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UCC PIN DECEMBER E-NEWS
In this issue:
- "Having the Eyes to See the Signs," by the Rev. Allie Perry
- Take Action: Advocate to Kill the 'nonprofit killer" Bill
- Take Action: Divest for Palestinian Rights
- UCC PIN Awarded Neighbors in Need Grant to Enhance Communications
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Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Message: a Call to Awareness and Action
- Join the UCC PIN Substack Community
- 'Come and See': Indiana Center for Middle East Peace Solidarity Delegation, May 2025
- Breaking the Stories, curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail & the Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals
- Recommended Recent Podcasts
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Follow UCC Palestine Israel Network | |
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"Having the Eyes to See the Signs"
by the Rev. Allie Perry,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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Photo by Andreas Solero/AFP | |
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“Advent begins in the dark. It is not,” observes Episcopal priest and author Fleming Rutledge, “a season for the faint of heart.” This Advent I am feeling the darkness especially keenly, and perhaps you are too.
We have now witnessed fourteen months of Israel’s live-streamed genocide against Palestinians. Jesus continues to be born under the rubble, as Israel persists in perpetrating untold atrocities with impunity, in blatant defiance of international law and still with full-on U.S. funding and weapons. U.S. complicity runs deep. On November 20, the Biden administration once again vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza, the only country to do so.
With the incoming administration, we know the struggle for justice and for the human rights of all Palestinians will intensify and become even more fraught and challenging. This is true. And the temptation to give into hopelessness or to become weary and dispirited is real and also true. But – and this is a big ‘but’ – the sustained protests, organizing, and advocacy of Palestinian solidarity groups, university students, denominational PINs and so many more, over this past year, here in the U.S. and globally, is proof positive that we are not “the faint of heart.” We are not going away; we are relentless in our resistance.
“In a dark time,” wrote the poet Theodore Roethke, “the eye begins to see.” We see the interdependence of freedom struggles. As Nelson Mandela said, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians." We see that our very humanity requires our respect for and defense of the humanity of Palestinians.
And in this season, let us also see, and attend to, the signs that the Palestinian freedom struggle is gaining traction. Here are some recent signs of note:
•19 US Democratic senators recently voted in support of all or part of Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block arm sales to Israel. The measure failed, but 19 is just shy of 20% of the body.
•The International Criminal Court has now issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (see articles in Breaking the Stories), for their crimes against humanity.
•Amnesty International on Dec. 5 published their investigative report, 'You Feel Like You are Subhuman': Israel's Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza,' concluding that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
•Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Palestinian civil society’s Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, reported at a recent Apartheid-Free Communities gathering that 52 countries are now supporting a military embargo of Israel. “The BDS movement,” he observed, “is finally reaching the ‘S’.”
•Artists from Bethlehem designed this year’s nativity display in the Vatican. The babe’s swaddling cloth? A Palestinian keffiyeh. (See article in Breaking the Stories). On Dec. 7 when the keffiyeh-draped manger was unveiled, Pope Frances denounced the profiteering of the arms industry and then offered this prayer: “With tears in our eyes, let us raise our prayer for peace. Brothers and sisters, enough war, enough violence.”
The signs are there, even in the dark. This is good news. May we have the eyes to see and the wisdom to trust these signs. May we not faint or grow weary, but be of strong faith and take bold action. And should our spirits flag, may we heed the words of the British Pakistani novelist Nadeem Aslam, “Despair has to be earned. I personally have not done all I can to change things. I haven’t yet earned the right to despair.”
So may we all continue on, doing all we can to change things. May we muster the courage and the commitment we need to be steadfast in seeking justice and pursuing peace. May we find inspiration from the sumud of Palestinians in their freedom struggle and believe, as we should, that our collective effort is bending the arc towards the justice that all deserve and God desires for all.
“This is no time for a child to be born,” especially a child in Gaza. Yet, as Madeleine L’Engle reminds all in her Christmas 1973 poem, “Love still takes the risk of birth.” This Christmas, when we celebrate God’s love and light birthed into the world in the person of Jesus, Word made flesh, even in a babe born under the rubble, may we have the faith and heart to embrace as our own John’s proclamation that the “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” May it be so.
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Take Action:
Advocate to Kill the "nonprofit killer" Bill
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On November 21, by a vote of 219-184, the House of Representatives, passed HR 9495, Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, dubbed by many as a “nonprofit killer.” The legislation would allow for the Secretary of the Treasury to designate any nonprofit organization as terrorist supporting, without the need to provide any evidence at all and with the consequence of stripping the organization’s 501c3 status. An earlier vote that required a 60% threshold for passage failed. But the November 21 vote, only requiring a simple majority, succeeded with bipartisan support. (See article in Breaking the Stories.)
This is a very dangerous bill, with an intended chilling effect. Likely designed with Palestinian solidarity groups as primary targets, it can be used against immigrant rights, climate justice, racial justice organizations, and religious ones as well. According to Nonprofit Vote, “HR 9495 would amount to a death sentence for nearly any nonprofit that found itself in the law’s crossfires.”
The bill now sits with the Senate, although it is reportedly unclear whether the current Democratic-controlled Senate will take it up. If not, it will certainly be taken up by the incoming Republican-controlled Senate. We need not wait until then, however, to advocate.
Contact your senators now. For easy access to their DC office phones, go here. Let them know how opposed you are to this bill. If you are doubting the imperative and efficacy of your advocacy, use this fact as inspiration: the first vote on HR 9495 had the support of 52 Democrats; only 15 voted ‘aye’ the second time round. That’s 15 too many, but 37 changed their vote. Our advocacy matters. Be sure to take action on this now.
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Take Action:
Divest for Palestinian Rights
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“Participating in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions [BDS] against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid is not only a moral imperative and constitutional and human right, but also an international legal obligation.” So wrote Craig Mokhiber, former UN human rights official, this past summer, following the International Court of Justice’s authoritative ruling naming Israel’s occupation of the West Bank illegal.
Taking to heart this imperative and obligation, UCC PIN has launched a Divestment Team to ensure that our engagement in and support for BDS is as robust and rigorous as possible. The team has initiated on-going conversations with United Church Funds about its investment holdings and the human rights guidelines that inform its investment screens and divestment practices, specific to any companies and banks that support Israel’s occupation and apartheid.
Engaging in BDS is a strategy, more critical now than ever, to take action towards the national UCC’s and UCC PIN’s pledge to become apartheid-free. The American Friends Service Committee is an invaluable resource in this regard. For years UCC PIN has benefitted from, and our Divestment Team continues to draw on and commends to all, the research of AFSC.
Does your congregation, or your conference, or your seminary have investments? And if so, do you want to know whether investments include companies that support Israel’s occupation? We recommend to you the research tools created by Dov Baum and Noam Perry, staff at AFSC’s Action Center for Corporate Accountability:
How, if you find holdings of companies that support Israel’s apartheid, might you take action to divest? Another resource that AFSC offers is weekly online divestment office hours. These offer the opportunity to confer in real time with Noam and Dov. To sign up for AFSC BDS office hours, go here
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UCC PIN Awarded Neighbors in Need Grant to Enhance Communications
by the Rev. Thad Winkle,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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The United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network (UCC PIN) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the UCC Neighbors in Need Fund. The Neighbors in Need Fund provides seed funding for congregations and organizations addressing systemic injustice. UCC PIN's work aligns closely with the fund's focus by promoting and protecting the basic rights and dignity of Palestinians through education, advocacy, and mobilization within the UCC community. This grant will support UCC PIN's communications, enabling us to better serve clergy, congregations, and individuals seeking to engage theologically with critical justice concerns in Palestine.
Since October 2023, UCC PIN has experienced a significant surge in demand for our resources, with increased website traffic and newsletter subscriptions reflecting growing interest in our work. This grant comes at a crucial time, allowing us to strengthen our communications infrastructure and expand our capacity to serve the UCC community.
The funded project will focus on two key initiatives: developing a comprehensive communications strategy to enhance our digital presence and expanding our communications staff hours to better manage increased engagement. These improvements will help UCC PIN:
- Disseminate information more effectively across the UCC
- Provide enhanced support to clergy addressing controversial global justice issues
- Bridge the gap between national church stances and grassroots implementation
- Amplify Palestinian voices and perspectives within our denomination
This grant represents an important opportunity to strengthen UCC PIN's role as a crucial resource within the United Church of Christ and beyond. By enhancing our communications capacity, we'll be better equipped to help more clergy and congregations engage meaningfully with Palestinian rights issues through a faith lens. We are grateful to the Neighbors in Need Fund for this support, which will help us continue our mission to educate, equip, and mobilize the United Church of Christ for bold, prophetic witness and risk-taking advocacy toward the goal of a just and genuine peace in Palestine and Israel.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Message:
"a Call to Awareness and Action"
by the Rev. Venson Jordan,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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Photo from Democracy Now, November 24, 2024 | |
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In his latest book, “The Message,” Ta-Nehisi Coats speaks with a level of humanity and clarity that the mainstream media works very hard to avoid.
The book is a compilation of four essays, structured not as a continuous narrative but as a series of reflections and insights that weave stories and ideas into a broader commentary on the state of racial and social justice in this nation.
And then he takes us to Palestine and Israel to witness the colonial habits of the western world that govern an apartheid reality cloaked in all the patriotic liberty and freedoms of a modern democracy.
To Ta-Nehisi Coats, the idea that a nation, almost literally built on the bones of enslaved people, would supply and support the destruction of the Palestinian population, is not consistent with the American values we say we hold for ourselves and our allies. He is provocative, and the personality of his writing style encourages us to keep looking, and ask for the information that the legacy media may not provide.
In my opinion, Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of the most profound writers of our time. He shakes the tree of our humanity until all the best bits fall to the ground and lay clear for us to see. “The Message” is a significant contribution to contemporary discourse on race, history, and identity. It’s not just a book, but a call to awareness and action. Coates challenges the reader to look beyond the surface and face the realities of systemic inequality head-on. This work is essential for those interested in understanding the detrimental effects of oppressive colonial legacies, the depth of racial and social dynamics in America and the need for collective reflection and change.
In this season of giving, let the rocks of humanity be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Note: On December 5, 2024, months after Coates published The Message, Amnesty international posted the following: “Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
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Join the UCCPIN Substack community | |
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You can now follow UCC PIN on Substack, where we post Weekly Pause for Palestine prayers written by UCC Steering Commitee members as well as original Liturgical Resources.
We hope for UCCPIN's Substack to be a place of spiritual respite and contemplation, as well as a repository of resources for congregational leaders to use in worship planning.
See you in the comments section!
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"Come and See": Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP)
Solidarity Delegation, May 2025
by the Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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2023 ICMEP Solidarity Tour in Bethlehem, photo by Usama Nicola | |
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One of the consistent rallying cries of our Palestinian partners is “come and see.” Likely, this is because they know that once a person visits Palestine, they will never be the same. Once you see the reality on the ground, you can’t unsee it. Once you know the truth, you will never look at the conflict the same way again.
This was true for me when I visited the West Bank in June of 2023 with the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace. Two weeks in the West Bank rocked my world and changed the way I thought about Israel and Palestine. No more could I entertain the notion of a “complicated conflict” between two peoples. The reality is, Palestinians live under an oppressive apartheid regime that inflicts humiliation, trauma, and unimaginable suffering daily. That’s not complicated. It’s simply wrong. There’s nothing like a visit to the West Bank to bring that truth home.
If there is one thing our Palestinian partners need more than ever right now, it’s the presence of international visitors. They are begging for us to come. So, for those who are contemplating a visit to the West Bank, let me just say, now is the time. The Indiana Center for Middle East Peace is currently recruiting travelers for their upcoming solidarity tour, which will be from May 4-16, 2025. Highlights of the tour will be meetings with some of the most prominent peace and justice activists and leaders in both Israel and Palestine, including Issa Amro, Jeff Halper, Daoud Nasser, Muther Isaac, Iyad Burnat, Gideon Levy, Nathan Thrall, and many, many others.
Travelers will also get an opportunity to visit some of the holiest and most important sites of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Qumran, and the Sea of Galilee, among others.
For a detailed trip itinerary, click here. For more information about safety information or to sign up for the delegation, please contact Dr. Michael Spath at lmichaelspath@gmail.com. I can’t recommend it highly enough. You will fall in love with the place, the people, the food, and the culture, and it will change your life for the better, forever.
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Breaking The Stories: December 2024
curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail and the Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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My wishes for a new year..,
Wishing you a new year of freedom,
peace, and love
Basel El-Maqosui, Gazan Artist
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‘The ICC’s findings so far have only scratched the surface’ | |
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Galant hold a joint press conference at the Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv. October 28, 2023. (Dana Kopel/Pool) | Last week, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The court’s judges, in their Nov. 21 ruling, found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the pair were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the context of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza — namely, using starvation as a method of warfare, as well as “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. Here | |
Biden and Starmer are destroying international law to protect Israel’s genocide | |
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with US President Joe Biden during the Nato 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC, on 11 July 2024 (Ludovic Marin/AFP) | For more than a year, those calling for an end to Israel’s slaughter of civilians in Gaza have been relentlessly vilified: as apologists for Hamas, as antisemites, even as supporters of a genocide against Israel and the wider Jewish people. These smears have been buttressed by western politicians and the media insisting that Israel is conducting a legitimate, “defensive” war with limited aims: supposedly to eradicate Hamas and free a few dozen remaining Israeli hostages. Here | |
Inside Project Esther, the right wing action plan to take down the Palestine movement | |
The People’s Red Line March against genocide in Gaza in front of the White house in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2024 (Photo: Aseel Kabariti) | |
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The Heritage Foundation got a lot of publicity during this election cycle for its infamous Project 2025. But that’s not the only project they intend to carry out now that Donald Trump is returning to the White House.
Project Esther is a new proposal from Heritage that claims to lay out a plan to combat antisemitism in the United States. In fact, it aims to destroy the Palestine solidarity movement as a first step in a crusade to, ultimately, restrict activism against American policy of all sorts, foreign and domestic. Here
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ICC Arrest Warrants
The ICC warrants: Palestinian skepticism and the glimpse of justice Here
War Crimes Have Never Stopped the U.S. Before Here
More Resources
“Unleashed”: Report Details How Israeli Soldiers Brutalize West Bank Palestinians in Hebron Here
The House Just Blessed Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook by Passing Nonprofit-Killer Bill Here
Intent: The Road to Genocide (Visualizing Palestine) Here
Vatican's Use of Palestinian Keffiyeh in Nativity Scene Sparks Controversy Here
The West Bank villages wiped off the map by Israeli settler violence Here
Former Israeli minister says army is carrying out ‘ethnic cleansing’ in north Gaza Here
UNRWA suspends aid delivery through main Gaza crossing after ‘looting’ goes unfettered under Israeli watch Here
Challenging Israeli ‘Hasbara’ and ‘Conventional Wisdom’ on Palestine: An Anti-Colonial Reframing Here
Ben & Jerry's accuses Unilever of silencing it over pro-Palestine stance Here
‘We must use every tool to resist’: Israeli teens jailed for refusing military service Here
| Recommended Recent Podcasts | |
Peter Beinart Substack: Why the International Criminal Court’s Warrant for Netanyahu Matters Here
The Rest is Politics: What Happens Next: Israel vs. the International Criminal Court Here
Sumud Podcast: Francesca Albanese shares her personal experiences living in Palestine for 3 years, and offers insights into the UN's role, the systemic challenges she faces, and the immense pressures exerted by the U.S. and Israel on those who investigate Israel’s violations of international law.
Here
Occupied Thoughts: In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart talks to Eyal Weizman about his work at Forensic Architecture and the recently released "Cartography of Genocide" Here
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