UCC PIN's Presence at General Synod
As promised, UCC PIN showed up at General Synod with trays of baklava and bowls of hummus, arguably the tastiest food offerings in the Exhibit Hall. Our booth attracted a lot of traffic: some who had been to Palestine and Israel, others who wanted to learn more, some already familiar with UCC PIN, others just learning about our work, all concerned and grateful for our resources. We offered a ‘menu’ of information about UCC PIN and some of our priorities: advocating for Rep. Betty McCollum’s bill HR 3103 “Defending the Rights of Palestinian Children and Families,” guidance for having difficult conversation with Jewish colleagues and friends, and especially our showcasing and promoting the Apartheid-Free Congregations campaign.
PIN steering committee member Elice Higginbotham was a stalwart, staffing the booth from the Exhibit Hall’s opening until its close, with support during the first two days from fellow Pin steering committee member Allie Perry and also Dov Baum, director of the AFSC’s Economic Activism Program.
Dov flew in from Oakland, CA to be the lead presenter of a workshop on “Becoming an Apartheid-Free Congregation,” jointly sponsored by Global Ministries and UCC PIN. Peter Makari introduced the workshop describing its goals in this way, “We hope today’s workshop will empower you and your congregation or setting to learn more about the circumstances on the ground and to find meaningful ways to work for a peace with justice for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, and to participate in a new campaign – Apartheid-Free Communities.”
Dov began her presentation sharing some of her personal story. An Israeli Jew, Dov had her eyes opened when in her teens she read Cry the Beloved Country. How, she wondered, could white South Africans not have recognized their country’s apartheid? But then she realized that most Israeli Jews were similarly ignorant, in denial, didn’t care, or believed in the supremacy of Israel’s Jewish population. Nevertheless she complied with Israel's mandatory military service, assigned to work in intelligence.
Now Dov uses the research skills she learned then to expose the complicity of corporations that profit from Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime. Dov shared two helpful websites. The first, Investigate, is a divestment tool that documents companies “involved in specific human rights violations as part of the Israeli occupation.” The second, Daily Brief, on the Looking the Occupation in the Eye website, provides daily briefs documenting the ongoing violence, assaults, and killings inflicted by Israeli soldiers and Israeli settlers, and records instances of Palestinian attacks as well.
After describing the injustice and cruelty of Israel’s apartheid, Dov spoke of the imperative for action and then introduced workshop participants to the Apartheid-Free campaign and enumerated the variety of ways congregations can take action, starting with signing the campaign's pledge. Some examples of actions that congregations might take, in addition to study and preaching, include: connecting with Palestinian partners (through Global Ministries, for example), engaging in advocacy for the rights of Palestinian children, promoting BDS, and supporting the Not On Our Dime campaign that challenges the non-profit status of New York organizations funding Israeli settlements. To learn more about the pledge and how to become apartheid-free, go to the Apartheid-Free website here.
Around 25 people attended the workshop. During the Q&A, two participants shared that their respective congregations are already on the cusp of taking the pledge to become apartheid-free. UCC Pin will be resourcing and supporting other UCC congregations as they consider taking the pledge.
There was yet another way that UCC PIN showed up at Synod. At the final Speak Out on Tuesday morning, July 4th, Shari Prestemon, UCC PIN steering committee member and
Minnesota Conference Minister, was the first to take the microphone to call delegate's attention to Israel’s brutal assault on the Jenin refugee camp going on as she spoke, to decry the massacre, and to urge delegates to contact their Congressional representatives. Shari’s one minute plea begins at second 24 here.
