The Rev. Crystal McCormack-Silva (on the right) praying in the Dirksen Senate Building cafeteria, photo from Christians for a Free Palestine website

On April 8-9, I joined a group of 50 other Christians in response to the call from Christians for a Free Palestine to gather in Washington D.C. for a faith-based protest of the U.S. administration's current policies, including its military funding of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its decision to discontinue funding UNRWA, a lifeline for Gaza.  Our group spent our first day in prayer, lamenting to God the genocide in Gaza and the siege and occupation that have been the lived experience of Palestinians for decades. We gathered to prepare our hearts for direct action, as the organizers reminded us of the precedent set by our biblical tradition to respond to and disrupt injustice. We recalled the example of Jesus, who always stood with the oppressed and the marginalized, to ensure that our witness would be faithful to the teachings of Jesus and aligned with his actions. 

The next day, Tuesday, April 9^th, before engaging in our strategically planned action, our group shared a liturgy of communion. Then we entered the Dirksen Senate building and sat at the tables of its cafeteria. We stood in unison, singing, "Palestine will be free. We will not avert our eyes. Palestine will be free." We blocked the entrances to the cafeteria lines and declared our support for Gaza and the whole of Palestine. We condemned the genocide and the human-made famine imposed on Gazans. We demanded our elected officials restore funding to UNWRA and put an end to the starvation of Gazans. We demanded an end to the dropping of bombs and denounced the elements of our tradition - the Christian Zionists - who champion this violence as sanctioned by God and holy scriptures.

Our group was arrested for refusing to remove ourselves from the cafeteria. Even under arrest, we continued to chant "Free Palestine" and to offer public prayers and songs in solidarity with Gaza and all of Palestine. While the call for this action was to Christians, our effort was interfaith. One of the amazing organizers was from Jewish Voice for Peace, and our action was blessed by the words of Rabbi Alissa Wise, who noted the solidarity of our work to condemn the words and actions of those from our respective traditions who champion this violence.

Our goals? To demand that our elected leaders shift course and end U.S. funding of the violence against Gazans. To call more attention to the devastation in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine. And to show our solidarity with God's children in Gaza and Palestine.

Our plea to the world and our fellow Christians everywhere is this: condemn the violence and declare loudly that we will not avert our eyes – not from the genocide, the occupation, or the apartheid system that continues to choke the rest of Palestine.

As Christians, we must keep fighting for a free Palestine. May there be justice so that there can be peace! In the name of Jesus, may it be so. Amen