Prophetic 2017 church actions and Focus on Gaza
Easter, 2018

This year, the first night of Passover, in which Jews recount the biblical account of liberation from slavery and the beginning of the journey from oppression to freedom, falls on Good Friday. Passover and Easter coincide this year with the beginning of the "Great Return March" in which tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have massed at the border fence to cry out for their own liberation and for a return to the homes they lost when Israel drove them out in 1948. Israel has responded with deadly force.  More and more Jews sit at their Seder tables this Passover realizing that the liberation story to be told today is that of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity.

On this Easter weekend we send you Rev. Katherine Cunningham's powerful Good Friday Lament, and the Easter Alert from Kairos Palestine.  Download this rich collection of reflections, essays and cries for freedom here.
At the Foot of the Cross in Gaza:  A Good Friday lament 
From the lament: 

Look at the eyes of men and women in the photos from Gaza.

See the face of forsakenness.
 
And then, there is the silence of the tomb that echoes from Gaza  and across the globe. I weep for those families. I pray for the nearly 1500 people injured who cannot be cared for properly because of the blockade of medical supplies and electricity. How well will their wounds be tended to with such scarcity?
 
I will still look for the Risen Christ at the margins in the Easter story, for the One who died at the hands of deal-making governments looking to enforce the peace of the day, the Pax Romana of the occupation. Mark's Gospel tells us that the Risen One has gone home to Galilee, to be near the people who knew him best and for whose sake he came. The Risen Christ is somehow there in Gaza. This afternoon those affirmations feel like ashes in the mouth.   More
   Kairos Palestine Easter Alert


"No decree will deter us from working for a just peace in Jerusalem. We will continue to raise the next generation of creative leaders for Jerusalem and to grow hope all over Palestine. This is Christ's legacy in this country and we are determined to keep it alive. As we walk the Via Dolorosa, we continue to await the light of right anchored in the resurrection."

 

 
Theology in Action
 
World Council of Churches decries violence on Israel-Palestinian border

WCC Secretary General Olaf Tveit issued this statement:
 
"We call on the Israeli government to guarantee human rights, the freedom of speech and the need for just peace and decent living conditions for all people... We also call for support and action from the international community to end the blockade of Gaza. We all need to commit to the moral value of justice and peace: both parties would be blessed by a lasting solution, and it would be an important contribution to world peace."  Click for full statement.

Stay Connected