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First things first.
Scripture calls us to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. Therefore, we celebrate the current ceasefire alongside Palestinians in Gaza. We celebrate the relief this brings to the people of Gaza-- relief from constant bombing and shelling, relief from the constant sound of drones and fighter jets overhead, relief to hostages, political prisoners, and their families. We celebrate with the children of Gaza that they can finally sleep through the night without the fear of not waking up in the morning. It is necessary, right and good that we celebrate these things.
At the same time, we recognize that this is a fragile ceasefire that could fall apart at any moment. Indeed, Israel has already threatened to break the ceasefire by killing five Palestinians in the strip and delaying the deployment meaningful humanitarian aid to those who need it most.
Trump's 20-point plan, which has been written without any consultation with Palestinians, does nothing to bring justice or reparations to Palestinians. This makes the prospect of a just, long-term, lasting peace highly unlikely. Though the bombs may have stopped, the people of Gaza remain traumatized and haunted by the sites and sounds of death that have followed them for more than two years.
In the words of Gaza journalist, Huda Skaik, "I have mixed feelings of happiness and sadness because when the war ends, another struggle will begin—an internal war. Our wounds will reopen, and we will have time to grieve our beloved ones, to give sadness the time it needs. We may have survived physically, but we haven’t survived mentally. This genocide lives inside us. It swallowed our loved ones, our youth, our dreams. I think this genocide will stay living inside us forever in our minds."
As much as we are relieved at the current halt to the mass slaughter in Gaza, we must not take our eyes off of Palestine. We must keep the pressure on our own government and let them know that a ceasefire alone is not enough. We also need accountability for Israel's crimes and a commitment to reparations to Palestinians for decades of military occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
In this issue, we focus on things all of us can do to keep the pressure on our government and other corporate entities. Please take advantage of opportunities below to take action, and consider them just a starting point. Our continued action is needed now, more than ever. We must keep our eyes on Palestine.
Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals
UCC MPS Steering Committee Member
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