by Malaysian artist Haris Rashid

The crisis in Gaza is coming to a head, with alarming speed, right now in this moment, with a convergence of fast-breaking developments:

●Israel is escalating attacks on Rafah, with full-scale bombing, seizing control over the past weekend of the Egyptian crossing and preventing delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid;

●The IDF issued evacuation orders to over 100,000 Palestinians in Eastern Rafah, forcing them to move with no safe place to go;

●For the first time, the Biden Administration has put a hold on a munition shipment to Israel;

●Hamas has accepted the recent Egyptian negotiated ceasefire proposal, while Israel is balking, refusing to “agree to end the war as part of a deal”;

●Israel just banned Al Jazeera in Israel, raiding their offices and seizing their equipment, further attempting to suppress freedom of the press;

●Here in the US, most of the encampments on college campuses are being shut down, protests suppressed, and some protesters criminalized;

●Meanwhile Congress has taken up bills to stifle First Amendment rights of free speech and to constrain support for Palestinian rights; these have passed in the Republican controlled House with strong Democratic support, and have now been introduced in the Senate.

Read more about these developments in Breaking the Stories and articles that follow. 

The cumulative effect of these concurrent realities can be daunting. But this is not a time to grow weary or to be faint-hearted. Instead let us take heart from BDS co-founder and Columbia alumnus Omar Barghouti who ended a recent Facebook posting about the student protests with this encouraging prognostication: “The tide is turning and our people-power is rising. We are fast approaching Palestine’s South Africa moment.”   

Now is the time to prioritize action, to intensify the pressure on all fronts, to pull out all the stops, to advocate in every way we can. With that in mind, UCC PIN is dedicating this lead column for our May E-News to actions we urge you to take. Don’t just do some of them; do all of them. 

ACTIONS MENU

UCC Officers, Karen Georgia Thompson and Shari Prestemon, recently issued a powerful statement “amid ongoing unrest on college campuses.” Share and amplify it. Read it from the pulpit, distribute it to church members, include it in Conference newsletters.

UCC for Ceasefire, an interest group within the newly formed Christians for a Free Palestine, are circulating a statement calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire and challenging the false ‘theologies’ of Christian Zionism and Christian nationalism. Their goal? To get a 1,000 signers from UCC folks across the country by Pentecost, May 19, after which the statement will be delivered to every member of Congress. Go here to add your name and then share it.

Through Global Ministries’ 3^rd Thursday Alert, urge the U.S. Senate to reject initiatives to curb free speech and to curb advocacy for Palestinian rights, specifically asking your senators to vote against S. 4127 and S. 4136 here.

“Now is the time to tip the scales,” says Jewish Voice for Peace. Use their tool to contact Congress, urge your senators and representative to stop arming Israel and to suspend funding.

Global Strike for Rafah has been called for Friday, May 10. To learn more about participating, go here.

Contribute to UNRWA, committed to staying in Rafah, with teams on the ground providing life-saving assistance. Here

Participate in action hours: Jewish Voice for Peace offers one every week day at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET. Register at this link for notices of the calls. Every Friday at 9 am PT/12 pm ET, the American Friends Service Committee hosts a ceasefire action hour. To register for that, go here. 

Find hope in and take courage from “people-power rising” across the country and globe. For one inspiring example, read the next story about the Passover action organized by Rabbis for Ceasefire.