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UCC PIN JULY E-NEWS
In this issue:
- Calling out Genocide; Refusing to Normalize it
- TAKE ACTION:
- (1) Stop Accused War Criminal Netanyahu from Addressing Congress
- (2) Interfaith Action for Palestine - July 28-30
- (3) Join AFSC's Weekly Action Hours
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Upcoming Stones Cry Out Webinars: Maintaining the Momentum, Mobilizing for Change
- Powerful New Films about Palestine
- Breaking the Stories, curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail
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Follow UCC Palestine Israel Network | |
By Palestinian Artist Yusef Katalo, born and living in Hebron. | |
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Calling out Genocide; Refusing to Normalize it
a Reflection by the Rev. Allie Perry,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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“#Humanity wake up!,” wrote Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in a recent post on X/Twitter. Triggering such urgency is her concern that Israel’s genocide in Gaza and oppression of Palestinians are being normalized. Mondoweiss reporter Philip Weiss voiced that same concern in his July 7 Weekly Briefing: Normalizing Genocide.
Western media is no longer paying sustained attention. Israel’s genocide on Gaza – the killings, the injuries, the forced famine, the displacements upon displacements, the wanton destruction of essential services -- is becoming ‘old news.’ Meanwhile, Israel’s ongoing land grabs, raids, unleashed settler violence, and brutal repression of Palestinians in the West Bank, including torture of Palestinian detainees, is rarely on the Western media’s radar, if at all. As Francesca Albanese points out, this “does not mean that genocide and oppression have stopped. It means they are being normalised.” Israel’s escalating military attacks in Gaza City compelled the closing, announced just yesterday, of the Al Ahli Arab Anglican Hospital, one of the UCC’s global partners. There is nothing normal about that.
It's been nine months since October 7th. Who would have predicted, much less imagined, the duration of this horror, a genocide being carried out, not even in the dark, but in plain sight? And yet Israel’s genocide continues, in defiance of
international law and with full-on U.S. defense funding and weapons.
There is good reason for Francesca Albanese’s alarm and wake up call. It’s not only the media, but as people go about the daily rounds of their lives, they too become otherwise occupied and can stop paying close attention. It is said that the opposite of love is not hatred, but apathy, or to use Elie Wiesel’s term, “indifference.” I am confident that no one reading this newsletter is apathetic or indifferent. The risk for us is not apathy (although we often are encountering that and/or ignorance in others). The risk for us is more likely to be a kind of numbing.
Paying close attention to the horrors of Israel’s daily assault on and slaughter of Palestinians takes an emotional toll and can create a kind of secondary trauma. Feelings of grief or outrage or both together can become overwhelming, even paralyzing.
That’s when I, and I expect all of us, recognize the need to prioritize self-care and focus on balms to heal, or at least console, our heartbreak and soul ache.
It is crucial that we allow ourselves some respite, times of deep breathing, deep grieving, and deep sharing, especially in communities of resistance and solidarity and faith. The support of such communities -- the UCC PIN steering committee
is one for me – is a balm to the soul, offering an antidote to the risk of numbing, inspiration for organizing, courage for prophetic witness, and energy for persistent resistance.
A current way that UCC PIN is persisting in our resistance is through our adamancy about naming and calling out Israel’s genocide and our refusal to normalize it. To that end, we are
continuing to promote our statement, It's Past Time: Naming Israel's Genocide in Gaza, urging religious and political leaders to use the language of genocide. We are grateful to both the Apartheid-Free Congregations/Communities and the AFSC Action Hour for sharing our statement with their networks. We applaud the Unitarian Universalists for leading the way as a denomination in adopting the language of genocide at their recent General Assembly where 74.8% of the delegates passed Action of Immediate Witness: Solidarity with Palestine. You will find in this month’s Breaking the Stories a newly introduced section listing Podcasts and a section dedicated to articles and resources specific to genocide. Please draw on them as you join us in the work of naming Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“There can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clear-sightedness,” observed Albert Camus. May we be clearsighted in recognizing, naming, calling out, and seeking to end Israel’s genocide.
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Stop Accused War Criminal Netanyahu from Addressing Congress |  | |
Congressional leadership has stooped to new lows with their invitation for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. Their invitation followed, within a matter of several days, the announcement that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court had applied for an arrest warrant naming Netanyahu. The charges? That Netanyahu and his minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of Hamas, “bear responsibility for . . . war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
War crimes are apparently of no concern to Republican leadership. They issued their invitation to Netanyahu all the same, and Democratic leadership signed on, too. Netanyahu has overseen and continues to drive Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Yet the invitation still stands. Unconscionable and shameful. Were the chambers of Congress not already defiled enough on January 6, 2021?
There is yet time, though, for us to take action and it is important that we do so. The Rev. Alex Awad, from the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, has written an impassioned and cogently argued ‘Dear Members of Congress’ appeal for our elected officials to stop Netanyahu from addressing Congress. One way to take immediate action is to go to the FOSNA website and, with Rev. Awad’s letter as a guiding script, either send an email to members of your Congressional delegation here or call their office here, or better yet, do both.
After that, do still more. Use these organizations' links for the action alerts that they have created to register protest about Netanyahu’s visit: the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights; Code Pink for Peace; and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee - ADC. Let your voice be heard again and again. If Netanyahu’s speech goes forward, ask your elected officials at the least to boycott it.
| Interfaith Action for Palestine July 28-30: Challenging Christian Zionism, Mobilizing for Justice and a Free Palestine |  | |
Over the three days of July 28-30, two gatherings, with dramatically different and contrasting agendas, will be converging in the Washington, DC area. One group, Interfaith Action for Palestine, convened and coordinated by an interfaith coalition of organizations, including Christians for a Free Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Mennonite Action, will be mobilizing to challenge, expose, counter, and disrupt the Annual Summit of the other group, Christians United For Israel (CUFI). Founded by the far-right televangelist pastor John Hagee, CUFI is the largest Zionist, pro-Israel organization in the U.S. with over 11 million members. It espouses Christian (overwhelmingly white) supremacy and promotes Christian nationalist policies. In contrast Interfaith Action for Palestine will be bringing Jesus’ message of nonviolent love and justice, calling for an immediate and permanent end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and freedom and human rights for Palestinians.
Jonathan Brenneman, an organizer with Christian for a Free Palestine, reports there will be a variety of actions for those who participate in person, including interfaith worship, banner drops, nonviolent direct actions, and lobbying. There will also be an online component for those who can’t attend in person.
UCC PIN is one of many organizations supporting Interfaith Action for Palestine; members of our steering committee will be participating. "As genocide against Palestinians continues to unfold," explained steering committee member Linda Noonan, "I feel the need to 'pray with my feet,' as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel did when he took to the streets with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others during the Southern Civil Rights Movement. I feel the need to put my body on the line as together we offer a Christian witness to counter the so-called 'Christians' United for Israel action in Washington, DC and to stand where I believe Jesus would stand now.”
To learn more, sign up for an informational call Thursday, July 11 at noon ET here. To register to participate, either in person or online, go here.
| Join AFSC's Weekly Action Hour |  | |
Soon after October 7th, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) started hosting weekly Action Hour calls. These Friday calls (noon ET, 9 am PT) offer an antidote to the powerlessness, even at times hopelessness, that many of us have felt in the face of the ongoing crisis in Gaza. The calls help to create the empowering context of an “action-oriented community” (see article by AFSC staffer Zoe Jannuzi here). Each week, the calls offer updates from AFSC staff in Gaza, analysis by an invited activist, a script for making Congressional calls right then and there, while on Zoom, and resources for activism.
“It has been a centering and powerful experience to be with people across the United States every week for almost 9 months now, sharing the difficult news from Palestine but also the ways we can channel that outrage and concern into concrete action,” observed Jennifer Bing, National Director for AFSC’s Palestine Activism Program and lead facilitator for the calls.
The Rev. Elice Higginbotham agrees. She is one of several UCC PIN steering committee members who regularly join AFSC’s Action Hour. “It is both an inspiration and a good discipline,” said Elice. “AFSC does a great job of building spiritual community without being sectarian. It's very motivating to see yourself on-screen, making your Congressional contacts along with dozens of fellow activists. I keep at it, week after week, even when I'm feeling discouraged. And the volume and quality of resources provided is phenomenal!”
Needing the inspiration and discipline of immersing in an “action-oriented community” each week? UCC PIN recommends AFSC’s Action Hour. Sign up for alerts about the weekly calls here.
| Upcoming Stones Cry Out Webinars: “Maintaining the Momentum, Mobilizing for Change” | |
The Stones Cry Out is continuing its summer series of "Virtual Delegation" webinars. Listed below are the upcoming webinars for July and August. The line-up of activists, organizers, and scholars who will be sharing their insights and strategies for justice-seeking and advocacy to end Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is impressive.
Stones Cry Out organizers -- Michael Spath, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace; Mark Braverman, Kairos USA; and Doug Thorpe, Episcopal Bishop’s Committee on Peace & Justice in the Holy Land, Diocese of Olympia -- have designed this intensive online series to equip, mobilize, and empower a broad spectrum of faith leaders and human rights activists, building momentum for an in-person gathering in Washington, D. C., September 23-25. Through direct action, Congressional visits, public proclamation, and worship, participants coming to D.C. will confront the Biden Administration and Congress, demanding an end to the U.S. government’s complicity in and financing of Israel’s genocide.
All the webinars have a 1 pm ET start. To see the full line up, into September, of webinar speakers and all their photos, go here.
Here is the line-up for July and August:
|  | Wednesday, July 10: Issa Amro, Hebron-based non-violent activist, co-founder of the grassroots group, Youth Against Settlements. Issa, who Nicholas Kristof describes as a follower of MLK, Jr. (see Breaking the Stories), has been recognized and given awards by international organizations, including the United Nations, for his leadership of nonviolent, civil disobedience campaigns against Israeli apartheid and occupation. Register here. | |
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Wednesday, July 17: Neve Gordon, an Israeli professor of International Law and Human Rights at Queen Mary University in London and author of Israel’s Occupation, and coauthor of Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire. Join this webinar in real time on the 17th here.
Wednesday, July 31: Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, human rights activist; the Rev. Allison Tanner, Apartheid-Free Communities Initiative; the Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Justice Organizer, Unitarian, Universalist Association. Register here.
Wednesday, August 14: Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian Christian human rights defender, civil rights lawyer and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led organization focused on assisting the Palestinian side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using non-violent protests. Register here.
Wednesday, August 21: Josh Ruebner, Political analyst and activist, Institute for Middle East Understanding. Register here
UCC PIN is one of several organizations supporting this initiative, including Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, Christians for Ceasefire, Churches for Middle East Peace, Sabeel, FOSNA, and many others.
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Powerful new films about Palestine: Where the Olive Trees Weep and The Night Won’t End | Two recent films are exposing new audiences to the injustice and oppression Palestinians face in the West Bank and Gaza. | |
The first, Where Olive Trees Weep, was filmed in the West Bank in 2022. Featuring well-known figures like Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, Israeli journalist Amira Hass, and Jewish physician Gabor Mate, the film documents the brutality of the occupation as well as the ongoing trauma that Palestinians face on their path to healing. To watch the film online, and to access the many related talks featuring scholars, activists, and religious leaders, visit here. | |
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Breaking The Stories: July 2024
curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail,
UCC PIN Steering Committee
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Majid Mogdad, Gazan Artist | |
'Complicit in the Genocide': First Muslim Biden Appointee Resigns Over Gaza | |
Maryam Hassanein (Photo: Arizona List) | |
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A political appointee at the U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday became the youngest—and first Muslim American—appointee of President Joe Biden's to resign as his administration continues to "fund and enable Israel's genocide of Palestinians."
"Marginalized communities in our country have long been denied the justice they deserve. I joined the Biden-Harris administration with the belief that my voice and diverse perspective would lend a hand in the pursuit of that justice," Special Assistant and Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Maryam Hassanein, said in a statement. Here
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The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Votes to Divest from Israeli Bonds | |
In-person attendees at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Video screen grab) | |
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Monday, July 1, Salt Lake City, UT - The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to divest from Israeli bonds due to the country’s prolonged military occupation and genocidal war in Gaza. The resolution was approved by unanimous consent among the roughly 500 commissioners present for the biennial gathering. The measure reflects a growing trend among institutions seeking to divest from Israel.
The Commissioners’ Resolution, submitted for consideration last week by the Rev. Dr. Hunter Farrell and the Rev. Anne Weirich, “prayerfully call[s] upon the Presbyterian Foundation and Board of Pensions to divest from governmental debt held by countries that are currently maintaining a prolonged military occupation and have been subject to United Nations resolutions related to their occupation.” Israel, Turkey, and Morocco all hold “prolonged military occupations,” and the bonds of each of these countries will be subject to this resolution. Here
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Inside the Congressional Effort to Provide Palestinians with Refugee Status | |
Palestinians search the rubble of the Harb family home, which was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the Central Gaza Strip, June 18, 2024 (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) | |
Last month, on World Refugee Day, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA), Senator Dick Durbin (IL), Representative Greg Casar (TX) and Representative Debbie Dingell (MI) led almost 70 Democratic members of Congress on a bicameral letter calling on the Biden administration to grant refugee status to Palestinians fleeing Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. Here | |
Israel/Palestine: All Victims Have Right to Reparation for Abuses | |
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Children watch airstrikes east of Rafah in the southern Gaza
Strip on May 13, 2024. © 2024 AFP via Getty Images
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All victims of gross human rights violations in Palestine and Israel are owed reparation, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch on June 26 submitted recommendations to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, had invited input to inform her October 2024 report to the United Nations General Assembly on the ongoing hostilities.
Here
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On Genocide
"A Textbook Case of Genocide": Israeli Holocaust Scholar Raz Segal Decries Israel's Assault on Gaza Here
Stop the Palestinian Genocide Here
Database of Israeli Genocidal Incitement Here
Starmer Learnt the Price of Power was Support for Genocide Here
Israel’s progression from Apartheid to Genocide Here
Liberal Zionists answer the Gaza genocide by appealing for ‘nuance’ Here
Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide Here
More Resources
I Spoke To Palestinians Tortured By Israel. What They Endured Is Unimaginable Here
Communities of faith have a duty to fight for Palestinian freedom Here
Israel’s Descent Here
Meet the Followers of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the West Bank Here
The Collapse of Zionism Here
Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential Here
‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 272: Israelis urge Netanyahu to accept U.S. ceasefire deal as Hamas gives its response Here
In The West Bank, a Rabbi Fights To Defend Palestinian Land Arik Ascherman speaks on the work of Torat Tzedek, which works to assist Palestinian shepherds in protecting their land from settlers in the West Bank. Here
Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters Here
Palestinian Resistance from the PLO to Hamas Here
Podcasts
New this month! Podcasts have emerged as an essential form of media when it comes to understanding what is happening on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank. That's why UCC PIN is introducing a new section to our monthly newsletter in which we recommend several podcast episodes that we consider to be essential listening. Check out the episodes below:
· Aylul: Surviving the Nuseirat Massacre As a One-Day-Old Newborn - On this episode of the podcast This is Palestine, we hear the heart wrenching story of baby Aylul, a baby born during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Here
· Maha Hussaini in Gaza: You Cannot Be Neutral in a Genocide - On this episode of PalCast, the award-winning Palestinian journalist joins us from Gaza to talk about her reporting, the situation on the ground, the need to have an active Palestinian voice and western media bias towards the Palestinians. Here
· The Night That Won't End in Gaza - This episode of The Intercept's podcast Intercepted features an in-depth interview with the filmmakers of the new Al Jazeera documentary, The Night Won't End: Biden's War on Gaza. This episode is a powerful companion piece after viewing the film. Here
· Palestinian Genocide Survivors in Egypt - On this episode of Rethinking Palestine, Ali, a humanitarian worker from Gaza now in Egypt, speaks on the experience of Palestinians from Gaza in Egypt as they maneuver the different legal, financial, and social hardships of their forced displacement. Here
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