UCC PIN OCTOBER E-NEWS

In this issue:

• A Time to Repent, Speak Out, Act: Reflection by the Rev. Allie Perry
• "What More Must We Do to Stir Your Attention and Action?!!": Kairos Palestine, Oct. 7 Statement
• Take Action: Urge Your Senators to Co-Sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders" Joint Resolutions of Disapproval
• The Past and the Present Tell Us: Palestine's Future Has to be Different, Voices from the Holy Land Salon, Oct. 20
• Keep Hope Alive: Olive Harvest Campaign, Solidarity Week, Oct. 21-25
• Breaking the Stories, curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail
• Recommended Recent Podcasts

"Country of Peace" by Gazan Artist Maysaa Ghazi

whose sister Heba Ghazi Zagout, also an artist, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, Oct. 13, 2023

A Time to Repent, Speak Out, Act

a Reflection by the Rev. Allie Perry,

UCC PIN Steering Committee

This past March I had a conversation with my Congresswoman, Rosa DeLauro, in her DC office. She had just led a Congressional delegation to Israel and Palestine. On their return, she and her colleagues issued a statement asserting that Netanyahu had “demonstrated an utter disregard for Palestinian life.” With fervor she said to me that Netanyahu had to go. “Yes,” I said, “but the problem is much bigger than Netanyahu. Israel’s history of occupation goes back decades. We have to look at that.” “No, we have to go forward,” she fired back at me.

Of course, as we well know, there is no going forward in a healing, hopeful, healthy way without understanding and truthfully naming the harms and violations of the past. The one-year anniversary since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s sustained and escalating genocidal response has occasioned much retrospective analysis. This month’s Breaking the Stories offers a selection of such articles, including Palestinian perspectives. Looking backward also invites us, however, to go deeper than analysis. It invites, indeed requires, honest self-reflection, a process of profoundly personal repentance and atonement, a kind of examination of conscience.

The timing this year of Yom Kippur coming only a few days after October 7, informed the reflections of many, perhaps most, Jewish colleagues. Two in particular -- journalist and political analyst Peter Beinart and Rabbi Brian Walt, active with Rabbis for Ceasefire -- have shared their reflections publicly, offering what I find to be compelling examples of, and guidance for, the process of repentance.

Peter expresses his “tremendous sense of guilt” (see his “Atoning for the Past” in Recent Podcasts below) for not having reached out enough to Israeli Jewish friends after Oct. 7 and for not doing enough for the release of the hostages. He expresses another kind of “shame” for not having risked more personally in defense of the humanity of all and especially the humanity of Palestinians. It is a “grave sin,” he asserts, “to create a hierarchy,” to treat “Palestinians as lesser human beings.” Our basic humanity and freedom are not negotiable; they are “gifts from God.”

Brian evokes Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who during the Vietnam war prayed through his protesting, haunted as he was by images of children burning from napalm. This Yom Kippur, as Brian writes, “I see the horrifying photos of Israeli and Palestinian children, women and men, who have been killed over the past year. The images of the dead . . . haunt me and I feel called to pray through protest as Rabbi Heschel did.” 

by Gazan artist Abdullah Wgih

Brian goes on to confess his complicity “in Israel’s war as both a rabbi and an American.” For Brian repentance requires more than “praying for change.” It requires “bold action” to end injustice and, in the words of Heschel, “to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods.” It requires protest. (Go here to read Brian's full reflection.)

The reality that Brian names for himself applies to all of us. “All Americans,” he writes, “are implicated in today’s atrocities. . . As Americans, we must face the truth of our complicity with this horror.” I feel that complicity as a heavy burden and responsibility; I know we all do. We are citizens of a country that has a shameful and painful history of being the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. observed in his 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church.  

Long before the current atrocities in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon as well, with tens and tens of thousands of Palestinian citizens killed, with U.S.-made and supplied munitions, the U.S. government was responsible for the tens and tens of thousands of innocents killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Vietnam, in Iraq and Afghanistan. War is never the answer, and yet our own government continues to choose, fund, and arm it. As U.S. citizens and as Christians, followers of the Prince of Peace, we must, as Brian writes, “face the truth of our complicity,” and engage in repentance.

While Christianity does not have an annual ritual for repentance like Judaism’s Yom Kippur, we do have All Souls/All Saints. This year might we, either in community or individually, observe All Souls/All Saints facing not just the truth but also the cost of our complicity and remembering those harmed? One resource for doing that is a sobering 59 minute Al Jazeera video of the names of those killed in Gaza, set to music and scrolling by age. Another resource is the poetry of Gazan writers; for one example, listen to Mosab Abu Toha recite his poem, “A Hand is No Longer a Hand.” Also Christians for a Free Palestine is holding an online All Saints’ Solidarity Service, Nov. 1, at 8 pm ET. Register here to attend.

Let our practice of repentance be one of persistent prayer through protest. And may our every prayer become embodied through the kinds of actions that Brian urges in his reflection and those that Kairos Palestine calls for in their October 7 statement (see following article). One action to take right away? Contact your senators. Tell them to stop arming Israel and to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, calling for the suspension of U.S. offensive weapons (for details see article below). Another action to take right away? Tell Congress here to support an arms embargo and support humanitarian access now. 

Now is the time to end U.S. complicity, and our own. Now is the time to repent, speak out, and act.

"What More Must We Do to Stir Your Attention and Action?!!":

Kairos Palestine October 7th Statement

Marking the one-year anniversary of October 7^th, Kairos Palestine has issued “Still Another Cry from Palestinian Christians.” They “mourn the suffering and devastating loss of life of . . . siblings in Gaza and all . . . victim of war and violence.” They call for an end to the State of Israel’s killing, destruction, and escalation of violence, threatening now to “ignite a region-wide war.” They denounce “the West’s indifference to international law and the conventions of human rights,” selectively observing them only when they serve “the Empire’s hegemonic ends.” And they grieve “the lack of solidarity in so many quarters of the global church in the face of genocide declared as plausible by the International Court of Justice.”

Their cry is at once an indictment “What more must we do to stir your attention and action?!!” And, it is a fervent and profound expression of faith: “Still, afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down, we continue to put our trust in Jesus of Nazareth . . . who embodied a spirit of radical love and prophetic justice.” And finally, it is a plea for action, “We need your assistance.” 

To read the full statement and the action steps Kairos Palestine is urging from churches, political leaders, and global civil society in support of Palestinians’ determination to achieve their “freedom, . . human rights, and . . . right as a people to self determination,” go here.

Take Action:

Urge your Senators to Co-Sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' Joint Resolutions of Disapproval

“When will our government stop funding this madness?” asked U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. “When?” Israel continues to perpetrate horrific war crimes. For one grizzly example: the IDF airstrike this week on the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, sending an inferno of flames through a tent encampment of displaced Palestinian families, incinerating some of them. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration, still unrelenting and unapologetic, continues to supply Israel with weapons, offensive in every aspect of that word.

The “when” of Rep. Tlaib’s question demands, from all people of faith and conscience, a fierce and insistent outcry, “Now,” and persistent activism to that end. Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), with Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) and Sen. Peter Welch (VT) as co-sponsors, is leading the way, legislatively. He has introduced, into the Senate, Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JDR), calling for a suspension of offensive military weapons to Israel. The resolutions, six in number ( S.J.Res. 111, S.J.Res. 112, S.J.Res. 113, S.J.Res. 114, S.J.Res 115, S.J.Res. 116), identify the specific offensive, and offending, weapons. To read more about the JRD and how the U.S. government’s sale and Israel’s use of these weapons violate U.S. laws, such as the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Acts, consult this fact sheet.

In a show of strong support for these Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, the United Church of Christ, Global Ministries, and UCC PIN, along with more than 80 other organizations, have signed on to a letter addressed to all U.S. Senators urging them to co-sponsor the JRD. But Senators need to hear from their constituents as well. Let them know you too disapprove of the U.S. government’s complicity in arming Israel’s genocide. Urge them to become co-sponsors of these Joint Resolutions of Disapproval.

Take action by sending them an email through (1) this week’s Global Ministries’ 3^rd Thursday Middle East Action Alert here; (2) the Friends Committee on National Legislation here. Or telephone your senators' D.C. offices and deliver your message through their staff. You can find D.C. phone numbers here.

The Past and the Present Tell Us: Palestine’s Future has to be Different Sunday, October 20 

UCC PIN is one of the two co-sponsors for Voices from the Holy Land’s next Salon, this coming Sunday, October 20, 3 pm ET/noon PT, on the topic “The Past and the Present Tell US: Palestine’s Future Has to be Different!” The “prompts” for the Salon’s panel are two documentary films from the early 1980s which, as the promotional material describes, “provide visual evidence of the colonization, apartheid, and military systems Israel uses to maintain domination.” The panel will discuss the through line of issues over these decades: dispossession, intergenerational trauma, right of return, resistance, in the context of the present moment, considering the requisites for a just future.

Panelists are: Aline Batarseh: executive director and co-editor, Visualizing Palestine; Salim Tamari: senior fellow, Institute for Policy Studies and former director, Institute of Jerusalem Studies; Sami Awad: co-director of Nonviolence International, founder of Holy Land Trust; and Mitchell Plitnick (moderator): president, ReThinking Foreign Policy and co-author, Except for Palestine. UCC PIN steering committee member the Rev. Crystal Silva-McCormack will briefly describe UCC PIN’s mission and work at the beginning of the Salon.

To register for the Salon, go here. Registrants will receive links for viewing the documentaries in advance of the Salon and a link for the Salon itself, on Sunday the 20th.

Keep Hope Alive: Olive Harvest Campaign

Solidarity Week, October 21-25

Keep Hope Alive, the annual Olive Tree Campaign of the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine, is an important avenue for congregations and individuals to engage in providing support for Global Ministries’ Palestinian partners, especially critical in this time of Israel’s unrelenting and escalating violence. This year’s week of solidarity and education, October 21-25, offers a variety of resources, programs, and advocacy opportunities, including a webinar, “Our Economic Leverage,” on the subject of boycotting companies that support Israel’s occupation and investing instead in solidarity with our Palestinian partners. To register for the webinar, at noon ET, Weds., Oct. 23, go here. To learn more about the schedule for the week, go to the Global Ministries’ website here.

Breaking The Stories: October 2024

curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail,

UCC PIN Steering Committee

The Stones Cry Out witness in DC, September 23-25. photo from Facebook page of Michael Spath

We Charge Genocide: The Shofar Calls Us to Account on Rosh Hashanah 

Members of the activist group Jewish Voice for Peace join others in protesting President Joe Biden's visit to Manhattan and calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, on February 7, 2024, in New York City.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Every year at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, synagogues across the world sound the shofar, a ram’s horn that represents the signature moment of the holiday. Over the centuries, Jewish commentators have offered a variety of explanations for this ritual. Moses Maimonides famously called it a wake-up call to personal atonement; others view it as a call to action or a tribute to God’s power. This new year, however, I believe one reason stands out among all others. Today, we sound the shofar as a call to moral accountability. Here

After a year of terror in Gaza, our souls feel suspended in time 

The bodies of 88 unidentified Palestinians are buried in a mass grave in Khan Younis, after Israeli forces returned them to Gaza severely decomposed and without any identification, September 26, 2024. (Doaa Albaz/Activestills)

It is a terrible thing to witness the obliteration of your homeland. When I think about what we’ve lived through this past year, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind completely. It is a shock that I’m still unable to absorb. I try not to think at all, in the hope of maintaining my sanity until it ends. Here

Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again

 Protesters rally in support of Gaza and Lebanon in Washington Square Park on October 5, 2024, in New York City.(Stephanie Keith / Getty Images)

It is Day 367 of genocide. I have grown accustomed to marking my days this way—in the horrifying knowledge that, today, the industrial-scale destruction of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continues, and with the infallible determination that, today, it must end. I first took up this practice on Day 6, when it emerged that the only nuclear power in the Middle East had dropped 6,000 bombs in less than a week on a besieged population consisting mostly of refugees. Here

Retrospectives

One Year of Genocide: Special Coverage Here

My Martyrs Live On Here



A Year Of Horror Here

Israel’s Year of Killing, Maiming, Starving and Terrorizing the People of Gaza Here

Focus on: A Year of Genocide in Gaza Here

Gaza’s Situation on October 6 - Reflection by FOSNA's Jonathan Kuttab Here

October 7: What Actually Happened That Day - Reflection by FOSNA's Jonathan Kuttab Here

October 8 and Beyond - Reflection by FOSNA's Jonathan Kuttab Here

Diana Buttu A Year of Living Among Genocide Apologists Here

How Israel killed hundreds of its own people on October 7 Here

Media Resources

Investigating War Crimes in Gaza: a New Documentary by Al Jazeera Investigations Here

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Why He Wrote about Palestine and Israel: Beinart Notebook Here

Watch Webinar: Christian Zionism and the Israel Lobby A Conversation with Ilan Pappe Here 

‘No Propaganda on Earth Can Hide the Wound That is Palestine: Arundhati Roy’s PEN Pinter Prize Acceptance Speech, Video (minute 8:30-29:20) Here. Text of her speech Here

Other Resources

'Unspeakable Cruelty': Israeli Strikes on Gaza Hospital, Refugee Camps Kill Dozens Here

200+ Jewish-led Protesters Arrested at NY Stock Exchange Say ‘Stop Arming Israel’ Here



Law for Palestinian Intent Here

Recommended Recent Podcasts

The Mondoweiss Podcast: Reflections From Our Gaza Correspondent: One Year Since the Genocide Here

The Beinart Notebook: Atoning for the Past Year Here

Democracy Now: Israeli Peace Activist Maoz Inon Lost His Parents on October 7. He’s Calling for an End to War & Occupation. Here