Thank you. The AIW has some clear references against anti-Semitism, whether or not those could have been strengthened, and does not seem to dismiss Jewish suffering; it was also made in conversation with Jewish UUs, some of whom are discussing this new resolution with concern in the YA spaces. By contrast, this motion isn’t balanced and I think it will promote violence. And if the critique is against the president and not the AIW, then I think it should brought forward in a different way that wouldn’t undermine the AIW, starting with repair conversations.
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I hear you and I see you. I am so very sorry you are hurting so much.
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Marlene, I’m so deeply sorry for your loss. I grieve for you in the same heartfelt way that my heart breaks for every one of the Palestinian lives that has been cut painfully short.
I struggle with what to say here, because I’m a strong believer that we can’t really talk each other into anything.
But we can love each other in ways that help us find compassion.
I hear the pain and I hear the fear. I get it — it’s literally in our traumatized Jewish DNA at this point to feel that way.
And it’s hard, I know, to get past that and to move into a place of fully seeing those who we have vilified as the other, whom we have dehumanized in a perceived need for safety. And who Israel is killing off, decimating, whatever you want to call it.
I hear this RR and I hear “see us too.” We do.
But hear that this RR centers Jews. Again. And in doing so redirects away from the focus on ending the genocide of Palestinians. Which is the crucial action of this GA, of this time.
I hope post-GA we can find time for constructive and meaningful conversation about how how Jewish UUs can best support this work toward collective liberation.
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I wish it had said that more clearly. without doing so, it appears as a response to the acceptance of the AIW onto the agenda. I would have to go back to listen to the president’s report, which I don’t have time to do—can someone point to the specific items to which this resonds?
This Responsive Resolution is an effort to restore twhat it considers to be a lack of balance in the AIW “Solidarity with Palestinians.” But:
a) This resolution does not call for the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, thousands of whom are held indefinitely under administrative detention in which the detention can be renewed for years and in which the detained do not know the reasons for their detention. The resolution should call for release of these prisoners also.
b) The resolution does not call for a permanent ceasefire and would allow for Israel to increase its attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza once the hostages are released.
c) The resolution claims that the AIW being proposed does not recognize the harm and suffering of Jewish people in the attacks on October 7, but this is not true as shown in quotes from others in this discussion.
d) The resolution does not recognize the immediate need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in which more that 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, most housing has been destroyed, 80,000 people have been injured and famine is nearly present.
e) The resolution does not recognize that the situation in Israel/Palestine is one in which one ethnic group has the power and is oppressing another ethnic group.
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I would like to know what Jewish UUs were consulted. I can assure they did not consult our one UU Jewish Theological group Unitarian Universalists for Jewish Awareness.
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I, too, wondered this. Consulting only ultra progressive Jews who already align with the liberation theology as it is emerging in UUA and more broadly would be a shallow and ill informed attempt to be able to claim, “We spoke with Jewish UUs.” One could consult Netanyahu and his cabinet and claim the same, though the recommendation and support would be quite different.
For the record, don’t consult Netanyahu and his cabinet. Genocide I dispute, but war crimes, and hate enacted in a vengeful way? It is also not just this AIW, but the general tone of UU, including in my own congregation, since nearly day one. The bias and seeming antisemitic lean in UUA is deeply concerning.
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I support the Therefore of this resolution while being deeply troubled by the language of the fourth Whereas clause that implies, inappropriately in my view, that sides are being taken by the UUA and that the current AIW under consideration is an attack requiring an immediate response to take a side for the Israeli hostages held by Hamas but not the Palestinian hostages held in Israel.
This war is, in my view, a nearly universal failure of the humanity of many, many parties. Hamas, the State of Israel, the United States government, demonstrators who hold selective compassion, Hezbollah, Iran, and others have all failed in various ways and at different intensities at demonstrating basic human compassion. War is always a failure of humanity, and this particular one has many more actors than many conflicts. Unspeakable inhumanity from whatever quarter met by unspeakable inhumanity is never anything but unspeakable inhumanity. I simply cannot recognize or accept the Israel/Gaza conflict as a binary, black and white, good and evil circumstance as that fourth clause implies exists. All of that comes at me in that 4th Whereas clause as well as the unspeakable pain held by those who felt the need to draft it. I hold them in love and compassion.
Since, as I understand it, this hastily drafted RR cannot be revised I am unnecessarily placed in a position of in fact making a snap decision when at least with the AIW I, and the drafters of this RR, had benefit of prior knowledge, review, context, and consideration. I will listen to the discussion in sadness that this could not have been anticipated before today.
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I fully support this. The Hostages are innocent. To call Israel the only Bad Country in the world is alienating our progressive Jewish allies, as we will see on Tuesday when Jamaal Bowman is defeated. As I have said before the present middle Eastern resolution is
an outrage defending the rape and murder of Jewish women on Oct 7.
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This would be a good question to ask on the AIWs page! 
From the AIW itself it sounds like some of them were Jewish UUs who are part of the UU Peace Ministry Network and UU Multicultural Ministries, but it sounds like yours should have been included.
They did not ask our one Jewish theological group Unitarian Universalists for Jewish Awareness
I support this Responsive Resolution. I felt dismayed and depressed by the support shown in the AIW for an internationally recognized terrorist organization, and by the false equivalence applied to hostages and the otherwise imprisoned, and by the unbalanced support for one side in a war where both sides have done wrong. I feel heard by this RR, and so will many in my congregation who see the misguided support for hostage takers as inconsistent with our values.
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Marlene, that’s so horrible. What an awful thing. No one should die like that. 
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This responsive resolution is centering the experience of Israel when there is a genocide happening of Palestinians. The framework of an “existential threat” inevitably lifts up the violent rhetoric from Netanyahu…
It is vital that we challenge Anti-Semitism as a harmful and violent force in our world. Let us engage in authentic action to dismantle Anti-Semitism collectively that does not do so as a reactionary response to the movement for Palestinian liberation. One such tool we can utilize is the book -
On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice by Jewish Voice for Peace
We have much work to do together and I do not think this Responsive Resolution gets us closer to where we need to go.
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I am here simply to express my solidarity and love, to thank you for your words. I’ve been UU for 40 years since age 2, and I come from Jewish heritage. Like you, I never thought I’d be in a position in this faith where I must stand up against such veiled and overt antisemitism.
I am so sorry for the loss of your cousin.
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I would like Hamas to release the hostages without preconditions. Would you like Hamas to release the hostages without preconditions? Or would you prefer that Hamas keep holding hostages until they can win certain concessions? I don’t want a debate, but I do want to know what you think. Thanks.
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This responsive resolution is challenging for me. I personally wish the AIW had put a stronger accent on the criminal actions of Hamas on October 7, on the real threats to Jewish survival in this moment, and on the ways anti-semitic tropes have appeared in some pro-Palestinian advocacy. That said, I’ll be supporting the AIW because it makes a genuine effort to honor the sanctity of both Jewish and Palestinian lives, and because I understand that there are many different points of view on how to find the right balance in this particular moment.
This responsive resolution, by contrast, feels much more one-sided to me. Even on its own terms, of addressing threats to Jewish survival, it is one-sided because it does not address the real threat that Benjamin Netanyahu poses to Jewish survival by consistently prioritizing his political career over the well-being of Israelis. It also fails to address the real pain of anti-Zionist Jews who have experienced exclusion and ostracization by communities that were once vital supports for them.
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I know you directed your question to Jason, but I will offer my personal interest. I believe Hamas should release its hostages without preconditions, and I also believe that Israel should release its hostages without preconditions. I am against the holding of hostages. That said, if they agree to a hostage swap, I will certainly celebrate the freedom of cherished human beings!
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Judging by certain comments made by social justice activists in my congregation, it seems like my congregation was ahead of the game in terms of promoting antisemitism. Since October 7th, plenty of social justice activists have promoted antisemitism, but we had a head start. What should I make of that observation? I’m not sure. In 2019, I took a Star of David to the Women’s March, and I did not anticipate that anitsemitism was going to get worse. I’m happy to see this resolution and to suppor it.
That is a beautiful pink Star of David. We welcome it. However, it does not excuse the actions of the Netanyhu government.