The Palestine Israel Network (PJN) of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) calls attention to a
recent decision by the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) not to hear an ACLU appeal of
Arkansas Times v. Waldrip. We call for the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) to issue an
Action Alert, and for members of the Church to contact their state legislators. The decision,
which may appear insignificant at first glance, deserves notice because the reference case is an
attempt to criminalize the right to engage in boycott as a form of dissent against injustices, and
specifically seeks to target and debilitate the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)
movement directed at the state of Israel.
The authority for response is the 80 th General Convention resolution C013 that opposes
“legislation that penalizes or criminalizes support for all nonviolent boycotts, divestment and/or
sanctions, especially on behalf of Palestinian human rights, as an infringement of First
Amendment rights.”
Here is the background. On February 21, SCOTUS opted not to review a ruling by the Eighth
Circuit Court of Appeals on the following case. In 2018, the publisher of the Arkansas Times
refused to sign a state law-mandated pledge not to boycott the state of Israel on the basis that
the pledge violated free speech. Overruling its own appeals panel, the full Eighth Circuit Court
ruled that such a requirement is constitutional, letting the Arkansas law stand. In refusing to
hear the case, the SCOTUS decision leaves federal law unsettled. Although similar legal actions
in Kansas, Texas, Georgia, and Arizona have ruled in favor of allowing the right to boycott, the
SCOTUS decision leaves approximately 30 punitive state laws and executive orders in place.
Analysts point out that the SCOTUS decision does not imply a position on the issue, but rather
may reflect a desire to wait for additional lower court rulings before taking it on. Attempts have
also been made to pass federal anti-boycott laws, but so far have been unsuccessful.
There are even broader implications of these cases. Over time, the success at passing state laws
aimed at protecting Israel from criticism has spawned a series of anti-boycott laws aimed at
other issues; for example, boycotts of the fossil fuel and firearms industries, boycotts of
companies that fail to offer reproductive health care or gender affirming care, and boycotts of
companies that fail to meet workplace diversity and equity criteria.
But there is still more to this story – a great deal more.
Economic boycott is a time-honored, non-violent method of overturning deep societal wrongs;
for example, strikes and boycotts on behalf of farm workers led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores
Huerta; the Montgomery bus boycott; and the international boycott that led to the end of
South African apartheid. That tradition is being turned on its head by this peculiar spate of anti-
boycott laws that seek to make exception of criticizing the state of Israel.
Generally, the rationale here has three components, each one weighted with misinformation
and misunderstanding. The first is that the state of Israel inhabits a unique place on the world
stage and must be free of responsibility or accountability to international law either because of
its geopolitical importance to the U.S. and many European governments or to a particular

status derived from Biblical mythology. The former manifests in the U.S. “iron-clad relationship”
that devotes billions of dollars annually to Israel and provides diplomatic protection from U.N.
resolutions and sanctions. The latter is espoused and heavily supported and financed by the
distorted theology of Christian Zionism.
The second rationale for the legislation is that criticism of Israel is an expression of anti-
semitism. Again, The Episcopal Church is on record on this point. In 1991, resolution D122
recognized “that a distinction exists between the propriety of legitimate criticism of Israeli
governmental policy and action and the impropriety of anti-Jewish prejudice.” For some
Christians, this concern is bound up in the “ecumenical deal” that continues to hold some in
thrall to the state of Israel.
Thirdly, the specific rancor toward boycotting the policies of Israel can be partly attributed to
widespread misunderstanding of the BDS Movement, often falsely depicted as calling for the
destruction of the state of Israel. This is dangerously false. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions is a
non-violent Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality that “aims to end
international support for Israeli violations of international law by forcing companies,
institutions and governments to change their policies.” Its supporters have included Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and Angela Davis among many others.
BDS urges nonviolent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law by meeting
three demands. Through a series of actions over the years, The Episcopal Church has in fact
supported all three; viz., end the occupation (Executive Council, 2006) and dismantle the Wall
(GC resolution D081, 2003); affirm the right of return of Palestinian refugees (GC resolution
B016, 2000); and recognize the right of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality (GC
resolution C039, 2022).
The timing of the recent SCOTUS decision is portentous because a new government in Israel is
intensifying policies that will ensure additional suffering for the Palestinian people and dash the
hopes of Jews in Israel and around the world who are committed to justice and human rights.
The new government is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but seems to be driven in
policies related to Palestine by new national security minister, the settler and nationalist
extremist, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Barely two months in office, the government legalized nine new
settler outposts, violating decades of international promises and understandings; and passed a
law to revoke the citizenship or permanent residency of Palestinians who committed a vaguely
defined “terrorist act” and received money from the Palestinian Authority in relation to a
“breach of loyalty” and deport them to the Palestinian Authority, a law that may constitute a
war crime. These alarming acts are situated within a context of the entrenching apartheid
regime: accelerating occurrences of “domicide”; unprecedented rise in the number of street
executions of Palestinians; attacks on Christian institutions; and the Prime Minister’s
proclamation that Israel is a state for Jewish people only and signaling the intent to annex the
West Bank.

Within The Episcopal Church are many who stand devoted to Israel, but an understandable
empathy for the historical suffering of Jewish people and a theological affinity for Judaism must
not be blind to a century of the realpolitik of a settler-colonial Zionist state instituting an
apartheid regime. It is no longer tenable to abide in a “sin of neutrality”, persistently hoping to find democratic ideals in an Israeli society that has betrayed them.
Amidst the many notable challenges all around us, EPF PJN believes that it is proper for The
Episcopal Church to direct attention to Palestine and Israel. It is, after all, Jesus’ homeland, the
birthplace of the Jesus Movement. It is where our faith began and so, rightly, attention to the
injustices there is a sacred imperative. Just now, at the time of this writing, Palestinians are
facing their gravest crisis since the Nakba, the catastrophe that brought the Zionist state of
Israel into existence and displaced and dispossessed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. This
demands response.
In a recent webinar hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, “Confronting Israel’s
Apartheid”, Rabbi Brant Rosen said this: “Any religion worth its name is going to oppose
apartheid…we know as people of conscience that it’s wrong and the real question before us
is…what will we do?” Whether it be attention to legislation, standing up to spurious assertions
of anti-semitism, seeking remedy to the wrongs of any government, or boycott, EPF PJN calls
upon Church members to join the quest for justice for that holy land.

Many of you already know that 16 year-old Shadi Khoury was allowed to return home under house arrest after 41 days of “Administrative Detention”, first in Jerusalem’s infamous Moskobiya Interrogation Center, and later in Damon Prison east of Haifa. Two other boys arrested and seen in court at the same time were similarly released, but three other teens are still being detained.

Following the early morning raid on his home last October 18th, during which he was beaten for refusing to change out of his pajamas in front of the squad of armed soldiers, Shadi was hauled into a Jerusalem courtroom a half dozen times, only to have the hearing delayed by either the Prosecutor or Judge. During all this time, neither Shadi’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, nor his parents, Suhail Khoury and Rania Elias were able to obtain a clear understanding of the charges against the exemplary 11th-grader from the Friends (Quaker) School in Ramallah.

Finally, after nearly 4 weeks of delay and rescheduling, during which there was a growing outpouring of local and international support for Shadi’s release, the Judge ordered the Probation Office to interview Shadi and report back with a recommendation. That recommendation was for Shadi to be released to his home and family upon the payment of bail and his promise to remain at home until his case is resolved. The recommendation did not even require an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor the teen’s location.

The judge was willing to accept the Probation Officer’s recommendation and ordered it so. The prosecution, however, was not done and immediately appealed the Judge’s ruling to the Israeli Supreme Court. Finally, after several additional days waiting in prison for the appeal to be heard, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the District Court and Shadi was allowed to return home late on Sunday of this week.

Shadi’s mother could not hide her joy on Facebook as she posted “Shadi will be free today by the decision of the Supreme Court🌹” She continued, “Although [his release] is conditional on house arrest, restrictions and bails, etc, and the case and court procedures will continue while he is in house arrest, the most important thing he will be with us at home, our warm home, in the place where he should be, with Aboud (his dog). With all his family, friends around him, he will watch the World Cup and follow the matches with us, continue his education for this period remotely, and we will celebrate Christmas together.”

Shadi’s grandmother (and Sabeel co-founder) Samia Khoury was also excited to see him released. Though she had hoped to have him home in time for her 89th birthday observance earlier in the week, she told a substantial list of email friends and supporters, “[Shadi] is on his way home now, and the whole neighborhood is preparing his favorite dish of koussa wa waraq (stuffed zucchini and vine leaves).”  She continued, “This first Sunday of Advent was a good omen, and will remain a memorable day for Shadi and all the family and his friends.”

At this time, Shadi’s next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, December 12th. We will continue to follow his case as it develops, and we encourage you to continue to advocate for him and the more than 120 other Palestinian children as young as 12 who are currently being held under Administrative Detention. Contact your elected officials (again) using this Action Alert from the Episcopal Public Policy Network and post on social media using the hashtags #StandWithShadi and #FreeShadi.

Shadi’s mother writes, “Dear friends, we are thankful and grateful for everything you have done for Shadi; to everyone who stood with us; to each and everyone who worked, followed, wrote, composed, drew, launched campaigns and talked about Shadi.”

Update as of Wednesday 2 November 3:30PM Eastern time:
Breaking News: Shadi returned to court on Wednesday and his parents were shocked to learn that he and other teens were beaten again the day before. Amnesty MENA is reporting this as torture. Shadi and the others were returned to jail without charges being announced.
Please contact your elected officials to protest this blatant violation of International law.

In the early morning hours before dawn on Tuesday, October 18^th, a squad of 12 Israeli Border Police and Shin Bet agents broke into the gates of the Beit Hanina (east Jerusalem) compound where the Khoury family lives. Pounding on the door, they demanded entry into the home. 

The family might have imagined the interlopers’ target was the father, Suhail, who directs the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, or even his wife, Rania, who is the head of the Yabous Cultural Center. Both had been briefly detained by Israeli Occupation Forces earlier in the summer as part of a crackdown on Palestinian NGOs.

Although less likely, the soldiers’ might have been looking for Suhail’s mother. Now in her late 80’s, “Auntie” Samia is a life-long Episcopalian and an outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation. She is also founding member of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem.

Instead, the soldiers demanded to know, “Where is Shadi?” Shadi Khoury, 16, is Rania and Suhail’s youngest son, an 11^th grade student at the Friends (Quaker) School in Ramallah, and the apple of his grandmother’s eye. He stood there in his pajamas with the other family members and identified himself. 

The soldiers demanded he get dressed and come with them. When Shadi refused to disrobe in front of the soldiers, his grandmother reports that “[the soldiers] beat him until he was bleeding all over the room and along the path on the way out of the house, dragging him barefoot and blindfolded and not allowing [his] parents to see where the blood was coming from.” The trail of blood continued on through the broken courtyard gates to where the police vehicle waited to take Shadi away to the infamous al-Moskobiya prison. The family’s pleas that they be allowed to tend to Shadi’s bleeding, or to know why he was being taken away, were refused.

Sadly, what happened to Shadi and the Khoury family that morning over two weeks ago is not unusual. According to the latest available statistics compiled by the recently banned Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) using official Israeli sources, nearly 170 underage children were being similarly detained, with 22 being held in solitary confinement. Current statistics are not available, but these numbers have likely risen in recent months. As his grandmother Samia writes, Shadi is like many Palestinian children who “are being harassed, tortured, and imprisoned for no reason other than being a Palestinian, seeking to live in dignity and freedom in their own country.”

Even though he is a minor, Shadi was interrogated without his parents or a lawyer being present, “a tactic that”, as Samia points out, “is used to terrorize children into submission and to use their own words to incriminate them.” Despite being a signatory to the U.N. Convention Against Torture, Israel has frequently been accused of violating the Convention’s provisions against torture and ill-treatment when trying to obtain “confessions” from Palestinian minors. And these confessions are written in Hebrew, a language many do not speak. 

Shadi has two advantages over Palestinian children from the West Bank: first, his family can see him at court. Calling out messages of love and encouragement in a police yard or a crowded courtroom   may seem small comfort, but it is more than what is afforded children who live in the occupied Palestinian Territories. They likely won’t have that comforting presence in court, as the parents may be denied entry permits to Israel based on undisclosed security grounds.

Shadi also has a personal lawyer, and not just a court-appointed defender. Of course, his lawyer has only been granted permission to see Shadi on three occasions since his arrest, for about 10 minutes each time. That isn’t much, but it allows for some family messages and trusted legal advice to be passed along.

After more than two weeks, the reason for Shadi’s arrest is still not known. Shadi’s mother, Rania wrote, saying, “Shadi is a normal, shy, confident boy. We raised him to be strong and stand for justice and rights.” At each of his four court appearances thus far, the court has granted the prosecutor a continuance, a delay, and returned Shadi to his cell. His lawyer’s request for Shadi to be released to his family under house arrest was denied early on. The swelling and bruises, so apparent at the first two appearances, have begun to fade, and still neither his lawyer nor his parents have been informed of the charges against him. 

Sadly, this is also not unusual. Just this week, the November 3^rd Sabeel Center’s Wave of Prayer announcement included a prayer for Tareq Al-Araj, a member of the Palestinian National Youth Football (Soccer) Team. He was arrested two years ago and his trial was postponed seventeen times before he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for being a member of a political group banned by the Israeli government.

Shadi’s next court date has been scheduled for Wednesday of this week. It is possible, though not certain, that we will learn of the charges against him then. Or perhaps not. According to his family, he remains in good spirits. At the end of one court session, he asked about the progress of his favorite soccer teams. But as Ahed Tamimi, another Palestinian who was arrested and spent 8 months in prison as a 16 year old attests to in her recently released memoir, They Called Me a Lioness, prison life has the effect of wearing you down over time. “The most dangerous thing you can do in prison,” she writes, “is sit there and wallow in negative thoughts.” 

Efforts are being made to see him released. In our ENS Press Release, we called on all members and friends of EPF PIN to urge Shadi’s release using the template offered by the Friends of Sabeel North America. It contains links for people living in the Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as in the U.S. to contact their elected officials. More than 1,400 have participated so far.

Churches for Middle East Peace, an advocacy group of 30 Christian groups including The Episcopal Church, also issued a Press Release calling out the Israeli practice of violently arresting and detaining children and urging support for Rep. Betty McCollum’s bill, Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, H.R. 2590. (Note: In 2018, The Episcopal Church (TEC) adopted Resolution C038, Call for Guaranteed Basic Rights and Protection of Palestinian Children. Since that time TEC has issued action alerts and the Presiding Bishop has encouraged us to support this legislation calling for an end to the Israeli practice of child detention.) 

The family has had a pastoral visit from former Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah, and our own Archbishop in Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum has called the family offering his prayers and support. His big sister, Rand, produced a video calling on the U.N. to act, and his father recorded a musical piece with Banat al Quds (the “Daughters of Jerusalem” and members of the National Conservatory Orchestra. Grandmother Samia says they hope to sing it to Shadi upon his release.

Prominent public figures such as U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former PLO negotiator Dr. Hanan Ashrawi have tweeted their concern and support for Shadi. Indigenous MP from Ottawa, Leah Gazan, and her Hamilton colleague Matthew Green have called on the Canadian Foreign Minister to press Israel for Shadi’s release. British MP Layla Moran from West Oxford has written to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. And Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan wrote, “This is a direct result of unconditional funding to the tune of $3.8 Billion with no accountability. This is what happens when our country refuses to even recognize the most basic human rights protections for Palestinian children.” His school in Ramallah held a rally for and issued a statement which started “Our students and community are in pain. We love and miss Shadi very much.” They concluded a call “to people of conscience everywhere to mobilize efforts in support of Shadi and all Palestinian children who experience the brutality of Israeli detention at young ages. This is no way to treat a child.”

We appreciate these actions and call on the leaders of our Episcopal Church to again speak out, privately and publicly, on behalf of Shadi and the many other children currently being detained for extended periods of time without access to family or legal representation. As Shadi’s grandmother Samia asks her friends, “Until when will this grave injustice go on? Shadi should not be sleeping in a prison cell. He is a child and should be home with his family.” 

Thanks to EPF PIN member Randy Heyn-Lamb for this reporting.

EPF Reception, Ithaca, NY,  Sept. 24, 2022

If you could plan a big party with the most interesting and beloved people, who would you invite?  My answer is : You.  This is THE PERFECT PARTY.  Some of you flew in from around the country and some of you were able to walk across town.  Whatever the distance, thank you for joining with me in this celebration of the work for peace with justice to which the Episcopal Peace Fellowship is dedicated.  

Episcopal Peace Fellowship – EPF.  I’d like to share some of things that EPF has taught me about that word Fellowship over the years.  It’s an old-fashioned word with deep roots in Old English, designating the commitments and risk of a business partnership… putting mutual well-being on the line together.  

We are gathered today in a Fellowship Hall, an old-fashioned place where community was built up long before the Net and Net-works bound us together > common meals, music, lectures, pageants nurturing each new generation into fellowship.  

Today this Fellowship Hall hosts Loaves & Fishes 5 days a week, welcoming anyone in town, in whatever state of body and mind, to a delicious free meal and a safe space for fellowship and inclusion and community.

20 years ago, when I was invited to join the National Exec. Council of EPF, I was wandering in an emotional and spiritual wilderness after the death of my husband, Jess. The invitation from EPF to fill his seat on that Council was for me the ultimate offer of hospitality and kindness and fellowship.  I know what it’s like to walk through the doors into a Fellowship, to be offered a feast of loaves & fishes.  I am forever grateful. 

On another level, I have learned that a Fellowship is grounded in and builds up common purpose.  The purpose is often creative, as when students are granted fellowships to be mentored into a particular community of learners and makers.  Or when candidates for Holy Baptism undertake the renunciations and the covenant promises that shape a life of Fellowship in Christ.   

In times of crisis, Fellowships arise with common purpose to confront the dangers.  The crisis of world war was the crucible in 1915 for The Rev. John Nevin Sayre to become a co-founder of the U.S. branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the first international multi-denominational pacifist movement.  Please note that the danger being confronted by the Rev. Sayre was not ‘the armed enemy’ but the whole phenomenon of redemptive violence itself, with the increasingly catastrophic death and destruction of modern warfare, that cycle of war – armistice – war – armistice –  war – armistice, on an ever grander scale.  

As the pressure for war began building again in Europe, the Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship was formed in 1939 under Sayre’s leadership, grounded in a Gandhian focus on nonviolent resistance as power for change. The very first EPF action was circulating a pledge among Episcopalians against fighting, even a defensive war; i.e. Conscientious Objection.  Registering and ministering to Episcopal Conscientious Objectors was the core of EPF’s earliest purpose and continues to this day.  

The Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship voted for a name change in 1965, spurred by a growing realization that strict pacifists and non-pacifists are called to dream and work and pray for a peace that seems impossible in our Fallen World.  The new name, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, does not signify a lessening of the crisis presented by war and advanced weaponry; it is rather a broadening of the call for fellowship in the common purpose of promoting peace with justice in the face of terrifying possibilities.

Today the Doomsday Clock, measuring the probability of full-scale nuclear war, is set at 100 seconds to midnight. I am especially proud of our Ithaca Area EPF Chapter for advancing endorsement of the “Back from the Brink Campaign” all the way from our local Episcopal parishes, to our Diocese of Central New York, and finally to the 2022 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which endorsed five common sense nuclear weapons policies, moving us closer to a world free of nuclear weapons.  This is now the official policy of The Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Peace Fellowship has prayed, studied and acted for peace with justice on many fronts during the years I have been involved.  A glance through the editions of The Witness – which was produced and printed right here in Ithaca before moving on-line – illustrates the range and depth of a common purpose. Here’s just a taste: 

*Creating a Culture of Peace: Interactive Nonviolence Training Workshops for parishes & dioceses (2004 and onward)

*Christian Peace Witness for Iraq : street vigil in Washington D.C., March 7, 2008

*Futures Not Funerals : Chicago Peace & Justice EPF Chapter sponsored keynote address on gun violence at 2009 Diocesan Convention : launched EPF’s on-going work for sane gun laws

*New York Urban Pilgrimage for Young Adults, March 2010 : first in a series of immersion experiences in psycho-social-physical challenges faced by low-income city dwellers : organized by EPF Young Adult Brain Trust

*EPF’s Statement in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions as a means of Nonviolent Resistance  in the quest for a just peace in Palestine/Israel [2010] *Organization of EPF-Palestine Justice Network by The Rev. Cotton Fite later that year

To sum up, our Fellowship is characterized by an inclusive community with a common purpose.   We are a Fellowship and a Peace Fellowship. In particular, though, we are the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.  We do not, however, speak for our church; rather, we speak to our church. The goal is to make our EPF purpose the common purpose of the Episcopal Church: pray, study and act for peace with justice, as the Gospel imperative.  And that makes EPF seem troublesome and irritating and sometimes even “dangerous” in the eyes of some church leaders and members.  

That’s been true since the beginning of our Fellowship, as seen in the fate of Bishop Paul Jones, a co-founder of EPF with John Nevin Sayre.  In April 1918, a commission of the House of Bishops forced Paul Jones to resign his post as Bishop of Utah because of his outspoken opposition to World War I.  But he continued to make “good trouble,” pushing the church, not just to resist war but also to take up the cause of war refugees.  In the 1930’s Paul Jones worked tirelessly to assist Jewish and other refugees

fleeing the Nazi regime.  

I believe it was the enduring relationships of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and, later, EPF, that sustained Paul Jones in his remarkable witness for nonviolence.  I believe that because of my experience in EPF and EPF PJN.  The deep friendships and enduring relationships continually renew my spirit and help me get over myself and get on with the call to peacemaking.  

What is Fellowship?  The Three C’s > Community and Common Purpose and Courage that is founded in deep friendship.  Thanks be to God for the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. 

The compound of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ramallah in the occupied Palestinian Territory was broken into by Israeli military in the early hours of August 18. The soldiers posted “Outlawed” on the door of the human rights organization Al-Haq that rents office space within the church compound. Far from outlawed, Al-Haq was the first Palestinian human rights organization created some 40 years ago. It is strictly independent, identifying human rights violations no matter whether by Israel or the Palestine Authority.

In a statement describing the raid, Al Haq detailed the damage.

“At 3:23 am, Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) forcibly blasted through the locked security door of Al Haq’s offices, bursting the door from its hinges and raiding the premises, setting off the alarms. Below the premises of Al-Haq, the IOF bludgeoned and broke the front door of the Episcopal Church, leaving long shards of glass, sponge-grenades (used for riot control), and several teargas canisters, rubber coated and live bullets around the property.”

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem described how unsafe the residents of the church compound felt during the two-hour raid. “The sound of gun shots, stun grenades, and the smashing of doors caused terror among the families living inside the compound.” The statement continued, “The Diocese considers the offense on the complex of St. Andrew’s in Ramallah as an assault against the free exercise of religion as an established and officially recognized Christian Church.”

Such Israeli actions have been shrinking the space for the free exercise of religion and humanitarian work in the occupied Palestinian Territory. This shrinking of civil society spaces is a step in removing Palestinian worshippers and humanitarians (who now can be designated as “outlaw”) from the Israeli domain. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) for instance reported that this year, “and for the first time ever, Israeli police announced that they would restrict the number of worshippers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the Easter Holy Fire ceremony to 1000 people (the church holds approximately 11,000) and would limit the number of Christians allowed into the Old City on Easter to a mere 500. After an appeal to the High Court, the number of worshippers was increased to 4000.” EPF PIN member Priscilla Read sees the attack of St. Andrew’s Church as constricting the space for Palestinian civil society. She writes, “This attack on a church is part of a pattern of crescendoing Israeli disrespect for religious institutions, religious rites, and people of faith, Muslim and Christian. We observed just this past spring the way Israeli authorities radically restricted Christian processions and observances during Holy Week and Easter. We saw the Israeli Government refuse Muslims the right to gather during Ramadan and access to Al-Aqsa Mosque. They radically restrict both Christian and Muslim access to sacred sites in Jerusalem on a continuing basis, including during the holiest days of the year.” One wonders if there is a strategy of shrinking civil space, the designation of outlaw, and Palestinian removal.

Six of Palestine’s leading human rights organizations were designated “terrorist” by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on October 19 of last year. A seventh raided group, the Health Work Committees (one of the largest health providers in the occupied west Bank) was designated terrorist a year earlier in 2020. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as well as ten European states have found no substantial information to back up Israel’s claims that any of the groups is terrorist. Instead among the organizations in question there is work with farmers against Israeli settler encroachment and for the rights of Palestinian children. Khaled Quzmar of Defense for Children International – Palestine noted that 75 files were stolen during the raid by the Israeli Occupying Forces, putting children at risk. “Information for children in Israeli courts which should be private is now in the hands of the Israeli military.”

Keeping Faith

Khaled Quzmar as well as the other directors of the outlawed human rights organizations vowed to continue their work. “Sealing and closing our office,” he said, “will not silence us. We reject the Israeli designation and any repressive tactics aimed at eliminating our work.” He and the others are keeping faith with their mission and with those who depend on them. Shawan Jabarin of Al-Haq stood firm: “They can arrest us, kill us, and beat us, but we will not deter our resolve in achieving justice for our people, and defending the rights of our people.” Palestinians who removed the iron plates that sealed their doors to continue their work risk years in prison. There is little relief from the Israeli courts. Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, relates: “The Israeli justice system is designed to either find Palestinians guilty if they go through trial or to force them to plead in order to find them guilty indirectly and use that as evidence against other people.” So what redress is there?

Standing by When Innocents are Outlawed

EPF PIN joined 250 other U.S. faith-based, social justice, and human rights organizations in a letter to President Biden on August 29 to stop the Israeli Government’s attacks on Palestinian civil society. The letter charges that the Biden administration’s decision to stand by and not respond to Israeli raids and the repressive tactics that led up to them has put “the safety and well-being of Palestinian human rights defenders at serious risk.” In summary, the letter calls upon the President to: 1) condemn the criminalization of Palestinian civil society organizations; 2) reject the accusations levied against these organizations; 3) take diplomatic action to protect these organizations; 4) open channels for direct U.S. engagement with Palestinian civil society and a public understanding of the impacts of Israeli repression; 5) end U.S. efforts to undermine Palestinian pursuit of justice at the International Criminal Court; 6) ensure unencumbered funding of the targeted Palestinian organizations from U.S. based groups; and 7) suspend U.S. military funding and diplomatic efforts that enable Israeli violation of human rights.

Four days later the directors of the six “outlawed” Palestinian human rights organizations wrote their own letter to President Biden. They write in part, 

“in the days, weeks, and months that followed (Israel’s designation of our groups as terrorist), your administration failed to act despite recognition by U.S. government officials and reports that Israeli authorities have for years pursued policies and tactics that work to constrain humanitarian and civil society space within all areas Israeli authorities exercise control. Your administration failed to act despite your own Central Intelligence Agency’s reported assessment that information passed on by Israeli authorities earlier this year did not substantiate the Israeli government’s claims.” 

The letter enumerates five steps the Biden administration can and should take that include condemning the Israeli government’s actions, rejecting their allegations, working in partnership with other states to rescind the terrorist designations, ending efforts to undermine the rights of Palestinians to pursue justice at the International Criminal Court, and finally to end complicity with and financial and diplomatic support for the Israeli apartheid regime.

Both letters urge the Biden administration not to stand by when innocents are outlawed. The last word is given to Al-Haq whose offices were raided at the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Compound in Ramallah. The international community is urged, they state, to “take concrete measures, such as trade restrictions and arms embargoes, to ensure that Israel is held internationally responsible for its ongoing systematic inhumane acts of apartheid, including the persecution of Palestinian human rights defenders.”

Editor’s Note:  Thanks to EPF PIN members Cliff Cutler and Priscilla read for compelling, writing and editing this post.

The usual doldrums of summer have been roiled by two recent events that help us realize anew the place our Church has in the world and our part in it. The events are the Lambeth Conference and the latest of Israel’s recurring assaults on people of the Gaza Strip. These two events are wholly unconnected, but they represent what can happen in the world that may demand responses from The Episcopal Church (TEC). In these cases, the path to determining whether we respond and how we respond began at the 80^th General Convention that occurred shortly before the Lambeth Conference convened. 

Many of us who participated in some way in GC were spending our summers reflecting, debriefing, and compiling Lessons Learned. Part of this process involves asking ourselves, why does it matter? Do the millions of people in the pews know about the resolutions that were passed, are they engaged with the legislative process of TEC, and what is the point of all those hours and hours spent preparing and engaging with GC? In other words, so what?

Then came Lambeth. Then came an attempt to reaffirm a 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution that rejected same-sex marriage through a sketchy voting process that seemed to attempt to codify it outside the light of transparency. Then came a “firestorm of criticism” especially from TEC, multiple public statements opposing the attempt, a march-demonstration by bishops, and finally changes by Conference leaders that sought to mend the rifts opened up. Through all of this, the Presiding Bishop, other bishops, and many members of TEC were able to stand apart and speak out to oppose efforts from the part of the Anglican Communion that wants less-than status for LGBTQ+ persons. They were able to do this because TEC is on record through its resolutions passed at General Conventions. This was the response to “So what?”.

Just days before Lambeth’s adjournment came Israel’s new attacks on the people of Gaza, dubbed Operation Breaking Dawn by Israel Defense Forces. At this writing, almost 50 Palestinians have been killed in these attacks including 15 children, and more than 350 injured, nearly one-third of them children.  Although spokespersons for the U.S. and several European governments rushed to offer support for “Israel’s right to defend itself”, observers and analysts were hard-pressed to explain what prompted this round of attacks that even mainstream media described as “pre-emptive” without specific cause. Some suggested that the operation was launched to bolster Israel’s current government and secure its hold on power in the country’s current chaotic political climate. 

What can be certain about Operation Breaking Dawn and the ensuing deaths and destruction are two things: weapons used in the attack were part of the billions of dollars’ worth obtained from the U.S.; and many Palestinian deaths and injuries resulted from attacks targeted at residential structures, acts that may constitute war crimes. U.N. Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, said, “I condemn Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza to allegedly ‘deter’ Islamic Jihad’s possible retaliation for its leader’s arrest. As Int’l Law only permits the use of force in self-defense, Operation Breaking Dawn is a flagrant act of aggression. Illegal. Immoral. Irresponsible.”

What do these events in Palestine and Israel have to do with the 80^th General Convention? That convention passed resolution D024 that puts in place TEC policy that “the Episcopal Church reaffirm its longstanding commitment to supporting human rights in our own countries and around the world, and to ensuring that U.S. military assistance and arms sales not be used to perpetuate conflict, violate human rights, or contribute to corruption, instability, or violence.” With Resolution D024, it could not be clearer that TEC opposes some actions occurring in Operation Breaking Dawn.

What we say matters. TEC speaks through its resolutions that are passed at General Conventions and at Executive Council between conventions. What we do also matters and what TEC can do is determined, defined, and permitted by resolutions. 

Resolution D024 did not prevent Operation Breaking Dawn, nor will it stop all future wars of injustice or sale of weapons for such wars. There is a good way to go before LGBTQ+ people find welcome everywhere in the Church and before some people of the Church will be ready to welcome them. But we are called to witness, not to succeed. We are called to speak the truth, not to win. We are called to stand up, no matter who is standing on the other side against us. That is our mission as followers of Jesus. 

In the early days of the AIDS epidemic when the world was keeping silent about the disease that was killing thousands of gay men, the organization ACTUP proclaimed that “SILENCE = DEATH”. That could have been true for millions of people had a handful not continued to speak, sometimes to shout, and then been joined slowly but surely by many, many more. They spoke and they acted up and eventually they prevailed. 

In TEC and in the world it can influence, the words of resolutions matter, but not just the words. For in the process of preparing for GC and in the writing of resolutions, we come together. We have common cause and we work with common purpose. Despite all our many differences, we create community, we become common/union. That is holy work.