“A woman at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip embraces the body of a Palestinian child killed in Israeli strikes, October 17, 2023.”

Mohammed Salem, Palestinian photographer, Photo via Reuters

That genocide is unfolding in plain view, with our own country fully complicit, is horrifying. There can be no bystanders. Our faith and our humanity require us to take action. The words of Jesus should, as Sabeel director, Omar Haramy, said in a recent call, “carry weight stronger than weapons.” In that same call, FOSNA executive director, Jonathan Kuttab insisted that “as Christians, now is the time to double down on the main Christian message: peace. He went on to say, “Violence will not bring liberation for Palestinians nor security for Israeli Jews. The last thing we need are weapons and the glorifying of war.” The very stones are crying out for our advocacy and support.

Advocacy

Let your voice be loud and emphatic. Speak out against the war crimes that our government is supporting and enabling. Grounded in our faith commitment to nonviolence, justice, and peace, deliver to the Biden Administration and our elected officials this message:

*Call for an immediate ceasefire – stop the carnage. Stop further militarization.

*End the siege of Gaza and provide immediate humanitarian aid.

*Call for the return of all prisoners: hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians captive in Israeli prisons.

Here are four methods for delivering the message (you can do them all):

Send an email through Global Ministries' recent Third Thursday Alert here

Use the “Call Me” function that the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights has set up here that will connect you by phone with the offices of your Congressional rep and senators.

Jewish Voice for Peace has action alerts you can access here which provide a menu of user-friendly ways to contact your elected officials and email.

And lastly, you can yourself directly call, write, or email your elected officials. To find their contact information, go here and put in your address.

In order of efficacy, be aware that phone calls are the best, then personal letters, and then emails. The advantage of a phone call (if you get through to a Congressional staffer) is you can begin to establish a relationship and also can hopefully garner some ‘intel’ in response to your appeal. Call multiple times, not perhaps in the same day, but on an on-going basis. Identify yourself as a person of faith and from a denomination that has longstanding Palestinian and Israeli mission partners (including the Al-Ahli Hospital) and that has declared itself apartheid-free.

Here is a specific ask for the your House Representatives:

Rep. Cori Bush has introduced House Resolution #786 "Calling for an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine." Shamefully, to date, only 17 representatives have signed on as co-sponsors. When calling your representative urge them to sign on.

Financial Support

There are now, thankfully, many organizations (UNRWA, AFSC, Doctors without Borders, and more) seeking funds for humanitarian aid. If you and your congregation are wanting to provide financial support, you can channel it directly, through Global Ministries, to two of our mission partners:

Al-Ahli Hospital American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem Here

Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches Here