Agreed. Also sorry. I think we would concur on many aspects of the AIW. However, I wish it were an AIW for a Cease Fire and that it addressed both sides. Of course, I know you would have studied this closely. I have also thought long and hard and spent many hours attending webinars, discussions and panels and reading the comments.
Maybe coffee sometime. We can disagree on this and still listen to, appreciate and care about each other.
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The ballot is open for delegates to vote to admit the AIWs to the agenda for discussion on Saturday!
https://delegate.uua.org/login.php
The ballot will be open until 8 pm Pacific/11 pm Eastern, and results will be announced later.
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Absolutely dear one! I look forward to lunch sometime!
I will not support this AIW. I find it embedded with anti-Jewish sentiments. I speak for myself as a Jewish Unitarian Universalist Minister not as a representative of any organization I belong to or serve.
First, let me be clear that I realize the suffering that Palestinians are subjected to. I do not want to minimize that. However, I think it is important that you understand how harmful this AIW is to many Jewish people within Unitarian Universalism. This AIW could have been written without demonizing Jewish people and Zionism.
Calling Zionism supremacist is a denial of Jews as historically marginalized people. For the last 2,000+ years, Jewish people have suffered terribly, mostly due to Christian anti-semetism. They have been discriminated against, harmed, exiled and murdered due to violent Christian supremacy in every land they inhabited. Jewish hate crimes are rising significantly in the United States. It is true Israel has more power than the Palestinians now, but in the scope of history, and in the current Mideast with Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestinians opposed to the existence of Israel, Israelis are under the constant threat of destruction. We call for the end of US arms to Israel, but do not call for ending Iranian arms to Palestinians. That is calling for destruction of Israel. I define Zionism as the right of Jewish self determination to create a Jewish State in their ancestral lands. Nothing more, nothing less. History has shown that at every turn when Jews do not control their destiny the rest of the world tries to exterminate them. I believe in Jewish peopleās right to self-determination.
If we are reaffirming Jewish safety that will only happen with a Majority Jewish State, and this statement does not affirm that (which we as an Association have already voted to support). I agree Israel will not be safe until Palestinians feel safe as well. This is what we should be working on. Peace and Self determination where both can live in peace in the region.
Occupation āThere is no context why there is an occupation. After Palestinians refused a path to Statehood in 2000 with the Camp David Accords, Hamas initiated the Second Intifada with constant suicide bombings in cafes and buses in Israel. That is when the walls and checkpoints accelerated. This collapsed the peace process and ushered in increasingly right wing governments in Israel. In his Ware Lecture Rashid Khalidi said Palestinians should have accepted the 2000 Camp David Agreement. I will also add that Prof Khalidi made a blatant anti-Jewish remark in his Ware Lecture blaming American Jews for the Iraq war. Most attendees cheered.
Let us also remember that Israel unilaterally handed Gaza over to Palestinians, forcibly removing Jewish settlements. Hamas used Gaza to build tunnels and obtained bombs and has consistently launched attacks against Israel. It was ongoing attacks that led to increasing militarization on Israelās part.
Accusing Israel of Colonialism is a denial of Jewish peopleās indigenous nature to that land. The fact that a large majority of Jews were exiled by the Romans in the 2nd century does not erase their indigenous nature to the land. There have been Jews living continuously for the last 3,000 years in the middle east. This is not to deny Palestinianās indigenous nature to the land as well. This is the crux of the challenge. I believe denying Jewish peopleās indigenous nature to the land is anti-Jewish.
The AIW mentions the 750,000 displaced Palestinians in 1948. You give no context for that. The United Nations partitioned the land into two states, Israel and Palestine. Israel accepted the partition and Palestinians rejected partition. When Israel declared their statehood, five Arab countries attacked Israel. Israel won that war and that is the reason for the displacement. It also fails to mention that 800,000 Jews were displaced from Arab countries in years after the 1948 war.
The document states that āin 1967 when additional Palestinian lands were violently occupiedā. Again a little context. After 1948 war Gaza was controlled by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan. In an attempt to destroy Israel, Arab armies surrounded Israel borders preparing to attack. In the war that followed Israel won. Egypt and Jordan made peace agreements with Israel (which still stand today) and did not want to maintain control of Gaza and the West Bank.
Ethnic Cleansing ā I find this an odd phrase to use. There are over 2million Israeli citizens who are Palestinians living within Israelās borders and they are not being threatened. Israel is trying to root out the Hamas terrorists and retrieve the hostages. Hamas has hidden among civilians. I would say it is Hamas, the democratically elected government of Gaza who wants Ethnic Cleansing of Jews. In Hamasā foundational statements they call for the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews.
I do not have the bandwidth to fully address the genocide question. Suffice it to say you use it legalistically. 70% of European Jews were killed in World War 2. 75% of Tutsis were killed in the Rwanda Genocide. Less then 1% of Palestinians have died in this war. (and we do not know how many of those who died are Hamas terrorists) That doesnāt make it right, as every life is valued, but we should have some perspective before we casually throw around the word genocide. That is harmful to people who have actually suffered a Genocide.
Yes the history of this conflict is complex. However this war is not. Hamas, launched a terrorist attack against Israel citizens, systemically raping and abusing women (this is per the United Nations) and have taken hostages. The fact that the witnessing only speaks of Israels actions in the war and does not witness to the Hamas Terrorist attack is anti-Jewish in my opinion. Israel has a right to defend themselves and to try to free the hostages.
I do agree that what is happening on the West Bank is far more egregious then people are focusing on. It is an outright theft of land that would be used for a Palestinian State. I am genuinely curious what the source of the statement that āU.S. synagogues are selling illegally confiscated land in the occupied territories?ā A cursory search of the internet showed one event in New Jersey where no lands was sold and was protested. This statement makes it seem that is widespread. If it is please provide documentation. If it is not widespread this statement is very misleading and seems to want to create hatred toward US Jews.
In the witnessing section you call for the release of all captives. I do not believe there is an equivalency between innocent Israeli civilian hostages and Hamas Terrorists who have been captured.
Boycotting Israel is just trying to destroy Israel economically. I do not believe in the destruction of Israel so I cannot support this.
What is happening in Israel/Palestine is tragic. Let us work for peace. This AIW in its conclusions does not even mention peace once.
We can support Palestinians without destroying Israel and thereby Jews. Let there be love at our center for both Palestinians and Israelis.
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Do you know if the CS/AI (Congregational Study/Action Issue) process is coming back? I think the last one was accepted in 2017, though I could be wrong on the specific year.
Speaking of suppression of free speech, Reporters without Borders announced the 2024 Press Freedom Index last monthāwe have slipped from 45 to 55 out of 180 this year alone (lower number is best; 1, 2, and 3 are Scandinavian countries; Canada is 14 [up from 15], MĆ©xico is 121 [up from 128]): Index | RSF.
Hearing at a Fort Lee, N.J., the vitriol of those opposing balanced education on Israel/Palestine was very disturbing. These days, āyou can have your own opinion, but you canāt have your own factsā seems to be questioned by those who would rather not question authorities.
I believe that we must witness reality by approving this AIW.
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Hi. I wanted to give my best shot at supporting this proposal, because it gives me a lot of hope for the future of the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Iām going to do my best to do this with the nuance and care this subject deserves. Iām going to try to do this not because Iām the most educated on the situation (Iāve been learning more about the history leading up to this conflict in recent months more than I ever have) or because I am closest effected (Iām visibly semitic but I never met my Jewish grandfather or was brought into the faith)
But because I fell in love with Universal Unitarianism because of its willingness to face the complicated challenges we, the living face right here and now.
I need to start off with saying all war is atrocious, in all of its forms. Itās a horrendous mistake that all of our ancestors have perpetuated. All of us need to heal from this atrocity but we canāt heal without first making people feel safe.
The Jewish people have felt unsafe for a very long time. Have had to learn with living in territories where people held animosity towards them for generations. Iām really happy, for myself as someone with identifiable Jewish ancestry, and for my Jewish friends that there are places where Jews can live in relative safety and freedom from violence, not having to worry that a neighboring nation will attempt to eradicate themā¦ in the United States. Is there antisemitism here? Surely there is some, but I donāt know any of my Jewish friends to fear for their life, feel the need for a massive military industry and walls with automated gun cameras to feel safe.
The people of Palestine have not felt safe for over 100 years. A brutal apartheid has made them feel beneath a settler colonial power on land their families have lived on for generations. The state of Israel has not been good neighbors to anyone in the region. I had a friend who went on a work visit to a permaculture farm with people working to regreen the desert. He had to com home after Israeli settlers threw a hand grenade in their water cistern. Every year American volunteers will go to help with the Palestinian Date harvest because their presence makes it less likely that the local farmers are shot at by settlers.
We cannot condone the October 7th attack. It is a tragic event for everyone involved. Documents have been leaked that show Israeli intelligence knew the attack was imminent, and correspondences between Israeli politicians show that they viewed the attack as a wonderful opportunity to get the license to wipe Palestine off the map.
And thatās what they have been doing since October 7th. Filling wells with cement, firing upon starving families in line for bread. using bombs and ordinances in no small part supplied by the US in aā¦ hostage rescuing mission?
The actions will not be forgotten, especially by the people of the region for a long long time.
Taking all the violence into account, it can seem untenable. That this conflict can only end with the eradication of either the Israeli people or the Palestinian people. It can seem like it wonāt end and with the deep faith roots this conflict holds, that it has potential to Spyral out into a global conflict. Ukraine is still burning. China has been posturing around Taiwan. Thereās American heads of state and industry that have believed the end times are coming and that Israel will be the catalyst for Armageddon since its inception.
What gives me hope. What I am really truly grateful for is how many Jewish people have been vehemently opposed to this war. Jewish voices calling for peace. Jewish bodies blocking the transportation of weapons to Israeli. Jewish leaders calling for their people to oppose this reenactment of the traumas their ancestors have faced onto another people.
The best path towards safety for the Jewish people is not to blindly support the state of Israel that would, in their name commit genocide. The path towards a world where we can all be safe lies with the many many Jewish people who say never again, not in our name.
Itās natural to feel afraid and uncomfortable faced with such a challenge as this conflict. I do believe that more people will educate themselves beyond what the heads of state/benefactors of war would tell us to justify their bloody trade.
I have faith in us, as a species and as a faith group and in this proposal that will bring us closer to a safer world for all.
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This is all I know Sally from the UUA website: " * Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAIs) are issues selected by Unitarian Universalist member congregations for three years of study, reflection and action. In the third year of this process, delegates at GA can vote to approve a Statement of Conscience (SOC) resulting from three years of congregational feedback on the CSAI. There have been no CSAIs in the past few years, and the cycle for proposals will begin again in the Fall of 2024."
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I support the AIW as does my churchās Social Justice group. Jews have been out in the street for weeks with signs āJEWS SAY CEASEFIRE NOWā āJEWS SAY END THE OCCUPATION,ā etc. How can we do any less? Other denominations have issued formal statements citing Israel as an apartheid state. As a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, I fear most people simply havenāt been paying attention since this mess got under way in the 19th century. You all raise many points. First, Palestinians are original inhabitants as much as Jews. Theyāre descended from the Canaanites (Canaan being the land into which Israelites migrated from Iraq). Many Palestinians today are likely descendants of Jews who never left the region to enter the diaspora. Anyhow, legitimate occupation is not decided by where your ancestors were 2000 years ago. This land was Palestine, it was annexed by the British empire who sponsored the transfer of Jews from Europe who were being denied entry/asylum in Western countries. The US clamped dcown on immigration and was deporting Jewish refugees at the end of WWI. It was the US and the West that decided that somehow Jews should be sent far away so the West wouldnāt have to deal with them. (Great idea: dump them on Palestine, which had nothing to do with the European pogroms and persecutions of Jews.) The US decided it was convenient to push the refugees onto someone elxe ā to take their country away from Palestinians, so Palestine ended up paying for Europeās crimes against Jews. The US brokered the partition through the newly-created UN giving 56% (of somebody elseās country!) to the new migrants, then stood by as the Israelis seized just under 80% of the land in the first year and all of it in the '67 war. This was flagrant land theft. You donāt save one people from destruction by destroying another. You could wipe out every Hamas fighter tomorrow but that wouldnāt end legitimate lawful Palestinian resistance to occupation and the other atrocities that have been going on for decades while the US shields Israel from accountabhility under intāl law. Time to step up ā even with the bland language of the AIW-- and join the world in saying All Peop;le Have an Equal Right to Exist. Just niot with these borders and these policies. ā Yann van Heurck
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As a Jewish UU, I couldnāt say near all I wanted in those 60 seconds in our General Session. But if I could, this is what I would have said: I hear the Jewish voices worrying about Jewish safety. I have grandparents who escaped here in 1939, lucky to get out alive from Poland and Romania, but having witnessed such brutality that they lived out their lives so deeply traumatized that they never spoke of it again. I understand the Jewish reflex for safety. For far too long, I was taught that MY safety mattered, Zionism reinforced the Holocaust as being a one-time horror against a specific people, Jewish people.
It took me a long time ā too long - to understand zionism as colonialism, that my āsafetyā was and is fully at the cost of Palestinian lives. Itās taken me that long to understand Israel couldnāt possibly deliver on its promise of safety. If anything, Jews around the world are in increasing danger given Israelās political actions and resulting isolation. What we have and are wreaking, as Jews worldwide and as Jew in Israel, is absolutely a reenactment of our own traumas. It must stop. As a Jewish UU, I am clear that ānever againā means right now, we must stop the genocide in Gaza. Full stop.
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Friends, if you would like to be able to read Rev. DL Helferās and Rev. Katie Romano Griffinās statements (especially since the time ran out on Rev. Katie), we have updated the website to include them here. https://uupalestineaction.org/uus-introduce-action-of-immediate-witness-at-general-assembly-and-voting-opens/
I truly hope that even those of you who are on the fenceāor even who opposeāthis AIW will consider voting yes to advance it to the final agenda. This conversation deserves our attention as a General Assembly.
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Each Friday and Saturday since October 7th I have attended Shabbat services or lit candles at home and recited the Mournerās Kaddish for all those who have been killed in this violence. Each Sunday since October 7th, I have gone to the UU church where I am serving as intern minister, lit a candle, and said a prayer for the safety of the hostages taken and for the safety of the Palestinian people facing a violence and onslaught beyond anything I could imagine. I fear that we are getting lost in a belief that only one type of human life is valid. I support this AIW because I believe it values all life. Yes, the AIW more explicitly names the suffering of the Palestinian people and with this I turn to the other nations in the UN Security Council and to the International Court of Justice which is calling out Israelās egregious actions at this time. I am horrified by Hamasā terrorist attack and I also believe that when people tell you their intentions, believe them. Israeli officials have called for eliminating all Palestinians from the Gaza strip. Israeli MP Says It Clearly for World to Hear: 'Erase All of Gaza From the Face of the Earth' | Common Dreams .
For me as a proud Jewish person who is deeply connected to my Jewish religious beliefs and culture and who lost many family members in the Holocaust (my grandmother escaped Germany in August 1939 just before the borders closed and witnessed things I can never imagine), I do not believe that Jewish safety should ever come at the expense of the safety of other people. My UU and Jewish beliefs cannot support that. I also believe very strongly that it is a false equivalency to equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, even as I caution and am aware that at times this debate has dissolved into the worst of us with anti-Semitic and Islamophobic tropes being disgustingly used. I am grateful for the rabbis of my synagogue who are very active in Rabbis for Ceasefire and I am grateful for the other denominations who have spoken out, for example the UCC church: https://www.ucc.org/a-call-for-peace-amid-holy-week-ucc-officers-pen-pastoral-letter-on-palestine/
If we believe ourselves to be a liberal prophetic faith, then we cannot be silent in the face of slaughter of so many innocent people.
Thank you.
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I grew up in the McCarthy era. All my long life, Iāve been hearing people discourage & denounce organized efforts to make this a better world. First it was the fear mongering McCarthyite persecutions of anyone who dared to advocate for a more equitable society; then it was calling my whole generation traitors for opposing the Vietnam War while also villifying those who put their lives on the line to stand up for racial justice in the long established U.S, Jim Crow system of oppression; then it was the women who burned their bras and rebelled against the patriarchy, claiming our right to full personhood; then it was those of nontraditional gender who risked their livelihoods and often their lives to come out of the closet and claim a respected place in society.
In all these cases and more, the needed reform initially involved divisiveness and much courage on the part of the change makers. Had they let themselves be deterred by that, I hate to imagine where weād be now.
This is true retroactively all the way back to our own American Revolution. This country would not exist were it not for people willing to go through whatever they had to go through to claim a modicum of freedom & democracy (albeit one sullied by slavery, genocide of indigenous people, and subjugation of women!). Were it not for the 19th century abolitionists and suffragists weād still have a slave state in which women also had no rights of any kind, including the right to vote.
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.ā (A quote often attributed to Gandhi that is said to have first been articulated in 1918 by Nicholas Klein, a trade union activist.)
I bring all this up by way of responding to Anthony Van der Mudeās concerns about the Palestinian
Solidarity AIW causing fatal dissension in our UU community. Thereās no guarantee that it wonāt but my educated guess is that, far from being fatal, such dissension can be a sign of a healthy commitment to truth and justice that will bring us through to a better way of being Unitarian. In any case, itās an inevitable part of taking a stand against established oppressions. If we arenāt willing to do that, weāve already lost our way.
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Blessings upon your head, Rev. Helfer!
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The stories about raped & brutally slaughtered women, about beheaded babies & other shocking atrocitiesāthese were part of a disinformation campaign that (interestingly) Netanyahu had ready to go on Oct. 7th and that Biden helped spread by immediately claiming heād seen pictures of the beheaded babies. The Hamas killings and kidnappings were horrific war crimes but these other tales of horror were manufactured by Netanyahu, who is widely known as a master of disinformation designed to control the public narrative. Since he had advance warning of the Hamas attack that he chose to ignore, I canāt help but wonder if he saw it as an opportunity to rain death & destruction on the Palestinian people, whom heās long openly intended to exterminate and/or drive into exile. Also as a means of staying in office during time of war to avoid being ousted & tried for corruption. (With his own skin on the line, no way will he ever agree to a permanent ceasefireā¦you can bet on that.)
What really happened on Oct. 7th has been investigated and exposed by Max Blumenthal, an investigative reporter whose father Sidney Stone Blumenthal was a prominent journalist, political operative, and Lincoln scholar. Max broadcasts from The Grayzone, a platform he shares with Aaron Mate, son of Gabor Mate, famed Canadian physician & author whoās a holocaust survivor and who has been speaking out all over the place on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Hereās an interview with Chris Hedges in which Max relates what he uncovered about Oct. 7th: VIDEO: What really happened on October 7? - The Grayzone.
Again, thereās no condoning what Hamas actually did do that day. But let us not buy into Netanyahuās shocking prevarications, which have been debunked by other journalists as well.
To date, Israel has killed over 120 journalists despite the fact that under international law they are protected from attack in times of war. Hereās what the UN has to say about that: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/gaza-un-experts-condemn-killing-and-silencing-journalists.
This is one of many measures of whatās going down in Gaza and also on the West Bank.
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Even the United Nations with has historically been Anti-Israel, found systemic rape on Oct 7th. Reasonable Grounds to Believe Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Occurred in Israel During 7 October Attacks, Senior UN Official Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases
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Glad to hear it! I guess it was put on hold for the Article II rewrite, which makes sense, but someone could have said that so we were not left wondering. Of course, the bylaw revision starting in 2025 should be as important as Article II, no?
AMEN. This AIW is distressing, especially coming from a democratic church.
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Decrying the violence on October 7 is not enough. Hamas is never mentioned in this AIW. Hamas must be condemned for their rape, murder, destruction, and kidnapping of hostages. Hamas must be condemned for its war crimes, too. Without that condemnation, we would tacitly support Hamas. I would never sign up for that.
While I concur in condemning Israel for its acts, I cannot provide any support to the terrorist group Hamas.
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Sharing a post by Rabbi Brant Rosen which supports solidarity with Palestinians.
On Gaza: Religion, Politics and Solidarity
Here are my remarks from, āGaza: Religion, Politics and Solidarity,ā a program sponsored by Bright Stars of Bethlehem on May 5, held at the First Presbyterian Church in Evanston. It was my honor to speak in conversation with Palestinian liberation theologian Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb (founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem), Dr, Rami Nashashibi, (founder and Executive Director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network) and Dr. Iva E. Carruthers, (General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference).
To view the entire program, click here.
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