel(P/I) that year because time ran out.  Instead, the proposed resolution went to Executive Council and was adopted there in November 2006.  The penultimate clause in that resolution relating to U.S. foreign aid was “assurance that no U.S. tax dollars are used, directly or indirectly, to finance the building of the barrier and bypass roads that support the settlements.”  Why did Council refer to A010 2006 which is not about P/I, and leave out the resolution Council adopted in 2006?

A-103 1994: “requires the United States to condition aid to the newly autonomous Palestinian Authority on its abandonment of violence as a tactic of struggle and that the Palestinian police make every effort within their power to apprehend violators; and … requires the United States to condition aid and loan guarantees to Israel on its abandonment of violence as a tactic of civilian control and on the release of all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.”

D-065 1994 (overlooked by Council): “the Episcopal Church recognize that Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace, and, therefore, calls upon the United States government: 1.to withhold funds equivalent to those used by Israel for any settlement activity; and 2.to make those funds available to Israeli settlers leaving the occupied territories for resettlement in pre-1967 Israel and equally for Palestinians accepting the principles of compensation for their lands and homes in Israel.”

D-008 1991: “the Episcopal Church urges the President and the Congress of the United States:  1.to require the State of Israel to account to the Government of the United States for all aid in whatever form that the United States grants to the States of Israel and its instrumentalities in compliance with all sections of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as far as all sections of the Act are applied to Arab governments in the region; and  2. to hold in escrow aid to Israel by an amount equal to any expenditures by the Government of Israel to expand, develop or further establish Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and only release the aid from escrow if proof is given that settlements are not being established. “

Executive Council resolution from February 1995:  Like A010 from 2006, this resolution does not  address the P/I conflict, but rather aid to developing countries as well as many U.S. domestic concerns.  The use of prior resolutions intended to address issues other than Palestine/Israel seems scurrilous.

Despite the presence of the cited language above which clearly calls for Israeli compliance of U.S. law or face withdrawal of aid, Council concluded that they could not be applied to any individual country.  This argument that Israel cannot be singled out for accountability of its use of foreign aid is an opinion that clearly flies in the face of what General Convention has said several times over during the years of its witness to the conflict.

One explanation offered was that Israel cannot be held to a “higher” standard. But the issue is whether Israel is held to the same standard as other nations, including Palestine.  Specifically, it has recently received poor marks from the United Nations Human Rights Commission as well as our own State Department’s annual Human Rights Report.  U.S. law calls for halting aid if countries violate human rights.  So asking Congress or the State Department or the White House to hold Israel accountable is hardly a higher standard.

There is another argument used by Council staff in ignoring prior resolutions.  This argument says older resolutions can become outdated or not be helpful in the present context.  That would be true in the first instance if the Occupation had ended.  But the evidence on the ground is that it gets steadily worse and past policies are needed more than ever.  As to resolutions no longer being helpful, this argument often includes ongoing behind the scenes efforts to promote peacemaking and delicate sensitivities that require confidentiality.  Yet no evidence is cited that progress is being made to end the conflict or the Occupation.  Secrecy is not a very ethical tactic to use as a reason to ignore policies developed through the Church’s legislative process.

 Appendix to PJN/report-to-the-400-supporting-voc

Resolution A&N #008:     Towards a Just Peace for Israelis and Palestinians

Resolved, that the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, meeting February 25-27, 2013 in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, affirms the prophetic witness of the 77th General Convention in calling for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians through Resolution B019, which, building upon 30 years of resolutions, declares “this Church’s support for a negotiated two-state solution in which a secure and universally recognized State of Israel lives alongside a free, viable, and secure state for the Palestinian people, with a shared Jerusalem as the capital of both,” and establishes strategies for the pursuit of that witness; and be it further

Resolved, that the Executive Council affirms and celebrates this month’s recommendation of the Executive Council Economic Justice Loan Committee to invest $500,000 in the Bank of Palestine in response to the recommendation of Resolution B019 of the 77th General Convention, the first such positive investment made by this Church in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and urges dioceses and other entities of this Church prayerfully to consider similar investments; and be it further

Resolved, that the Executive Council affirms that it is the policy of this Church to engage in the constructive corporate engagement policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict adopted by the Executive Council in October 2005 and implemented by the Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility in the intervening years; and further affirms that this Church does not support boycott, divestment, and economic sanctions against the state of Israel nor any application of the Church’s corporate engagement policies toward such ends; and be it further

Resolved, that the Executive Council affirms that it is the policy of this Church, derived through General Convention Resolutions A010 (2006), A103 (1994), A149 (1991), and D008 (1991), and the Resolve of Council “Guiding Principles for Governmental Legislation” (February 1995); that all foreign aid given abroad by the United States government – including aid to Israel and the Palestinians, and to all others in the region and elsewhere – should be comprehensively and transparently accounted to the American people and held to the same standards of compliance with all applicable laws, as advocated during the last two triennia through more than a dozen letters to the Congress sent by the Presiding Bishop and other bishops of this Church and the Office of Government Relations, and embodied in the “Religious Statement on Foreign Assistance Reform,” dated February 2, 2009, adopted by an interreligious coalition co-chaired by the Episcopal Church and repeatedly communicated to the President and the Congress in the intervening years; and further affirms that this policy should be applied through such advocacy toward its universal adherence rather than targeted for selective application to some recipients and not others; and be it further

Resolved, that, in order to assure the effective and thorough implementation of the policies adopted by the 77th General Convention through Resolution B019 and referred to multiple interim bodies, a B019 coordinating committee shall be appointed by March 15, 2013 and shall comprise the following individuals:

(1)     The Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies, as Chair and Vice Chair of the Executive Council (or a designee of each), who shall appoint a convener from among the coordinating committee members;

(2)     The Chair of the Executive Council Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy and Networking for Mission, or one substitute as may be designated by the Committee Chair;

(3)     The Chair of the Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns, or one substitute as may be designated by the Commission Chair;

(4)     The Chair of the Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, or one substitute as may be designated by the Commission Chair;

(5)     One member of the House of Bishops’ Theology Committee, or a designee, as appointed by the Presiding Bishop;

(6)     Such staff of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society as may be designated by the Presiding Bishop; and be it further

Resolved, that this coordinating committee shall seek to conduct business by teleconference and that any other activities, including the consultation of outside experts whose input is deemed necessary by the group, shall be done at the expense of the interim bodies whose members are constituent of this coordinating committee; and be it further

Resolved, that this coordinating committee shall provide a report on its activities to the Executive Council to be included as part of Council’s triennial Blue Book report for the 78th General Convention.

Naim Ateek addresses TEC’s Executive Council

/0 Comments/in /by

The voice of a highly respected Palestinian Christian, the Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, joined the many others asking the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council endorse the October 15 Letter to Congress from 15 American religious leaders.

Feb. 19th 2013

Dear members of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church,

Greetings from Jerusalem!

The political and human rights situation in our country is becoming more dire and desperate.  The government of Israel continues in its unjust policies that daily undermine Palestinian human and political rights.

Recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, presented her findings and recommendations to the twenty-second session of the UN Human Rights Council upon a mission conducted to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian State. The comprehensive report clearly states that Israel’s Settlements violate international law. It calls on Israel to stop immediately the construction of all settlements and outposts, to develop a strategy to reverse their effect, and to repeal all legislation that does not comply with the principle of non-discrimination. (Please see the attached conclusion and recommendations of the report.)

A few months ago, a letter was sent to members of the U.S. Congress which said, “we urge an immediate investigation into possible violations by Israel of the U.S Foreign Assistance Act and the U.S. Arms Export Control Act which respectively prohibit assistance to any country which engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations and limit the use of U.S. weapons to “internal security” or “legitimate self-defense.”  The letter was signed by 15 heads of U.S. churches and church organizations Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic.

We were astounded and saddened at the absent signature of our Episcopal Church.   We could not comprehend the reasons behind the hesitation to sign, since the letter was addressed to the Congress of the United States and what was requested was within the legitimate and legal expectations of Americans.  In fact, the letter reflected the concern of fellow American citizens about the possible violation of U.S. law that could have moral and ethical implications.

Regardless of the reluctance of some of our Jerusalem church leaders, Palestinian Christians, among them Episcopalians, believe that it is important for the church to raise its prophetic voice and do whatever it can against the unjust and oppressive measures of the Israeli government.

In light of the continuing injustice of the occupation, I would like to urge the Executive Council to do what our baptismal vows require of us, as well as what God and our conscience demand for the sake of Palestinian brothers and sisters who are suffering dehumanization.  The Human Rights Council report can be a guide in its recommendations.

Therefore, let me boldly request that you keep the voice of conscience alive, not only to recommend that the letter to Congress be signed, but also to take the matter a step further by, for example, holding a press conference on the Hill in order to challenge the silence and complicity of the people in power vis-à-vis the injustice against the Palestinians.

Let compassion and love move us to do justice to our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Respectfully yours,

The Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, Director

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem.

Grace Saïd’s letter to Bishop Suheil

/0 Comments/in /by

In anticipation of our Church’s Executive Council meeting February 25 – 27, as a Palestinian American and a member of PIN’s Steering Committee, Grace Saïd wrote the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem asking that he encourage Bishop Katharine and the Executive Council to sine the October 5 letter to Congress from 15 religious leaders.

January 31, 2013

Dear Bishop Suheil:

Salamat!   I hope this message finds you well.

I write to you today as an American Episcopalian living in the Diaspora.   As you know, I have strong links to the Diocese of Jerusalem and the people of Palestine.  Like others, I have worked tirelessly to advance the cause of justice and to challenge the current public discourse on Palestine in the US.  I have done this as a volunteer, just as others, Christians and Muslims alike, have done so in their capacity as private citizens and members of faith-based and secular non-profit organizations that support the cause of justice.

In the absence of any results from an endless peace process, the mainline Protestant churches in the US have taken great risks to promote peace through justice between Palestinians and Israelis.  They have done so knowing full well that the backlash from powerful organizations in the US would be unforgiving and relentless.  Yet they have persisted knowing that it is their calling as Christians.

On October 5, 2012 fifteen Christian leaders wrote a courageous and groundbreaking letter to members of Congress requesting a review of military aid to Israel.  The letter was based entirely on US law, which, more often than not, is overlooked when it comes to Israel’s human rights record.

Tragically, the Episcopal Church was not a signatory to the letter.

Last week, a group of prominent Episcopalian clergy and lay members presented “A Prophetic Challenge to the Executive Council .  Coinciding with the Martin Luther King Day commemorations, the letter requested that the Episcopal Church support the October 5 letter of the fifteen leaders.  It also requested that Executive Council move forward with the Episcopal Church’s corporate engagement policy.

Bishop Suheil:  I turn to you now to ask that you join your fellow Episcopalians in urging Bishop Katharine and the Executive Council to sign on to the October 5 letter on behalf of the Episcopal Church. Your opinion is highly valued and respected.  Your voice weighs heavily on all decisions related to Israel/Palestine, even when those decisions deal with purely US domestic issues.   Your support would embolden the Church leadership to work with others in demanding a review of Israel’s use of foreign aid from our government; it may also persuade them to follow approved policy on corporate engagement.

I am certain your voice will be heard loudly and clearly.  It will surely garner much admiration and support from the countless working with you for a just peace.

I understand and appreciate that your primary accountability as Bishop of Jerusalem is to strengthen the institutions of the diocese; I commend you for this and for your efforts to promote those institutions.  However, institutions, no matter what they are, remain hollow if not accompanied by a charge to advocate for the people they are called to serve.

As is well known, and as you know better than any, the situation in the West Bank, Jerusalem and most especially Gaza, has become increasingly intolerable in recent years. The brutality of the occupation, ever more egregious, and the daily indignities suffered by our Palestinian brothers and sisters are mounting with no end in sight.  We can no longer remain silent and pretend that all is well.  We can no longer assume that by being accommodating, we will avoid the scrutiny of those who will do us harm.  We can no longer engage in interfaith dialogue if it deliberately and willfully avoids a discussion of the most basic principles of justice.

Now is the time for bold and daring steps on behalf of the last and the least.

I close by praying that we continue to work together to secure a just peace in the Holy Land.  I ask that you listen to voices such as my own and other Episcopalians working on behalf of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians alike.  We can only move forward if we work together as one body.

In peace,

Grace

Statement of the 2012 African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel

/1 Comment/in /by

STATEMENT OF THE 2012 AFRICAN HERITAGE DELEGATION TO PALESTINE/ISRAEL

On the occasion of Black History Month February 11, 2013

Because of our lived experience of living with and fighting racism, exploitation, and other oppressions in the United States, we are united in our support for civil and human rights of all peoples of the world.

Before going on the 2012 African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel, some of us had a layperson’s understanding of the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian people, while others held an intellectual understanding, but we wanted to get a first‐hand account from members of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, faith‐based groups, civil society and grassroots organizations, as well as other members of the African Diaspora who are in Israel.

Based on our observations and discussions with Palestinians, Israelis and members of the African Diaspora, we have come to the following conclusions:

  • The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are in direct violation of international laws and several United Nations Resolutions;
  • The occupation has led to the physical, psychological and spiritual oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel, as well as the forced expulsion of millions of Palestinians from their homes, farms, businesses and their homeland;
  •  In addition to the illegal occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government, many Israeli businesses and wide members of Israeli society discriminate against Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and against Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Arab descent) who are citizens of Israel;
  • The Israeli occupation and the suppression of Palestinian rights conform to the United Nations definition of Apartheid; and
  •  The Israeli refusal to provide sanctuary to refugees is inconsistent with international law instituted at the proposal of Israel.As a result of our findings and conclusions, we adopted the following resolutions:

1. We call on African Americans and all people of good will to support:

  • An end to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including:

o The removal of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem;
o The dismantling of the apartheid wall; and
o An immediate end to the demolition of Palestinian homes and the destruction of Palestinian property

  • The granting of full equality to all Palestinian citizens and Mizrahi Jewish citizens of Israel; and
  •  The recognition and realization of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and internally displaced Palestinians.
  1. We call for an immediate lifting of the economic and military blockade and siege of Gaza and President Obama to help negotiate a peaceful resolution.
  2. We call for:
    • The humane treatment of Palestinian children and adults in the custody of the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Police;
    •  The release of all political prisoners; and
    • An end to indefinite detentions without trial.
  3. We call for all refuges in Israel, particularly Sudanese, Eritrean, and Ethiopian refugees, to receive the rights and guarantees set out in the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees including the:
    • Right to Work;
    • Right to Education;
    • Right to Housing;
    • Right to Public Relief;
    • Right to not be expelled;
    • Right to not be punished for illegal entry; and
    • For Israel to uphold the Principle of non‐refoulement which prohibits the return of a refugee toa territory where their life or freedom is threatened.
  4. We call for the United States government to cease its military aid of $3 billion of our tax dollars annually to Israel, which, in the name of security, is used to further oppress, harass, maim and kill Palestinians.
  5. We endorse the international campaign calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel in support of Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.
  6. We call on U.S. citizens to join an Interfaith Peace‐Builders delegation and travel to Palestine/Israel to learn about the impact of the Occupation firsthand.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We believe in the indivisibility of our human rights and those of Palestinians and all oppressed peoples. We will not rest until all of humanity is free.

2012 Second African Heritage Delegation Members:

Martha Banks ‐ Fairlawn, Ohio
Daniel Castillo ‐ Los Angeles, California
La Mikia Castillo ‐ Los Angeles, California

Aaron Dixon ‐ Seattle, Washington
Darryl Jordan ‐ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jennifer Lee ‐ Santa Clara, California
Rev. Stephanie Lee ‐ Akron, Ohio
Gilo Kwesi Logan ‐ Evanston, Illinois
Rev. Joi Orr ‐ College Park, Maryland

Melanie Smith ‐ Rosedale, New York

Aisha Truss ‐ Chicago, Illinois
Elandria Williams ‐ Knoxville, Tennessee

Jamie Witter ‐ Atlanta, Georgia

About the 2012 African Heritage Delegation and the Mission:

Interfaith Peace Builders’ Second African Heritage Delegation participated in a study tour to Palestine/Israel on October, 22 – November 3, 2012. We, the members of the delegation, consisted of six men and nine women from 26 to 63 years of age who came from Jamaica, Nigeria, and 11 states of the U.S. including the West Coast, the East Coast, New England, the Midwest and the South. Many of us have worked in support of civil and human rights in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, faith‐based organizations, and professional associations The group included teachers, professors, community organizers, human rights activists, authors, health professionals, researchers, law students, and ministers and lay leaders from Christian, Islamic and Judaic faith traditions.

Our primary mission was to observe, listen and learn about the impact of the Israeli occupation upon the lives and livelihood of Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel, as well as those who have been dispersed throughout the world. Additionally, our aim was to experience the living reality of other members of the African Diaspora who find themselves in Israel. For 12 of us, the tour was our first trip to Palestine/Israel.

Voices of Conscience Petition of Support to go before Executive Council

/1 Comment/in /by

        The Executive Council meets today in Linthicum, MD.

They will receive a list of over 400 Episcopalian names urging them to take a stand for human rights in the Middle East and act on the resolutions brought before General Convention concerning Palestine & Israel.

To read the full text of the petition click  Voices of Conscience Petition of Support .

APPLY NOW!! PIN to send Delegate to Sabeel Global Young Adult Festival ~ JULY 2013

/1 Comment/in /by

The Palestine Justice Network of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship is accepting applications for a young adult delegate to send to the Sabeel Global Young Adult Festival; Aiming for Miracles Through Activism: Moving Mountains, Reshaping the World, held from July 1-6, 2013 in Bethlehem.

The Young Adult Delegate (18-35yrs) would represent EPF’s commitment to working for just peace in Palestine and be expected to report back and continue engagement with the Palestine Justice Network upon return.

This awesome opportunity to experience first-hand the complicated life of occupation is combined with a gathering to meet other activists from around the world, and learn from some of the most progressive activists for peace in this region.

The Palestine Justice Network will sponsor one delegate, and financially support their travel and festival participation.

If you are interested please submit your application by March 1, 2013.

Click here for application.

For more information~click here.

http://www.sabeel.org/

2013 Diocese of North Carolina Resolution on Palestine and Israel

/0 Comments/in /by
On Palestine and Israel:

Resolved, that the Diocese of North Carolina calls the Executive Council to act on the 77th General Conven- tion’s Resolution A015 re-affirming the 70th General Convention Resolution A149 which “require(s) the State of Israel to account to the Government of the United States for all aid to Israel…in compliance with the Foreign Assistance Act” by sending it to Congress with a request to hold hearings to determine that no U.S. funding is being used to deny basic human rights of Palestinians living under occupation, and asks Council to report on its actions to the whole Church by June 2013.
Resolved, that the Diocese of North Carolina asks Executive Council to act on the policy established by Execu- tive Council in October 2005 and determine, through its committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, what investments the Church holds that support the infrastructure of the Occupation and what shareholder actions are contemplated to implement that policy, and asks Council to report its findings to the Church by June 2013.

Explanation: This resolution is meant to call attention to existing policies of General Convention and to urge the Executive Council to oversee all Episcopal Church policies on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as the whole Church prays, yearns and witnesses for a just peace for all the people of the Holy Land.

 

A Prophetic Challenge to the Executive Council

/19 Comments/in /by

As the issues it addresses are of deep concern to us, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Justice Network is hosting the following letter.  It was, however, generated exclusively by those who are its signatories.

Episcopal Voices of Conscience

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 21, 2013

A Prophetic Challenge to the Executive Council

“No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’”-  Martin Luther King , Jr. August 28, 1963  Washington, D.C.

Today as we celebrate the life and witness of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., we affirm once more that we will continue to build on his dream of a fully inclusive America, “where we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Today we also want to invoke Dr. King’s call for justice on the land where Jesus lived his earthly ministry, the holy land that is precious to all Jews, Christians, and Muslims – the people of Abraham. We affirm that God intends for Israeli Jews and Palestinians to live together in a just peace. Dr. King reminds us that justice must be the arbiter of this conflict, and we add that truth must be its accompanist. This is the justice Jesus called for when he said, “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, … to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

Just as this church stood with South Africa and Namibia during the dark days of Apartheid, so we recognize that we need to be standing with our sister and brother Palestinians who have endured an Apartheid that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has described as worse than it was in South Africa.  All peoples who have experienced oppression, including indigenous peoples who have known what it is to be dispossessed of their land, understand the Palestinian issue.

Israel must be held accountable for allowing an occupation for 45 years that suffocates the dreams of freedom that Palestinians hold every bit as much as African Americans sought on that day when Dr. King told the world that he had a dream. Occupation cannot be justified as a tool of security. Occupation is its own form of violence, a prescription for frustration and rage among those shackled under its harsh restraints.

We ask the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church to look carefully at the full body of our Church’s policy on Israel and Palestine, and to implement those policies whenever the opportunity arises. The Episcopal Church General Convention held in July, 2012, adopted resolution A015 which reads in part: “Resolved, That that the General Convention reaffirms Resolution 1991 – A149, “Urge a Full Accounting of the Use of Foreign Aid to the Middle East,” adopted by the 70th General Convention,” which reads in part:  “require(s) the State of Israel to account to the Government of the United States for all aid to Israel…in compliance with the Foreign Assistance Act.”

As elected leaders of The Episcopal Church, we ask Executive Council to:

  • Immediately send a message to Congress that the Episcopal Church supports our 15 ecumenical colleagues, who include the church leadership of the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and United Church of Christ denominations, that wrote to Congress October 5, 2012, calling for accountability of Israel’s use of foreign aid from our government. The voice of The Episcopal Church is woefully missing in the request our colleagues made to Congress.
  • Immediately move forward with our Church’s corporate engagement policy so that our financial resources are not being used to support the infrastructure of this suffocating occupation. 
  • We respectfully ask for a public accounting of the Executive Council’s work on these matters no later than the meeting of Council June 8-10, 2013.    

The truth that is so readily seen worldwide, except among our nation’s leaders, is that Israel imposes a matrix of control over the occupied Palestinian territories, locating Jewish settlements on prime Palestinian land, building segregated roads forbidden to Palestinians to connect the settlers to Israel proper, erecting a wall that causes havoc in the daily lives of Palestinians and serves as another pretext to occupy yet more land. We see check points that are used to control the movements of people on their own land where tactics of bullying, intimidation, and detention are practiced; and where the demolition of homes and the uprooting of olive tree orchards are commonplace causing further humiliation and insult, along with the destruction of livelihoods. We see what was once Palestinian East Jerusalem being subsumed through Israel’s settlement policy. We see the teeming population of Gaza held under confinement on land, in the air, and at sea.

We ask today why is it that Congress and the White House are unable to see the injustice of the occupation, where Israel is the oppressor, and the Palestinians the oppressed? Why is it that our government could not recognize the rights of Palestinians to status as a non-member observer state at the United Nations? Why do our country’s leaders embarrass us as a nation by being on the short end of the UN vote, 138-9, and expose our irrational bias? We are mystified that Washington lives in a bubble of unreality in its blind support of an immense injustice perpetrated every day on the Palestinian people, and foments anger across the Middle East and the world.

Just as Dr. King spoke to the throngs on the Mall of our nation’s Capitol so, too, do his words ring true for Palestinians: “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.  And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

We believe, as does our Church, in the right of the state of Israel to exist, and we are aware of the threats against it from multiple sources, which saddens and concerns us. We assure all Jews in Israel and everywhere that we too share a commitment to Israel’s security and peace even as we insist that the state of Israel end this miserable occupation, which diminishes both the oppressed and the oppressor.  We affirm our commitment to non-violence and reject the use of violence from either side. We oppose the indiscriminate use of rockets fired into Israeli communities as we oppose bombs being dropped on Gaza by Israeli fighter jets. We affirm the right of Israel to be at peace with her neighbors, but insist it be through the prism of justice as we believe Dr. King would insist.

As our Church stated in 1991, we differentiate between anti-Semitism, which we abhor, and legitimate criticism of the state of Israel, especially as Israel imposes an unjust system of occupation upon another people. We affirm the right of Palestinians to non-violent resistance to the occupation just as African Americans resisted the inhumanity of Jim Crow and segregation.

And just as Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, we hear from Palestinians who have a dream. We hear from Israeli Jews of goodwill that share that dream. May both peoples dream as Martin Luther King, Jr. did: “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

We turn to our elected Church leaders, the Executive Council, to take up the mantle of justice and truth and undertake the long standing witness The Episcopal Church has made over these last three decades.  We ask you, our elected leaders, to give voice to our long held policies, remembering that the arc of history bends towards justice.

Signed- Titles are for identification purposes only and do not imply organizational endorsement

Canon Bonnie Anderson, D.D., President of the Episcopal Church House of Deputies, 2006-2012

Owanah Anderson, citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

The Right Reverend Edmond L. Browning, former Presiding Bishop, 1986-1997, Current President of Sabeel, North America

Patti Browning , wife of Edmond Browning and long time activist for Palestinian justice

The Right Reverend Steven Charleston, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, retired

The Right Reverend Leo Frade, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida

The Reverend Canon Brian J. Grieves, former Peace and Justice Officer, The Episcopal Church 1988-2009

The Very Rev. Gary Hall, Dean, Washington National Cathedral

Diane B. Pollard, Senior Deputy to General Convention, Diocese of New York, 1979 – 2012

The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, retired, current Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC

The Reverend Canon Edward Rodman, John Seeley Stone Professor of Pastoral Theology and Urban Ministry, Episcopal Divinity School

The Reverend Winnie Varghese, Rector, St. Mark’s in- the-Bowery, New York, Executive Council 2006-2012

Supported by Internationals endorsers:

Dr. Jenny Te Paa – Dean, Te Rau Kahikatea, St. Johns College, Auckland, New Zealand

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu – Archbishop Emeritus, Cape Town, Patron of Sabeel, International

PJN’s First Two Years: Taking Stock, Getting our Bearings

/1 Comment/in /by

Taking Stock, Getting our Bearings

The Palestine Justice Network, Episcopal Peace Fellowship

January, 2013

  Friends,

PJN is two years old this month.  It’s time to look at what we’ve done, what we’ve learned and to look ahead to where we want to go.

No one would yet describe the Episcopal Church’s witness for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis as uniformly “robust”, the adjective PJN used to describe its mission.  But we’ve provided a focus for those in our church who care deeply about the Palestinian and Israeli people and have been laboring in this vineyard for many years.   We’ve provided significant education, widened and deepened the circle of awareness and, with others, advocated for an end to uncritical U.S. support of Israel.

What we’ve done …

  • edited and published the 2011 updated version of IPMN’s Steadfast Hope: The Palestinian Quest for Just Peace, continue to distribute it widely throughout TEC and have used it in study groups in many dioceses;
  • provided support for 10 dioceses to pass a resolution calling on the 2012 General Convention to pursue a just peace in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict through education and advocacy;
  • met with Bishop Katharine and Alex Baumgarten prior to GC to discuss our differing perspectives on TEC’s role in promoting a just peace;
  • provided a strong presence at the GC, distributing copies of Steadfast Hope to all bishops and deputies; with support from the Palestinian Advisory Council, presented 40+ testimonies, including Jewish and Palestinian Christian witnesses, supporting the PJN resolution to the National/International Concerns Legislative Committee;
  • joined others at the September, 2012 U.S. Campaign Organizers’ meeting in St Louis in strengthening interfaith and interdenominational collaboration;
  • collaborated with interfaith/denominational partners to invite strong grassroots support for the 15 Christian religious leaders’ Letter to Congress asking it hold Israel accountable for human rights violations and violating the U.S. Export Arms Control Act;
  • addressed Bishop Katharine in an Open Letter, pointing to existing church policy supporting the content of the Letter to Congress and encouraging her to add her signature;
  • contributed to the 15,000+ signatures in support of the 15 religious leaders announced at a November press conference in Washington, DC;
  • published a powerful argument for dialogue and advocacy by the former Peace and Justice officer for TEC, Brian Grieves, in an article titled “Balance and Dialogue as a Substitute for Advocacy and Justice?”;
  • joined Presbyterian, United Methodist, Quaker, Unitarian Universalist and UCC organizations, FOSNA, JVP, the US Campaign and others supporting a boycott of SodaStream, a popular product manufactured in an illegal Israeli settlement on the West Bank. This call to boycott offers practical action steps building on the April 2010 statement by EPF’s National Executive Council in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions:  BDS ‘can inspire a more useful dialogue and negotiation towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.’

What we’ve learned …

  • While PJN and Bishop Katharine both strive to see an end to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, PJN differs strongly in what is necessary to achieve it.  The Presiding Bishop emphasizes interfaith dialogue which, when it includes discussion of the most difficult issues, can be very useful.  When it does not, it distracts from the work of justice.  The bishop of Jerusalem, somewhat understandably, concentrates mostly on his stewardship of the diocese’s 30+ institutions.  Overall Episcopal Church policy is strongly justice oriented as it has developed over the past 33 years, and PJN supports that approach, especially ending the Occupation and advocating for just policies from the U.S. government.
  • Strategic education and organizing are necessary if we want to pass robust legislation at a General Convention. Focussed efforts are needed to identify and support bishops who will publicly endorse this legislation. Those who oppose legislation as TEC passed in earlier years are strong and well organized.
  • Expanding PJN’s leadership base in all directions, particularly among young adults, is essential.
  • While many Episcopalians are aware of the injustice that characterizes the occupation, many more are not – or, if they are, they feel impotent to effect it. Moving people from awareness to advocacy and action remains a challenge. Local organizing is a priority; as is developing more effective communication through social media.
  • Working in concert with other faith and secular communities committed to challenging American foreign policy and supporting non-violent resistance to the occupation multiplies our effectiveness.
  • The silence largely observed in interfaith dialogue regarding Israeli government policies was effectively broken by the the October, 2012 Letter to Congress from 15 religious leaders, opening new possibilities for advocacy.
  • Organizing, educating, motivating for advocacy and action is hard work and the key to achieving PJN’s goal of a robust witness for just peace in the Holy Land.  Local leadership needs to be encouraged and supported in every diocese.
  • There is a pressing need to advocate for implementing existing church policy such as corporate engagement and the 1991 resolution, reaffirmed at the 2012 GC, requiring the State of Israel “…to account to the Government of the United States for all aid to Israel …in compliance with the Foreign Assistance Act.”

Where we’re going …

  • We don’t know yet.  But we plan to figure it out.  We’re drawing together a leadership group of 35 people from across the country in mid-March for two days of planning.  From that meeting we expect to set goals and design strategies, widen leadership and involve everyone who is willing.  We’ll let you know all about it in early April.
  • We finished the year in good financial shape.  We want to use some of our resources to make financial assistance available to young adults to attend conferences in this country and take witness trips to Palestine/Israel.  We will use our funds to cover EPF administrative costs, for publications, PJN leadership and membership meetings and some travel costs.  We will consider making a small grant to a Palestinian organization, symbolizing our support for non-violent resistance to the occupation.
  • As we set new goals and strategies for PJN at the March meeting, we will need your continuing financial support.  If you have not already, PLEASE renew your 2013 EPF membership with a pledge of monthly support, designating 25% of that pledge to PJN.

Finally, we want to express our thanks for the remarkable support so many have provided in these first two years.  To EPF – Jackie Lynn, Sara Filipiak, Linda Gaither, many others – who made it possible for PJN to launch and develop an organization.  To the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN – Presbyterian Church, USA) for their generosity in allowing us to edit and publish an Episcopal edition of Steadfast Hope. To so many of you who provided the financial support necessary to edit and publish Steadfast Hope and to administer the organization.

Jackie and Sara have made an almost seamless transition to Allison Liles as interim Executive Director and to Shannon Berndt as membership services director.  And Linda Gaither has overseen all this as NEC Chair, providing invaluable support to PJN’s leadership.

This comes with deep gratitude for the many who have educated, advocated, acted boldly over these two years and who share the hope of a just peace for our Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters.  May 2013 move us – or may we move 2013 – closer to that goal.

PJN Steering Committee: Ann Coburn, Cotton Fite, Linda Gaither, Brian Grieves, Donna Hicks, Ed LaMonte, Allison Liles, Grace Said, Newland Smith, Cabell Tennis, Jessie Vedanti

Christmas Message from Bishop Younan, ELCJHL

/0 Comments/in /by

 

Peace graphic

As I sit down to write my Christmas message during this Advent season, there are no words that touch me more deeply than these words from Isaiah chapter 40, “Comfort, O Comfort my people, says your God.” During this time I have been moved by the emotions associated with the beginning of life and the end of life, of birth and death. And I am very much aware that life begins and ends with a need for comfort. And in between, there is enough pain and suffering to go around, for people to cry out, “We are all like grass that withers, and flowers that fade.”

We have once again experienced warfare and death with the eight-day war in southern Israel and Gaza. Though a ceasefire has now been announced, we still feel the burden of a war in which there are no winners, in which people on both sides suffer from physical and emotional wounds and are in need of comforting, a war in which the survivors themselves feel the pain of loss and need to be comforted. Even though we are at a distance in Jerusalem, we have all been shaken by the images of families running to bomb shelters afraid, images of the dead and wounded, images of the rubble. We are moved so much by such tragedy, that it would seem that the words of the Book of Lamentations prevail where there is “no one to comfort her” (Lamentations 1:9, 17, 21).

The reality that our people are facing is that “All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field” (Isaiah 40:6), and we shed our tears at the human condition. How can we feel optimistic in a world of such suffering? Anyone in their right mind would offer only a pessimistic prognosis and throw up their hands in a feeling of helplessness. Anyone in their right mind would question whether those scarred by the fresh wounds of war would relate to this word of comfort. Anyone in their right mind would ask if mere words will keep the refugees warm in the face of the cold winter rains. Yet we are reminded that this is not the only reality. “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever” (verse 8).

“Comfort, comfort you my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem that her warfare has ended, that she has received pardon.”

We need that word of comfort, offered by the prophet Second-Isaiah. We need to hear the assurance that our sins are pardoned, that there will be no more suffering, no more war, no more bloodshed. The word of comfort consoles us: Rahamu, Rahamu Ammi (Comfort, Comfort my people.) The promise that we are indeed God’s people and that God is in control. That God offers a word of mercy and grace. That this indeed is a word of comfort, and not merely an illusion.

“Speak to her that her warfare is ended,” says the prophet. Yet is this reality? How can this be reality when the politicians announced merely a ceasefire, and not an authentic end to violence, to bombing, to killing? How can this be a reality when all the analysts conclude that the only winners in the recent fighting have been the wielders of weapons and the belief that negotiations and diplomacy are no match for weapons when it comes to solving conflict? How can this be when both sides are busy once again building up their weapons arsenals? How can this be reality—this announcement that her warfare is ended—when there are threats that the killing will resume? We, in this country, are not in need of weapons, missiles, and Patriots. We are in need of justice and security. The real comfort will come into being when swords are turned into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. “Comfort, Comfort my people,” we long to hear these words, yet how will our people listen, when the facts on the ground seem to speak of another reality?

The Middle East and the whole world was excited when on November 29 Palestine was accepted as a non-member state of the United Nations. This is a step in the right direction to keep the zeal for the two-state solution alive, and we hope that other constructive steps may be taken that security and justice would finally exist for Palestinians and Israelis.

We are now beginning the third year of the Arab Awakening, a movement which began as a quest for freedom, for human dignity, for the recognition of human rights including women’s rights. Many of us watched with interest as the awakening spread from one country to the next. Many cried out a word of encouragement, and also a word of comfort, concerned how these developments might proceed. Like the birth of a newborn child, it would seem such a movement would need the loving tender care, as it faced the challenges of this world and as it grew, like a child beginning to crawl and then to walk. In some places, the awakening saw signs of encouragement and progress. In others, it would seem that the movement has been hijacked by forces of the old order, of oppression and violence, of restrictions on human liberty and of a growth of extremism and intolerance. Once again Egypt is struggling to find its way, repeating some of the events of Tahrir Square from two years ago. “Comfort, comfort you, my people,” the prophet wants to shout.

And in Syria, the death toll has now reached over fifty thousand, and fear rules the day with escalating violence, and rumors of possible imminent use of chemical weapons. Like the exiles in Babylon addressed by Second Isaiah, now over a million persons are homeless, many seeking shelter in refugee camps like the one at Za’atri inside the border of Jordan. During my late September visit to the camp, along with the General Secretary of LWF, the Rev. Martin Junge, when seeing families with over half of the residents under the age of 18 years, when considering their loss and their struggle to survive, and when becoming aware of their vulnerability with the approaching cold winter rains, words failed me, except to say with Second Isaiah, “Comfort, Comfort, my people,” says our God.

As I sit in Jerusalem this Christmas season, I hear the drums of war sounding so much louder than the trumpets of peace.

I fear that people today are placing more faith in violence and weapons to solve the conflicts of the Middle East than peaceful, non-violent means.

I fear that hatred is proliferating and the urge for revenge and counter-revenge have made their way deep into the hearts of so many people.

I fear that extremist ideas are spreading as if they were a virtue.

I fear that the leaders of the world no longer hold the vision, the courage, and the resolve to seek solutions that will endure.

I ask myself, do these words of comfort continue to make sense in our world today? Do people see that the route that is taken—that the whole Middle East is taking us—is one of peril?

I am once again reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warning, “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”

As a Church in the Middle East we say, That is not our way! Wake up, politicians! Wake up, leaders of the world! Listen again to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Our reliance on weapons and violence will only lead to more hatred and more tragedy. World leaders must assume responsibility to a non-violent preferential option. Now is still the time to find peaceful, non-violent solutions before it is too late. This is the reason that Jesus was incarnated in Bethlehem to bring true peace.

Our ELCJHL continues to commit itself to work for peace based on justice, and reconciliation based on forgiveness. Our ELCJHL continues to educate its youth in peace education and conflict resolution. Our ELCJHL continues to preach a word of hope. Even if we swim against those terrible waves, we announce to the world that our way will always be one of non-violence, that our way will always promote moderation, that our way will always teach respect for the other, that our way will always seek to see the image of the Babe in Manger in the other, that our ways will continue to raise up generations that seek peace.

Peace between Palestinians and Israelis is still possible and justice is still possible. History remembers those who work for peace, not those who merely talk about peace. Courageous and bold steps must be taken for the sake of humanity. This is the reason Jesus taught us, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

The season of Christmas takes us to Bethlehem where the word become flesh, where God bridges the gap between the two realities, offering hope in the place of optimism, offering the fulfillment of God’s promises, especially when we are let down by the world’s disappointing failures. We are drawn to the manger and the child sent by God to bring comfort to a world of suffering and pain, a world of tragedies and disasters, a world of loneliness and sorrow. And in the words of Jesus, grown to adulthood and on the eve of his own death, “I will pray to the father and he will send another Comforter. . . the Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:16-17) This spirit continues to work in messengers of comfort within our world today. This spirit continues to motivate us, the Arab Christians of the Middle East, to strive untirelessly on the path for peace.“Comfort, O comfort my people,” says our God.

Because of Christmas, the incarnation of the eternal Word of God, I am neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but I have hope. I have hope because Jesus was born in our broken world, in the midst of turmoil, similar to what we experience even though Jesus found a place to incarnate. Jürgen Moltmann, the theologian of hope, reminds us of the essence of hope: “I tried to present the Christian hope no longer as such an ‘opium of the beyond’ but rather as the divine power that makes us alive in this world.” This is none other than the Comforter described by Second Isaiah.

That Comforter makes our words of comfort come alive, as we act in our world to prepare the way of the Lord.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we bind up the wounds of the injured and hold the hand of those grieving.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we condemn all acts of violence and oppose every kind of extremism.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we provide shelter for the homeless and winter boots for refugee children.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we work for justice with one standard for the whole world.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we call on politicians to repent of their policies of self- interest and ask them to pursue the ways of peace.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we make education the highest priority that our children may learn respect for the other.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we uphold the human rights of all and defend the freedoms of speech, expression, and religion.

We prepare the way of the Lord when we give others a reason to hope.

And when we prepare the way of the Lord, we offer those words of consolation from Isaiah 40, “Comfort, comfort my people.”

We prepare the way of the Lord who becomes our Immanuel, God with us, so that we pray the prayer of St. Patrick:

Christ be with me,

Christ within me,

Christ behind me,

Christ before me,

Christ beside me,

Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort

And restore me.

May this word of comfort speak to your hearts as you prepare the way of the Lord.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year in 2013

وكل عام وأنتم وعائلاتكم بألف خير

Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan

The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Susan Landau: Thou Shalt Not Bulldoze Thy Neighbor’s House

/1 Comment/in /by

(A presentation given at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Philadelphia, St. Nicholas Day, December 9, 2012)

THOU SHALT NOT BULLDOZE THY NEIGHBOR’S HOUSE

By Susan Landau

Thank you for inviting me to be here with you on St. Nicholas Day.  The Church of St. Martin in-the Fields is an inspiring example of how a community of faith can promote awareness and respond to injustice in Israel-Palestine.   Your ongoing commitment to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem makes life livable for so many Palestinians in need.  The extensive scope of your work in supporting hospitals, health clinics, schools, parishes, and service organizations in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan demonstrates humanitarian aid at its very best.

As Christians and Jews, we are in this together. I have come to understand that it is important for Christians to hear Jews talk openly about the injustice in Israel-Palestine. Many of you have Jewish friends with whom it is difficult for you to have these conversations.  They may disagree with the perspective I will offer.   I know that.  And you know that there is no consensus within the American Jewish community on Israel.  Marc Ellis, renowned Jewish liberation theologian, refers to people like me as Jews of conscience.   We, Jews of conscience, count on Christian allies like you to speak truth and move this work forward.

Toward that end, know this: It is NOT anti-Semitic to criticize the policies and actions of the Israeli government and to demand that Israel comply with international law.

I was raised in and embraced the ethical tradition of Judaism.  The concept of mitzvoth, that commands we love all our neighbors as ourselves, is the bedrock of Judaism.  The Torah teaches that human beings are created B’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God.  That’s how I see the world.  You do, too, right?  Our interfaith work is grounded in our common humanity.   All human beings are equally worthy of respect, dignity and love.

For Jews, the overarching framework for social justice is found in two Hebrew words: g’milut hasadim and tikkun olam.  G’milut hasadim, is defined ‘acts of caring’, such as direct help to people in need.  Tikkun olam, literally translated means ‘repair of the world’, which entails advocating for structural (political) change.  We make a distinction between these two ways to respond to injustice.

Some examples may help to illustrate how this works:  Providing temporary shelter such as through the Interfaith Hospitality Network, offering food as do programs like Meals on Wheels and soup kitchens are examples of g’milut hasadim.  On the other hand, Heeding God’s Call, anti-fracking advocacy are examples of tikkun olam.  The New Sanctuary movement has elements of both.  Escorting immigrants to detention hearings (accompaniment) would be g’milut hasadim; advocacy to pass the Dream Act would be an example of tikkun olam.

With this in mind, I’d like to use our time together to consider how faith informs one’s relationship to the peoples and place of Israel-Palestine. Three questions emerge:

  1. What do you see?
  2. How do you frame what you see?
  3. How does this understanding inform the choices you make about whether and how you will respond to the situation?

Question Number One: What do you see?  Whether or not you have been on a delegation and seen the situation first-hand, and/ or participated in the Steadfast Hope course…

In November the world watched in horror as images flooded the newspapers and television –targeted assassination, rockets fired into southern Israel, Israel’s bombs descending on Gaza, destruction, death, terrorized children, under-equipped overly-crowded hospital rooms, grief, pain, and suffering for Israelis and Palestinians.  Humanitarian need in Gaza, already off the charts due to the blockade, rose exponentially.   Without question, humanitarian aid was and is essential to maintain even a modicum of level of subsistence for the people in Gaza.

Now zoom out, the context is political.  Two nationalisms competing for land and resources, an Israeli military occupation of Palestine well funded by US tax dollars, resistance by Palestinians.

Violence on all sides.  And the land is holy.  And the people are, too.  All the land and all the people.

Question Number Two: How do you frame what you see?  A frame is a way of seeing the world, of making sense out of information, a worldview. I offered a values frame of G’milut hasadim and tikkun olam.  Consider others:

  • How does the Gospel Mandate for peacemaking frame your understanding of what you see?
  • Or consider the frame of competing nationalisms?  What are the implications of the fact that the indigenous population lost rights to their land and resources, and that the process continues to this day?
  • Or the framework of international law and human rights in which the Geneva Conventions and numerous UN resolutions frame the debate?
  • Or the frame of civil rights.  In October a delegation of civil rights organizers who worked with MLK, including historian Vincent Harding and Dorothy Cotton, along with Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbi Emeritus of Mishkan Shalom and others, traveled to Palestine to meet with grassroots organizers.  Together they launched the idea of framing of the Palestinian struggle as the civil rights movement of our time.

Question Number Three: How does your understanding inform the choices you make about if and how you will respond to the situation? Given your frame, how do you respond to the suffering in Palestine?

Humanitarian aid is straightforward and uncomplicated.  It’s g’milut hasadim.  Providing food, medical aid, and insuring education absolutely alters lives.  Yet humanitarian aid falls short of altering the relationships of power that control people, land, resources, and the economy.  These are political issues; they too must be addressed.

It is our responsibility to understand and to acknowledge what is at the core of the problem – political realities of occupation, collective punishment and siege.  As people of faith, we readily identify basic rights and respond to basic needs- the right to education, the need for blankets, books, and medicine.  But borders and bombs must also find their way into our conversations.

Here’s why – as Americans, we provide tax aid to Israel that builds and maintains the infrastructure of occupation that creates the humanitarian crisis.  We are complicit.   U.S. military aid given to Israel is used to oppress Palestinians.  U.S. aid builds illegal settlements, the wall, provides cluster bombs and white phosphorous for assassinations and warfare, and electronic surveillance at checkpoints.  Private corporations such as Caterpillar and multi-national corporations such as Hewlett Packard profit from Palestinian suffering by providing everything from bulldozers for home demolitions, to high tech systems used to monitor and control Palestinians at checkpoints, and more.

Unless we address both human need and the political context, we maintain the status quo. Consider the Free Gaza Movement’s repeated attempts to Break the Siege of Gaza by sending flotillas – ships such as the Free Gaza, the Liberty, Mavi Marmara.  Their mission was not only to deliver humanitarian aid to an imprisoned population starving under brutal Israeli policies of occupation and blockade, but also to create an international spectacle.

For example, in South Africa the strategy “If people see what is going on, they will act” was used by the international community in supporting the ANC to bring apartheid to an end. The popular slogan “The whole world is watching,” galvanized ordinary citizens to act in support of the rights of black South Africans.  Similarly, the global movement for a just peace in Israel-Palestine uses media to draw public attention to Israel’s violations of international law.  It took a long time, but apartheid ended.  And churches were at the fore of that movement.

How does faith shape our response to the people and land of Israel-Palestine?  My answer is “Thou shalt not bulldoze thy neighbor’s house.”  Let me explain… In 2003 twenty-three year old American peace activist and International Solidarity Movement member Rachel Corrie died in Gaza.  She was murdered by an Israeli soldier commandeering a Caterpillar bulldozer as she was protesting a policy of the Israeli government – the demolition of Palestinian homes.  Rachel wasn’t in Gaza providing food or blankets.  House demolitions are a violation of Palestinian human rights.  Rachel’s protest was a political act.

Tikkun olam – fix what is broken in the world.  I stand with the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, ICAHD, in advocating for the fundamental rights of Palestinians by vehemently protesting the policy of home demolitions. And I promote the boycott of and divestment from Caterpillar, the company that sells the bulldozers that knowingly will be weaponized in Israel for precisely this purpose.

Guided by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s teaching, “Few are guilty, all are responsible,” my faith inspires me to stand for justice.  My response to a world that is broken is Tikkun olam.  Being an activist for justice for all people in Israel-Palestine is a sacred expression of what it means for me to be a Jew.

Today many Christians are mobilizing their communities around Kairos Palestine, 2009, a document to the world from Palestinian Christians about what is happening in Palestine.  This again follows in the tradition of the South African Kairos document launched in 1985 as a significant tool in the struggle against oppression.  Kairos South Africa, “A Challenge to the Church,” begins, “This is Kairos, the moment of grace and opportunity, the favorable time in which God issues a challenge for decisive action.”

Likewise, Kairos Palestine is a word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.  It is an appeal to Christians to support initiatives proposed by Palestinians, such as the 2005 Call by Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law.  Bishop Dawani is an original signatory to this document.  A more recent initiative, Kairos USA, 2012, is intended to mobilize churches in the United States to respond faithfully and boldly to the situation in Israel-Palestine.  Among its authors is Rev. Cotton Fite of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship/Palestine Justice Network.

These are some brave initiatives within the Episcopal Church:  In addition to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, The Palestine Justice Network of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship provides valuable resources.  Among its projects has been promoting and making available the Steadfast Hope curriculum.

However, there is still much work to be done.  A few weeks ago, a number of concerned U.S. religious leaders wrote a letter to Congress asking for scrutiny into how US aid is used, specifically whether Israel is in violation of the Foreign Assistance Act and the US Arms Export Control Act.  The gist of the letter was that U.S. military assistance given without accountability or conditions maintains Israel’s military occupation of Palestine.  Both laws prohibit assistance to any country which engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations.  The Arms Export Control Act further limits use of U.S. weapons to internal security and legitimate self-defense, both of which have been questioned in Operation Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud, the recent invasions into Gaza.  Sadly, the Episcopal Bishop did not sign this letter.

How is this to be understood?  What is to be done?  As American citizens it is essential that we hold our government to the standard of its own laws.  As people of faith, we are called to respond to injustice.  Communities of faith must hold leadership accountable.  The church has a critical role in Israel-Palestine, as it did in the civil rights movement and in ending Apartheid South Africa.  Different situations, yes – but in each situation, injustice necessitated a political response.

What do you see? What is your frame for understanding what you see? And, what will be your relationship to this injustice?

Susan Landau is an activist, organizer, and founding member of Christian-Jewish Allies of Greater Philadelphia.   Susan participates in interfaith teaching teams offering The Steadfast Hope educational curriculum on Israel-Palestine in local church communities. She helped to found American Jews for a Just Peace and its Philadelphia chapter, Philadelphia Jews for a Just Peace (PJJP).  Through her work with the Philly BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) coalition, she helped to launch the local boycott against Sabra Hummus and Tribe Hummus.  In addition to her longtime career as a psychotherapist, Susan has worked as a Jewish educator, committed to creating honest curriculum on 1948 and the Nakba which makes the distinction between Judaism and Zionism.  She is an involved member of Congregation Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia, PA.

Palestine Justice Network | Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved

2045 West Grand Ave, Suite B #40058, Chicago, IL 60612-1577

info@epfpjn.org

LOGIN