Author: Mennonite Palestine Israel Network (MennoPIN)

Israel/UAE/US Accord – Throwing Palestine Under the Bus
Annexation Update – Listening to Palestinian Voices (and a Jewish Voice, too)
The Biden/Harris Ticket and Palestine
Betty McCollum Strikes Again
Cry for Hope: A Decisive Call for Action
Stay Informed on Palestine
Prayer

President Trump, of course, wanted to call it the Donald J. Trump Accord, but it became formally known as the Abraham Accord. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the third Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel (following Egypt and Jordan years earlier). It is possible that other Arab states, like Bahrain and Oman, will soon follow suit. Trump tweeted that it was a “HUGE breakthrough” and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman called it a “geopolitical earthquake.” But was it really?

Israel and the UAE have never been to war with each other. In fact, relationship building between the two has been going on for decades, beginning as far back as the 1970s when they started sharing intelligence information. Over time, cooperation included economic and diplomatic ties, security concerns (including cyber-security) and, most importantly, opposition to Iran’s growing regional influence in the wake the U.S. failed invasion of Iraq in 2003. As Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said professor of Arab studies at Columbia University put it: “This was making overt a relationship that was already covert…making even more salient an alliance against Iran.”

Richard Falk, former Special Rapporteur to the United Nations on Palestinian Human Rights, assessed possible motivations for the accord by the three players involved: (1) Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “to justify a delay in fulfilling his election promise to annex large portions of the occupied West Bank territory belonging to Palestine…[and] pressure to convince Israelis that he could be an effective leader…while under indictment for corruption and without making concessions to the Palestinians”; (2) For the UAE, “once ‘peace’ with Israel is achieved, the UAE will be eligible to buy advanced weapon systems from the United States…[and] to strengthen the anti-Iran coalition”; and (3) “as Trump has already claimed, this will be presented to the American people as a demonstration of the effectiveness of Trump’s deal-making diplomacy, as well as securing a victory for Israel in its efforts to achieving normalization with Arab countries without allowing the formation of an independent sovereign Palestine.”

In the process, the accord effectively throws Palestine under the bus. The announcement of the deal stated ambiguously that “Israel will suspend [emphasis added] declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim World.” The critical word is “suspend,” and as Falk put it, “in order to reach a common understanding the parties agreed not to specify what was meant by the word ‘suspend’…There seems little doubt that the two parties want to …put forward divergent interpretations…The UAE to hide its abandonment of the Palestinians in their struggle for basic human rights…and Israel wants to convince especially its settler movement that the suspension is temporary, and when an opportune moment arises, annexation will go forward.”

Rashida Tlaib, the first female Palestinian U.S. congresswoman, blasted the accord on Twitter: “We won’t be fooled by another Trump/Netanyahu deal. We won’t celebrate Netanyahu for not stealing land he already controls in exchange for a sweetheart deal. The heart of the issue has never been planned, formal annexation, but ongoing, devastating apartheid.”

In Palestine, Samia Khoury, co-founder of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, spoke from her heart: “We hardly got over the shock of the explosion in Beirut on August 4, and the loss of so many lives…when we got another shock on August 13, with the breaking news of the United Arab Emirates’ recognition of Israel and the normalization of their relationship on all levels. Why would the Emirates do that at a time when the Palestinians are at their lowest ebb, and they need the support of all the Arab neighbors to sanction Israel instead of allying with it…The UAE is rewarding Israel…and further abandon the Palestinians…Once again the Palestinians are paying the price…In an era of power and domination, neither justice nor the United Nations resolutions seem to work…’Woe to the powerless’ could not be more true than in those times when our cry is not only the cry of the powerless but a cry in the wilderness, when even our closest friends are not listening…But amidst all this hopelessness, can I really lose hope? Of course not. History has taught us that no injustice or empire can last forever.”

With the threat of annexation as real after the accord as before, Palestinian voices cry out ever more strongly, like that of the prophet Habakkuk nearly three millennia ago: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” (Habakkuk 1:2-3)

Our annexation coverage continues with three Palestinian voices from today and one significant American Jewish voice who just changed his mind.

Palestinian Voices
Jonathan Kuttab – An Analysis
“There has been a huge fervor over the threat of Netanyahu to annex portions of the West Bank…The outcry [in response]…hides the fact that a creeping form of annexation has been taking place the last 50 years…It is valuable…to remember why annexation is so roundly condemned…First, the entire fabric of international law and stability requires that…boundaries be respected and should not be altered unilaterally…Second…is that it puts the last nail in the coffin of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders…What most people miss is that Israel was perfectly happy to carry out its settlement and annexation activities as long as the world limited its response to verbal disapproval and did not take concrete steps to sanction it for these activities…It is therefore more important than ever that those of us who care about international law and the prospect of peace find ways to make our position known not by empty toothless proclamations and resolutions, but by seeking to make Israel to pay a price for its settlement and annexation activities. Where governments fail to take such actions, then we must turn to civil society activities like those proposed by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS).”

Yousef Al Khouri (Bethlehem Bible College) – The Sin of Annexation
“The Israeli government and its allies continue their plan to erase the Palestinian historical presence in the land of Palestine…The Christian biblical way to describe the plan is SIN…The Kairos Palestine Document, ‘Moment of Truth,’ states clearly that the occupation is a sin against God and humanity…Stealing of the Palestinian land from its indigenous people is an explicit breaking of God’s commandments to his people and the church…The coming of God’s Kingdom…is based on justice, peace, love and coexistence…The church…has the responsibility to be the prophetic voice of the Kingdom that speaks against the sin of occupation and annexation of the Palestinian people.”

An Open Letter from Christian Clergy from Bethlehem
“We are writing this letter in our capacity as spiritual leaders of various Christian communities in the Bethlehem area. The Israeli government is planning to annex more occupied Palestinian land….For…Bethlehem…the process of annexation will be particularly catastrophic…Soon after the occupation of 1967 Israel annexed over 20,000 dunums of land in the northern part of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour for construction of illegal settlements…One of the only areas left…for agriculture and simply for families to enjoy nature are the valleys of Cremisan and Makhrour, both located to the west of our urban areas and are under the current threat of annexation by Israeli authorities…Our biggest concern is that the annexation of those areas will push more people to emigrate. Bethlehem, surrounded by walls and settlements, already feels like an open prison. Annexation means the prison becomes even smaller, with no hopes for a better future…This is land theft.”

Peter Beinart’s Dramatic Change of Heart
For many years, the liberal American Jewish community has been firmly committed to a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. But one of those voices recently shook up the liberal Jewish American community.

Peter Beinart is one of the leading voices in the liberal American Jewish community and editor of Jewish Currents. Beinart has held out for a two-state solution for many years. But in July he published an article in which he declared the two-state solution dead and the one-state apartheid solution equally dead. His article included the following assertions about annexation and Israel’s future:

“Annexation is not the end of the line. It is a waystation to hell [for both Israel and Palestine]. Averting a future in which oppression degenerates into ethnic cleansing requires a vision that can inspire not just Palestinians, but the world. Equality offers it…The demand for equality—as manifested in the civil rights movement, anti-apartheid movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement—retains enormous emotional power.”

“For generations, Jews have seen a Jewish state as tikkun, a repair, a way of overcoming the legacy of the Holocaust. But it hasn’t worked. To justify our oppression of Palestinians, Jewish statehood has required us to see them as Nazis. And, in that way, it has kept the Holocaust legacy alive. The real tikkun is equality, a Jewish home that is also a Palestinian home. Only by helping to free Palestinians—and in the process coming to see them as human beings, not the reincarnation of our tortured past—can we free ourselves from the Holocaust’s grip. The Hebrew word for peace, ‘shalom,’ is connected to the word ‘shlemut,’ wholeness. Only Palestinian freedom—a precondition for true peace in Israel-Palestine—can make Jews whole.”

Beinart’s vision of a one-nation solution that is both a homeland for Jews and for Palestinians, where in a democratic Israel every Jew and Palestinian has an equal voice, has sparked a vigorous debate within the American Jewish community. Many, while opposing annexation, also disagree with Beinart. But criticism has also come from some who think he did not go far enough.

One of those is Rabbi Brant Rosen. While agreeing that Beinart’s article was “something of a milestone in American discourse on Israel-Palestine,” Rosen also argued that Beinart’s position “betrays a mindset that views the issue as a political conflict to be solved, not a moral injustice to be confronted.”

Hopefully, a Biden/Harris win on November 3, 2020, will turn back the clock on the many horrendous policy changes made by the Trump administration on civil rights, immigration, the economy, the environment and so much more. But with Palestine, while their records and the words are not as damaging to Palestine as Trump’s cruelty, their expressed loyalty to Israel and near silence on the occupation and oppression of Palestine does not inspire hope. Indeed, no mention of Palestine was made in prime time during the Democratic National Convention.

A Biden/Harris administration will need to be pressed hard. As Rashid Khalidi told Democracy Now, “The people who are going to vote for the Democrats…strongly believe that Israel should be sanctioned for its violations of Palestinian human rights…So, a lot of work is going to be necessary to force the leadership to do what the people want.”

Here are just a few of their stated positions.

Joe Biden

• ON SETTLEMENTS – “Look, I have been on record from very early on opposed to settlements, and I think it’s a mistake, and Netanyahu knows my position. But the idea that we would draw military assistance from Israel, on the condition that they change a specific policy, I find it to be absolutely outrageous.”
• ON EMBASSY MOVE – “It should not have been moved…The move shouldn’t have happened in the context as it did, it should happen in the context of a larger deal to help us achieve important concessions for peace in the process.”
• ON ANNEXATION (from an aide) – “Unilateral steps taken by either side that make the prospect of a negotiated two-state outcome less likely is something he opposes, and that includes annexation.”
• ON BDS – “Firmly reject the BDS movement, which singles out Israel – home to millions of Jews – and too often veers in anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices.”

Kamala Harris

• ON DEMOCRACY IN ISRAEL – “Israel is a beautiful home to democracy and justice.”
• ON PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS – When asked if Israel meets international standards of human rights, Harris replied, “Overall, yes.”
• ON U.S MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL AND ANNEXATION – “My support for Israel’s security and the ten-year $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding is unwavering…I am deeply concerned by the warnings of some of Israel’s most prominent defense and intelligence leaders regarding annexation…and the disruption of peaceful relations between Israel and her neighbors, Jordan and Egypt.”
• ON BDS – [The BDS] “movement is based on the mistaken assumption that Israel is solely to blame for the Israel-Palestine conflict…The BDS movement seeks to weaken Israel but it will only isolate the nation and steer Israeli’s against prerequisite compromises for peace.”

Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) is proving to be one of the strongest supporters of Palestinian rights in the halls of the Congress. Last year she introduced legislation (H.R.2407) to prohibit Israel from using U.S. funds to detain and prosecute children. Now she, along with six Democratic House member cosponsors (Rashid Tlaib {MI}; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez {NY}; Ayanna Pressley {MA}; Ilhan Omar {MN}; Mark Pocan {WI} and Andre Carson {IN}) has introduced the Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act.

McCollum is putting forth the legislation because, “Annexation…will fuel instability, injustice, and an abhorrent system of apartheid. I want Palestinians and Israelis to have their human rights respected, their right to self-determination realized, and a future with peace, security, equality, and justice…I reject Israeli apartheid. I condemn annexation. And I will work to ensure the U.S. does not support, defend, or legitimize any plan to annex Palestinian lands.”

Global Kairos for Justice is a coalition of concerned Christians from a broad spectrum who passionately seek to use nonviolent means to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but who also seek to support movements around the world to bring down structures of racism, ethnic cleansing, violations of human rights and the abuse of land and its resources.

In early July Global Kairos for Justice issued a Cry for Hope: A Decisive Call for Action to churches around the world. Asking denominational bodies and congregations to decisively act to end the oppression of the people of Palestine, the Cry for Hope issued a challenge with Seven Actions to be taken, including to engage in study and discernment, to participate in the nonviolent  Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), to strongly oppose anti-Semitism and to come and visit the Holy Land.

To read the entire document and the full list of the Seven Actions, click here.

MennoPIN keeps you informed about Palestine through our monthly update, special alerts, calls to action, important resources and tour possibilities, all from an Anabaptist perspective. But there are additional excellent organizations and web publications that can keep you informed, some on a daily basis. We invite you to explore these groups and visit the web publications as another way to keep current and active for the people of Palestine. Here are some MennoPIN recommends:

Organizations

• Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
• Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (Sabeel)
• Mennonite Central Committee Palestine and Israel
• Christian Peacemaker Teams
• U.S. Campaign for Palestine Rights (USCPR)
• Kairos Palestine
• Kairos USA
• Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU)
• Christian Zionism
• Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
• Palestine Portal

Web Publications

• Mondeweiss
• The Electronic Intifada
• +972 Magazine
• B’Tselem
• Palestine InSight

On Tuesday, the 18th of August the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant halted operations due to an Israeli ban on fuel, along with most other goods, entering the enclave which is under Israeli blockade and bombardment. The Israeli action came as part of the punitive measures enforced over the launch of incendiary balloons and rockets from Gaza. Hospitals, businesses, and homes in Gaza will have to rely on generators and solar power to make up for the power cuts. Lord, we pray for the people of Gaza as they try to survive under the crippling Israeli blockade. We pray that the Israeli authorities will have mercy at this time of pandemic crisis and allow the restoration of fuel supplies to Gaza, before a humanitarian crisis breaks out. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Sabeel Wave of Prayer

Celebrate Easter Saturday live, hearing from our Palestinian elders in Jerusalem, sharing lessons of liberation and spiritual survival in the midst of colonization and COVID-19. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theological Center will bring words of wisdom and hope desperately needed in these days. To register to participate in this special time of worship, click here.

MennoPIN wishes you a blessed Easter during very trying times!

Kairos Palestine has issued its annual Easter Alert 2020 with compelling reflections from Palestinian Christian activists, theologians and leading clergy. Powerful essays and searching questions illuminate the meaning of the resurrection in a time of occupation and coronavirus. Easter Alert 2020 is available here.

Part 1 – The Hard Reality

East Jerusalem
“These times are extremely difficult, even for the fortunate ones…I think of the Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds of children, in overcrowded jails with no access to proper food, warmth, or anything resembling entertainment, save for the shouts of Israeli prison guards and military personnel. Many are held under, administrative detention without charge or trial.” – Mariam Barghouti

Bethlehem
“Prior to the Corona virus the unemployment rate was a staggering 31%, and now it has skyrocketed. Fear, hopelessness, helplessness and despair, are overwhelming feelings of the mass of the population. People are worried…and fear about a bleak future. Many have lost their jobs, especially those previously employed in the tourism sector. Churches and mosques are closed.” – Zoughbi Zoughbi

Gaza
“When the news of confirmed cases broke out, Gazans started taking precautionary measures to protect themselves and their family members from infection. However, with the lack of sufficient resources and equipment, Gazans had only one other way to cope with stress: cynicism and dark comedy. From Facebook posts to Twitter hashtags, Gazans reacted to the irony of being advised by the Palestinian Authority not to travel, whilst living under siege and prohibited from doing so for more than a decade. Others reacted with sarcasm to isolation notices to close down businesses and shops and go into confinement, wondering how they would provide for their children when there is little commercial activity in an ailing economy, even before the arrival of the virus in the first place.” – Omar Shaban

Part 2 – Notes of Hope

Arab and Jewish Medics Work Together on the Frontline
At the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, both Arab and Jewish doctors and other medical staffers have worked side-by-side for years, bucking the tensions between their communities. Palestinian Israelis comprise about 20% of the population of Israel, but a slightly greater percentage are health care workers within the Jewish state.

During this time of coronavirus, the collaboration between the two is critical. Rafi Walden is Sheba’s Deputy Director Emeritus. Walden recently explained how crucial the Arab medical population is to Israel: “We work together with Arab medical staff everywhere and not just in the time of coronavirus. Without them, the Israeli medical system would collapse.”

Ventilator Prototype Created at al-Quds University
The Abu Dis campus of Al-Quds University, located in East Jerusalem, is committed to educating Palestinian youth as a basic human right that should be exercised by all those who wish to pursue a higher education. Research plays a strong role in academic pursuits.

A team of engineers and doctors at al-Quds has recently developed a ventilator prototype to help treat Palestinians with serious cases of COVID-19. Hopefully, the ventilators will be able to address the severe shortage of ventilators in the West Bank and Gaza where, respectively, only 256 and 87 ventilators are now in use.

Gaza Clothing Factory Makes Protective Suits
A Gaza factory that makes children’s clothing has been converted into a factory producing protective suits for essential workers inside the strip as well as for others throughout Palestine. Producing more than 400 suits each day, medical workers can now treat the coronavirus safely. Explained the 20-something-old factory owner, Alaa Qreiqua, “We are in an emergency. I hope this nightmare will end.”

Part 3 – Some Things You Can Do

At this point the most helpful way to help with COVID-19 in Palestine is by donating money through reputable organizations providing relief. Here are two excellent examples that MennoPIN affirms:

Middle East Children’s Alliance
Manhattan (KS) Mennonite Church has developed a Twinning Congregation relationship with the Youth Vision Society (YVS) in Gaza. After several months of building relationship, Manhattan is supporting the YVS Hand-to-Hand project to distribute hygiene kits with cleaning supplies to slow the spread of the coronavirus as well as food baskets to vulnerable families. You can send a tax-deductible donation to support Hand-to-Hand through the Middle East Children’s Society here.

Mennonite Central Committee (Gaza)
The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has partnered with Al-Najd in Gaza to provide food baskets, hygiene supplies, blankets and school kits for Gazan families. Your tax-deductible donation can be sent here.

The Israeli Election Mess

The third Israeli election within one year produced similar results as the previous two – stalemate. This time, Benny Gantz’ Blue and White (moderate conservative) party was given the first right to form a new government and to oust Benjamin Netanyahu’s (ultra-conservative) Likud party. But surprisingly, appealing to the coronavirus pandemic, Gantz decided instead to attempt to form a unity government with Netanyahu, something many in his party considered a betrayal. Under the new government, Netanyahu would serve as Prime Minister for one-year and Gantz as Foreign Minister. The following year Gantz would become Prime Minister. In the negotiations between the two, compromise was made on two key issues: (1) joint decision-making on all issues and (2) the movement forward to annex much of the West Bank. But as Passover approached, the two parties backed away from what they had compromised on and agreed to renew negotiations after Passover.

Out of the third election, the Joint List party, consisting of a coalition of Arab Israeli groups, came in third place behind Blue and White and Likud, its strongest showing ever. Even so, the Joint List will have essentially no political power in the new Knesset, Israel’s legislative branch.

The true losers in every Israeli election are the people of Palestine because whatever new government forms (by Gantz, Netanyahu or a unity government) or, as is a real possibility, a fourth election occurs, the so-called Deal of the Century, engineered by the Trump and Netanyahu administrations, will be implemented with no international opposition to stop it. Stay tuned in for the ongoing saga.

Stay Informed on Palestine

MennoPIN keeps you informed about Palestine through our monthly update, special alerts, calls to action, important resources and tour possibilities, all from an Anabaptist perspective. But there are additional excellent organizations and web publications that can keep you informed, some on a daily basis. We invite you to explore these groups and visit the web publications as another way to keep current and active for the people of Palestine. Here are some MennoPIN recommends:

Organizations

• Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
• Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (Sabeel)
• Mennonite Central Committee Palestine and Israel
• Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
• U.S. Campaign for Palestine Rights (USCPR)
• Kairos Palestine
• Kairos USA
• Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU)
• Christian Zionism
• Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
• Palestine Portal

Web Publications

• Mondeweiss
• The Electronic Intifada
• +972 Magazine
• B’Tselem
• Palestine InSight

Jesus of the Scars
A Song and a Prayer for Good Friday

Jesus of the Scars is a poem written by Edward Shillito at the end of World War I. Garth Hewitt is a singer, composer and Palestinian activist. Hewitt put this poem to music, and you can listen to it here.

If we have never sought, we seek you now
Your eyes burn through the dark our only stars
We must have sight of thorn-marks on your brow
We must have you, Jesus of the scars

The heavens frighten us, they are too calm
In all the universe we have no place
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by your scars we know your grace

O Jesus of the scars we seek you now
O Jesus of the scars we seek you now
We must have sight of the thorn-marks on your brow
We must have you, O Jesus of the scars

The other gods were strong, but you were weak
They rode, but you did stumble to a throne
But to our wounds only God’s wounds speak
And not a god has wounds but you alone.

March 2020 Monthly Update

In This Issue
Deal of the Century – And Now What?
Part 1 – Bibi to Palestine: “Accept it or not, it’s going to happen”
Part 2 – Former Israeli Ambassador to South Africa: “No…to this new apartheid”
Part 3 – Jonathan Kuttab: “And now what”?
“I wasn’t sent to defend the state, I was sent to murder”
The Coronavirus and Palestine – Bethlehem in Lockdown
Sabeel Holds First Young Adult Gathering
Join Counter CUFI This June
Eye-Opening Tours to Palestine
Read More
Prayer

Part 1 – Bibi to Palestine: “Accept or not, it’s going to happen”

Addressing the presidents of American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem in mid-February, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke glowingly about the so-called Deal of the Century and his relationship to Donald Trump: “For the last three years I’ve worked very closely with a good friend of mine, President Trump, we’ve never had a better friend of Israel in the White House.”

With an arrogance of power matched only by Donald Trump, Netanyahu laid out to his audience the conditions Palestine must meet according to the ‘Peace Plan,’ for there to be peace, including:

• “Recognize Israel as the Jewish State”
• “Recognize the united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital”
• “Give up completely the right of return, completely”
• “Stop paying terrorists”
• “Disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza”
• “Recognize our sovereignty in…the West Bank and Jerusalem”

But, in his mind, whether Palestine agrees or not to these conditions for peace with Israel, it really doesn’t matter: “Whether they accept it or not, it’s going to happen…Who’s to say that they fulfill these conditions? Two powers. The United States and Israel.”

Part 2 – Former Israeli Ambassador to South Africa: “No…to this new form of apartheid”

Alon Liel served as Israel’s ambassador to South Africa from 1992-1994 and was the Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2001. Liel had a front row seat watching the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. Writing in the February 27, 2020 issue of Foreign Policy, Liel blasted the Deal of the Century as “Israel seeking to introduce and develop the new millennium’s version of the old South Africa’s deplorable policy.”

Comparing the plan to the South African government’s Bantustan, he described the Deal of the Century this way: “The details of the proposal, and the rhetoric used by both Trump and Netanyahu, made it clear that this was not a deal but rather the implementation of Netanyahu’s long-standing plan to further entrench Israel’s control of the West Bank by giving its residents disconnected enclaves of territory without granting them real freedom or basic political rights.”

He concluded the article with this indictment: “Trump believes he can disregard international law and legitimize a new 21^st-century model of apartheid. This arrogant show of force must be met with a clear answer…No one must give even tacit approval to this new form of apartheid and the ideology undergirding it. Doing so would betray not only the legacy and efficacy of international resistance to South African apartheid but also the fate of millions of people living in Israel and what should be a truly independent Palestine.”

You can read the entire article here.

Part 3 – Jonathan Kuttab: “And now what”?

Jonathan Kuttab is a member of the MennoPIN Steering Committee, a prominent human rights attorney and founder of several Palestinian Human Rights organization. In the February 2020 issue of the MennoPIN Monthly Update Kuttab analyzed the 181-page so-called Peace Plan.

Earlier this month, Kuttab followed up his analysis with an article on the Middle East Institute website entitled, “And Now What? A Realistic Approach to the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.” He asks, “If a genuine two-state solution is truly dead, and an equitable one-state solution is even harder to achieve, then where does that leave us”?

Assuming the Deal of the Century becomes implemented, which Netanyahu full intends, Kuttab feels this “rude shock…also presents an urgent challenge for all those who reject it because they realize the dire implications of what it portends for the future of any peaceful negotiated solution.” Part of the agenda he proposes for the foreseeable future includes:

• Ending the siege of Gaza, allowing people and goods to move freely in and out of the Strip.
• Abandoning armed resistance by Palestinians, because armed resistance cannot help in their present situation.
• Stopping collective punishment, including detention without trial, home demolitions and restrictions on travel.
• Removing barriers, checkpoints and obstructions within the West Bank, allowing for freedom of movement for goods and persons.
• Granting permission for Palestinians to build in the West Bank, returning planning authority to Palestine
• Making all residents of the West Bank subject to the same laws, including Jewish settlers and administered by civilian, not military courts.

You can read the entire article here.

Go beyond your head knowledge about Palestine and get some heart knowledge by going to Palestine on a tour that will take you to Holy Land sites but also give you the chance to meet Palestinians, hear their stories, visit organization working for an end to the occupation and listen to Palestinian and Israeli activists for freedom, equality and the end of the violence. Here are several coming up this year and then visit the MennoPIN website for more details.

1. E³Collective: Nazareth and Bethlehem. May 8-May 25, 2020, led by Dorothy Jean Weaver, Professor Emerita, Eastern Mennonite Seminary and Craig Maven, Lead Pastor, Harrisonburg Mennonite Church
2. Come and See Israel/Palestine Witness Trip. June 1-June 14, 2020, led by Kathy Bergen and Joy Lapp
3. Christian Peacemaker Teams Delegations to Palestine/Israel. In 2020 CPT will sponsor four delegations to Palestine: February 12-March 2; Aug 3-17; October 17-31 and December 1-15
4. Eyewitness Palestine. In 2020 Eyewitness Palestine will lead three delegations to Israel/Palestine
5. Sabeel Solidarity Visit. October 13-October 21, 2020 led by Naim Ateek, co-founder of Sabeel, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

Read More

Kumi Now.
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, Naim Ateek, Orbis Books, 2017
Why Palestine Matters
No Way to Treat a Child Campaign
Mondeweiss
The Electronic Intifada
HP-Free Church Campaign

Prayer

The Palestinian Authority called a 30-day state of emergency throughout the West Bank after twenty COVID-19 cases were confirmed in a Bethlehem hotel. Alongside this, Israeli authorities as part of their public health restrictions, in agreement with the Palestinian Authority, have closed checkpoints only allowing people to leave if they have to travel directly to the airport or have special permission. Lord we pray for those in the frontline of treating this new virus. We pray for those who have been diagnosed with the virus. We also pray for those whose livelihoods have been affected by ongoing and constantly changing public health restrictions. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer. Sabeel Wave or Prayer

February 2020 Monthly Update

In This Issue
Deal of the Century
Part 1 – Jonathan Kuttab – An Analysis
Part 2 – What Others Are Saying
Part 3 – What You Can Do
Christian Zionism and the Assassination of Soleimani
Eye-Opening Tours to Palestine – Several Excellent Opportunities
Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation
Read More
Prayer

Part 1 – Jonathan Kuttab – An Analysis

Even a casual reading of the 181-page Plan shows clearly that it is neither a Peace Plan, nor the outline of an “agreement” which can be used as a basis for further negotiations. Rather it is a series of disjointed declarations asserting right wing Israeli positions and interests, and granting US support for their immediate implementation, while dangling the prospect for some conditional “concessions” to Palestinians to be given, maybe, at some future point in time, if they are willing to accept the agreement and meet the conditions imposed on them in it to Israel’s satisfaction.

Immediately, there is recognition of Israel’s current annexation of Jerusalem, legitimization of all its settlements, recognition of its “moral and historic” right to annex further territory, particularly in the Jordan Valley, total rejection of the Palestinian Right of Return, and extermination of any claims or demands on Israel with respect to refugees. The plan calls  for immediate normalization with the Arab countries, assertion of Israel’s right to have “overriding security control” in the areas under Palestinian control, a specific rejection of UN resolutions and international law as a basis for any future agreement, and recognition of a Unified Jerusalem under full Israeli control.

As an inducement to Palestinians, the Plan suggests, without promising anything concrete, that if the Palestinians sign this “agreement” there will be a “path” in the future to an entity, which they can call a state, and a capital, which they can call Al Quds or East Jerusalem, if they wish, in a few disjointed neighborhoods outside the Wall currently surrounding Jerusalem. The Deal of the Century also outlines  a detailed Plan to provide economic assistance of 50 billion dollars, to be raised from Arab countries, that will alleviate the suffering of Palestinians, and provide assistance to neighboring Arab countries who will host many of them ( $9.1 billion to Egypt, $7.6 billion to Jordan and $6.1 billion to Lebanon). There is also an impossible list of demands before the people of Gaza can participate in this largess: control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority, disarming Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad, and the total demilitarization of Gaza to Israel’s satisfaction.

If that were not enough, two new elements were added, that had not been previously mentioned in the long history of  negotiations, but which were unrealistic fantasies  for the Israeli Right: First, the demand for compensation to Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries into Israel. The Plan states these Jewish refugees who were settled in Israel were of equal number to Palestinian refugees, who now need to be settled anywhere but in Israel; and secondly, the idea that a number of densely populated Arab villages adjacent to the West Bank in the area known as the Triangle, should be transferred to the new Palestinian “state” and given Palestinian citizenship instead of their current Israeli citizenship, thereby ridding Israel of some of its Arab citizens, while pretending to compensate Palestinians for being forced to cede the lands which are populated by Jewish settlers in the West Bank who will now be formally incorporated into Israel.

In effect, this Plan is not an outline for a peace agreement, but a demand for Palestinian surrender of their positions, a confirmation of Israeli “realities on the ground,” an abandonment of international law, and the end of any attempt to reach a negotiated two-state solution. Instead it requires, whether with or without Palestinian approval, the acceptance of permanent Israeli control over all of historic Palestine, on the basis of inequality and apartheid.

While the timing of the announcement was clearly a political attempt to assist Trump and Netanyahu in their upcoming elections, the effect of the agreement is to make a strategic shift towards permanent acceptance of a new paradigm where Israel controls the entire area and provides a truncated, unequal disjointed existence for Palestinians within that entity, that would spare Israel the call for genuine equality that would be inevitable in the case of formal annexation of all this territory.

This utter rejection of a realistic possibility of a two-state position explains why many liberal Israelis and Zionists and their supporters are totally outraged by this Plan.

For us, however, it is a sobering reminder of the true realities on the ground, and that those seeking genuine peace and justice, need to come up with new ideas and not continue to pursue a moribund process and a solution that no longer applies. Painful as it is, we must start to think in terms of equality within a single political entity, rather than hold on to the dream of a state, which today is only an alibi for inequality and denial of genuine freedom.

Part 2 – What Others Are Saying

Kairos Palestine – “The position announced by the U.S. Administration regarding what they call the ‘deal of the century’ was in fact an insult to history humanity, the Palestinian people…President Trump did not offer anything towards…equality but rather consolidated further Israeli hegemony and Palestinians subjugation to it. This means that the conflict will continue, bloodshed will continue, hatred and inhumane treatment will persist.”

Jonathan Cook – “A U.S. map handed out on Tuesday showed Palestinian enclaves connected by a warren of bridges and tunnels, including one between the West Bank and Gaza…All of this has been dressed up as a ‘realistic two-state solution’…the Palestinians are being required to accept a state on 15 per cent of historic Palestine after Israel has seized all the best agricultural land and water resources…where Israel controls its security, borders, coastal waters and airspace.”

The Electronic Intifada – “The plan amounts to a permanent state of military occupation, apartheid and Palestinian suffering.”

Palestinian Authority – “A thousands nos…We’ve informed the Israeli side…that there will be no relations at all with them and the United States including security ties…Trump asked that I speak with him by phone, but I said ‘no,’ and that he wants to send me a letter, so I refused to receive it.”

The Arab League (including Egypt Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon) – The plan “ignored legitimate Palestinian rights in the territories.”

12 U.S. Senators (including three candidates for president: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Chris Van Hollen, Sherrod Brown, Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, Patrick Leah, Sheldon Whitehouse, Tammy Baldwin, Jack Reed and Tom Carper) – “Unilateral implementation of this one-sided proposal will risk eliminating any remaining prospects for achievement of a peaceful and viable two-state solution.”

Part 3 – What You Can Do

1. Flood the White House and Congress with emails and phone calls to show your strong opposition to the “Deal of the Century.”
2. Write Op-Eds for your local newspaper.
3. Join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) and start boycotting.
4. Start a No Deal of the Century group in your church.
5. Link up with Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) to counter Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest Christian Zionist group in the U.S. who played a strong supporting role in the Deal of the Century.

Did Christian Zionism play a role in the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of Quds, the external operations branch of Iran’s armed forces? Many think so. According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has been pushing President Trump for months on the idea. Vice President Mike Pence also voiced his support. And both are Christian Zionists. Pompeo claimed the assassination was a preemptive strike.

John Hagee, who is close to both Pompeo and Pence, heads up the Christian Zionist organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI). Christian Zionism interprets some passages in the Bible to mean that before Jesus can return, Israel must reestablish itself as a nation and a massive war must take place. As far back as 2007, Hagee has held the view that part of that war will be against Iran: “It is time for America to consider a preemptive strike against Iran.”

When Pompeo spoke at last summer to a CUFI convention in Washington, DC, he compared President Trump to the Jewish queen Esther of the Persian Empire (now Iran) who saved her Jewish people from death by the powerful assistant to the king, who was assassinated. Now, it is Trump who supposedly saved Israel and others from Iran’s powerful assistant to the Ayatollah, Soleimani, risking a major war in the Middle East.

Did Christian Zionism play a role in the assassination of Soleimani? Who knows, but it may very well have factored into Pompeo and Pence’s thinking.

An interesting sidelight. ISIS’ weekly newspaper, al-Naba, expressed joy at the assassination, calling it “divine intervention” and an “act of God.” Strange bedfellows indeed.

Go beyond your head knowledge about Palestine and get some heart knowledge by going to Palestine on a tour that will take you to Holy Land sites but also give you the chance to meet Palestinians, hear their stories, visit organization working for an end to the occupation and listen to Palestinian and Israeli activists for freedom, equality and the end of the violence. Here are several coming up this year and then visit the MennoPIN website for more details.

1. E³Collective: Nazareth and Bethlehem. May 8-May 25, 2020, led by Dorothy Jean Weaver, Professor Emerita, Eastern Mennonite Seminary and Craig Maven, Lead Pastor, Harrisonburg Mennonite Church
2. Come and See Israel/Palestine Witness Trip. June 1-June 14, 2020, led by Kathy Bergen and Joy Lapp
3. Palestine and Israel Learning Tour. June 1-June 14, 2020, led by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
4. Christian Peacemaker Teams Delegations to Palestine/Israel. In 2020 CPT will sponsor four delegations to Palestine: February 12-March 2; Aug 3-17; October 17-31 and December 1-15
5. Eyewitness Palestine. In 2020 Eyewitness Palestine will lead three delegations to Israel/Palestine
6. Sabeel Solidarity Visit. October 13-October 21, 2020 led by Naim Ateek, co-founder of Sabeel, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation

A father bathing his daughters in Gaza City (Credit: Wissam Nassar)

The current siege of Gaza has created severe restrictions on the availability of food, water, medical care, commerce and industry. A year after the March of Return, which resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, many peacemakers are feeling frustration and failure at our inability to focus attention on the condition of the people of Gaza. In response, MennoPIN is launching a new campaign among Mennonites to “End the Gaza Siege.”

The first step in the campaign is called the “Mennonite Twinning Initiative with Gaza.” This initiative will match Mennonite congregations with churches, mosques, hospitals, clinics and schools. Already, eight congregations have signed up and are on their way to being paired-up with Gaza!

Please give prayerful consideration to your congregation becoming a “twinning” congregation with Gaza! To find out more about the initiative, the Gaza scandal, and guidelines for ethical relationships, visit the MennoPIN website mennopin.org and click on End the Gaza Siege tab at the top of the front page. Interested congregations can send an email to mennopin@gmail.com with the Subject line “Twinning Initiative.”

Read More

Kumi Now.
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, Naim Ateek, Orbis Books, 2017
Why Palestine Matters
No Way to Treat a Child Campaign
Mondeweiss
The Electronic Intifada
HP-Free Church Campaign

Prayer

On Thursday, the 12^th of December the Israeli authorities declared that Christians in the Gaza Strip would not be granted permits to travel to holy sites in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or into Israel over Christmas. Only men over 45 wishing to travel abroad traveling through Jordan may be granted permits. We pray with our Christian brothers and sisters as they seek to challenge the decision of the Israeli government to ban permits for the people of Gaza to visit family and celebrate Christmas in Israel or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer. Sabeel Wave or Prayer

The Old City of Bethlehem Today (Credit: Reuters/Musssa Qawasma)

If Joseph, Mary and Jesus tried to immigrate into the United States today (Credit: Rev. Karen Clark Ristine)

Thank You for Helping!

Last month MennoPIN asked for your help in raising $2,700 to support our work in challenging Christian Zionism. You not only sent in what we needed, but more! We will use the additional funds for other work we are doing, especially around the Gaza Twinning Initiative (see below). The committees of MennoPIN are made up entirely of volunteers, so every dollar you sent is going 100% toward supporting the struggle for justice in Palestine. Thank you very much!

November 2019 Monthly Update

In This Issue
Kairos Palestine Christmas Alert
Pompeo’s Proclamation – Settlements are Legal
Gaza – Ever in Netanyahu’s Crosshairs
How an Israeli Air Force Pilot Became a Champion of BDS
Become a Twinning Congregation
Go to Palestine: Tours
Read More
Prayer

Kairos Palestine has just issued its Christmas Alert 2019 https://kairospalestine.ps/images/kairos-christmas-alert-2019.pdf. This year the Christmas Alert sheds light on the importance of restoring a new hope for Palestine, the Middle East and the world. The alert offers resources and reflections for each Sunday of Advent and inspires individuals and congregations to act to help make hope a reality in the lives of Palestinians.

From Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, every US president has expressed disapproval of Israel’s illegal settlements in Palestine. Their rebuke, however, was never more than a slap on the wrist.  As recently as 2016, while Secretary of State John Kerry blasted settlement expansion as the greatest threat to peace in Israel/Palestine, Obama pushed a bill through a willing Congress for $38 billion dollars in military aid to Israel over the next ten yearsOn November 18, 2019 Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, the Christian Zionist Mike Pompeo, singularly declared Israeli settlements as legal when, in fact, they are a flagrant violation of international law and at odds with the international community. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention is unambiguous: “The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies.”

Ali Abunimah, Palestinian-American journalist and editor of the online Electronic Intifada, contends that Pompeo has simply made explicit what has been implicit all along, that this new proclamation “is merely a shedding of the fiction that the U.S. has ever opposed Israel’s land-theft colonies. It changes nothing but makes clear to all that the U.S. and Israel are partners in crime.”

This is now the third time Trump has emboldened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his ever-increasing aggression toward Palestine. First came the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem. Then, affirmation of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights. And now opening the door for Israel’s unhindered and rapid expansion of settlements on Palestinian land.

Noura Erakat, Palestinian civil rights attorney, legal scholar and professor at Rutgers University, addressed the motivation behind Trump’s latest move in a recent interview on Democracy Now!: “The tragic part is that the U.S. administration is doing this in order to support Netanyahu in his own bid to consolidate power in Israel. Palestinians are pawns…to be moved around…What’s going on is a violation of human rights.”

Whether to strengthen Netanyahu’s hand or to placate Christian Zionists (or both), US policy now unequivocally affirms the rights of one country to occupy and establish permanent settlements on land in a neighboring country.

The losers, once again, are the people of Palestine. Will the international community stand by and allow Trump and Pompeo to rewrite international law? Will the churches remain silent?

The history of Gaza stretches back more than 4,000 years. Situated near the coast on a 200-foot hill and surrounded by a fertile plain with numerous wells, Gaza borders the desert between Syria and Egypt. In ancient times caravans and armies frequently passed near Gaza and it had periods of wealth and importance. It was also frequently besieged and destroyed by the likes of Sargon, the Philistines and Alexander the Great, among others. Setting Gaza in their crosshairs, they sometimes massacred and enslaved the entire population.Gaza’s appearance in the Old and New Testaments also extends back thousands of years. As early as Genesis 10:19, Gaza is described as on the border of Canaan, and it became part of Judah when the land was first divided into the twelve tribes. Many times Gaza is mentioned in the biblical histories of Israel, in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. It was in Judges that Samson went to Gaza, visited a prostitute and met and married Delilah. After Delilah’s betrayal, he was captured, blinded and imprisoned in Gaza, “grinding at the mill.” (Judges 16:21). It was also in Gaza that Samson met his death. The prophets Jeremiah, Amos, Zephaniah and Zechariah all railed against the sins of Gaza and its conquerors. And after the first Pentecost, it was on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza that Philip met and baptized the eunuch from Ethiopia.

Today, as it has been for over a decade, Gaza again sits directly in the crosshairs, this time those of Israeli snipers, drones and bombers. Blockaded by Israel in every way, Gazans suffer, “grinding at the mill” of poverty. Entrapped by barb-wired fences, 2,000,000 people languish in an open-air prison. By 2020, next year, Gaza may literally become uninhabitable.

On November 12, 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu placed Gaza in his crosshairs again. This time he killed Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata in Gaza, along with his wife, Asmaa, four children and an adult neighbor. Following that, Netanyahu bombed the offices of the Islamic Jihad in Damascus. In retaliation, Islamic Jihad fired over 150 rockets into Israel, injuring dozens. Israel returned fire, killing 34 Palestinians, including 11 children, and wounding 111 others. Once again, violence begets violence begets violence.

Netanyahu is in deep political and personal trouble. For the first time in 10 years, he is unable to form a government and may lose his seat in power. He has also been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, but he cannot face those charges while holding office. Many believe he initiated the assassination of Abu al-Ata and the subsequent bombing of Gaza as an attempt to rally the public to his side. Jonathan Cook, the Nazareth-based freelance journalist and critic of Israeli policy toward Palestine expressed what many inside and outside Israel fear, that “his instinct for political survival trumps the interests of stability in the regions.”

The word for Gaza means “strong.” Over millennia, the people of Gaza have shown strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. Will they be able to do so once again?

Yonatan Shapira (Credit – unknown)

Yonatan Shapira used to be a bomber pilot for the Israeli Air Force, but today he is a strong advocate for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement. His powerful story is well worth the lengthy read.It’s 11 PM here in Oslo and I’m trying to write a few words about my support for the BDS movement. I’m looking for an interesting angle so that I don’t repeat what many other, better writers have already written. And then I recall that today is actually the Jewish New Year. I miss my family and friends in Israel, and I am so far from them in chilly Norway. It was exactly 16 years ago, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, September 2003, that I became a conscientious objector. We put our letter and declaration of refusal, with the signatures of 27 Israeli air force pilots, on the desk of the Air Force commander – a General and a mass murderer. These ranged from a Lt. General who almost became the air force commander to lower ranking pilots like me with the rank of captain. We felt brave and important and a bit scared. It’s not every day you find yourself accusing your commanders and leaders of sending you to commit war crimes. On the following day, the headlines in the Zionist media were “The Mutiny of the Pilots”.

Plenty of water has flowed in the Jordan River and Akerselva since then. A lot has changed, and not for the better. We thought we could shake up the system and fix it, but the massacres in Gaza have only intensified. One of the changes is that more and more bombings of the population of Gaza are carried out by drones. Why work hard to convince Israeli pilots to bomb an overcrowded ghetto of two million people, if the commander can just sit in the control room and push the button almost all by himself?

It’s midnight soon. I just received a Whatsapp message from 23-year-old Muhammad. He suffers from pain all over his body, and he’s trying to find a way to receive critical medical treatment to heal his wounds. He writes to me to ask if I have any ideas. I met Muhammad in 2011, eight years ago. He was 14 then, and was lying in a hospital bed, in critical condition after he and his 12-year-old cousin Ibrahim were hit by a missile fired from an Israeli drone. They were playing in the street next to their home in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza, Ibrahim lost both arms and incurred a gaping hole in his belly and lung. With the help of an Italian NGO, the two were transferred to an Israeli hospital. Ibrahim succumbed to his wounds a few days later. Ronnie and Renen, two Israeli activists came to visit Muhammad. His whole body was wrapped in bandages, and numerous skin grafts were required to fill the holes in his body. Muhammad asked the visitors why the Israeli army was firing at children playing in the street – why did they shoot Ibrahim and him – and he said he wanted to speak to an Israeli pilot and receive an answer. He wanted an Israeli pilot to come and see his wounds.

That’s when I got a phone call. I was told there was a severely wounded boy from Gaza who wanted to see me and speak to me. I was on my way to visit my cousins, but then I was told that because I had just taken part in the Gaza freedom flotilla, I’m not welcome. My cousin’s husband did not want me near his children. For people in such a brainwashed society the struggle for peace and justice could be like a Contagious disease and he didn’t want me to infect his kids. So when I got this call, I turned straight to the hospital to meet the wounded Palestinian boy, who did want to see me. Since that visit, the life of my family has been connected to Muhammad’s life. My mom took it upon herself to solicit support from anyone who can help and has fought tooth and nail so that Muhammad can undergo more and more of the surgeries required to save his life. In the 2014 Gaza massacre, commanded by General Benny Gantz, the Israeli military bombed Muhammad’s family home, and since he turned 18, he no longer receives the Israeli military permits to come from Gaza to treatment in Israeli hospitals.

A year ago, in some tortuous way, Muhammad managed to leave Gaza and receive a temporary visa to stay in Istanbul. The visa expires in two months, and he now faces the threat of detention or forcible return to Gaza. Muhammad is anxious to complete the required surgeries, so that he can return to a normal life, study and begin his adult life. And now, at midnight, I’m getting messages from him. He’s asking me if I have any ideas as to what can be done, how he can receive medical treatment, rather than go to prison. I’m reading his messages and my heart is broken. I wish all those obedient pilots and drone operators, and other indifferent people, would receive these messages every day from a wounded Palestinian boy, who is eager to have a normal life. I stay up all night, trying to come up with ideas how to help this young man. If only we could get him a permit to fly to anywhere in Europe and receive proper medical care. And Muhammad is just one in thousands upon thousands.

And how, how can this madness be stopped? What other choice do we have? What other way is there to fight? What else does the oppressed, weak, occupied, bombarded, shredded side have at its disposal? And we, whose eyes and ears are already open, we who long to help and long not to remain silent – what other choice do we have?

So, who among you still has doubts as to the necessity of the boycott movement? The non-violent BDS movement allows every person in the world to take part in a just struggle for freedom and equality. It’s time for you to join too. Among the supporters, you will find hundreds of thousands of Jews all across the world, among them more than 1,000 Israelis. I am just one of them.

And one small detail to cap this off: Some of the navigation and stabilization systems for these monstrous drones are being produced here in picturesque and peaceful Norway, at the Kongsberg plants. Polite Norwegian workers, who eat tacos on Fridays and wish for world peace, assemble them gently and skillfully. And this whole supply chain ends up in the hands of the Israeli military, or, to be precise, in the bodies of Muhammad and Ibrahim.

It doesn’t have to go on like this. It can be stopped. Are you going to join us or are you one of those who will keep silent?

As I almost finish writing these words, I read about a famous young Norwegian singer who wants to heal the world but is planning to sing to the prison guards of the Gaza Ghetto, when they come home for the weekend.

Dear Aurora, what should I say in order to help you open your heart and your eyes? I just watched a short recent interview with you. You seem to be a human being with a beautiful soul. They showed you recording different sounds and listening to the tiny little things we usually tend to miss.

Here is a sound you’re missing and what children in Gaza hear 24/7 – the constant buzz of Israeli/Norwegian predator drones.

Can you hear this buzzing? Can you hear the bombs? Can you hear their cries?

Please cancel your concert in Tel Aviv.

Let your music inspire love and hope in the hearts of those who struggle for freedom and equality. Singing to the ghetto prison guards will be something you will always regret.

Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation

A father bathing his daughters in Gaza City (Credit: Wissam Nassar)

The current siege of Gaza has created severe restrictions on the availability of food, water, medical care, commerce and industry. A year after the March of Return, which resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, many peacemakers are feeling frustration and failure at our inability to focus attention on the condition of the people of Gaza. In response, MennoPIN is launching a new campaign among Mennonites to “End the Gaza Siege.”

The first step in the campaign is called the “Mennonite Twinning Initiative with Gaza.” This initiative will match Mennonite congregations with churches, mosques, hospitals, clinics and schools. Already, eight congregations have signed up and are on their way to being paired-up with Gaza!

Please give prayerful consideration to your congregation becoming a “twinning” congregation with Gaza! To find out more about the initiative, the Gaza scandal, and guidelines for ethical relationships, visit the MennoPIN website mennopin.org and click on End the Gaza Siege tab at the top of the front page. Interested congregations can send an email to mennopin@gmail.com with the Subject line “Twinning Initiative.”

MennoPIN strongly encourages trips to Palestine to see upfront the struggle Palestinians endure on a daily basis. Established justice tours usually last about two weeks and offer both visits to Holy Land sites as well as experiences with Palestinians and those who actively work for justice and freedom for the people of Palestine. Or you may want to plan a do-it-yourself tour. To find out more about tours, visit the MennoPIN website and click on the Tours to Palestine tab.

Kumi Now.
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, Naim Ateek, Orbis Books, 2017
Why Palestine Matters
No Way to Treat a Child Campaign
Mondeweiss
The Electronic Intifada
HP-Free Church Campaign

On the 70^th Great March of Return, 66 Palestinian civilians were injured due to the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border. At least 20 children, 3 women and a volunteer paramedic were among those injured this Friday, August 16, 2019. Twenty-nine civilians were shot with live bullets; 2 of them were deemed in a critical medical condition. Each protest has its own theme with this one being titled “Palestinian Youth Friday” and involving activities such as speeches by political leaders and theatrical performances. Lord, we continue to pray for the right to protest peacefully in Gaza without the threat of injury or death by the use of live ammunition and dispersal methods by Israeli forces. We are grateful for those who continue to find new ways to protest in a creative and nonviolent way. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.  Sabeel Wave or Prayer

October 2019 Monthly Update

In This Issue
Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation
MennoPIN Can Use Your Help
Sabeel Jerusalem Hosting 1^st International Conference
The Elections in Israel – Demonizing Palestinians
Take Action Now – Support H.Res. 496
Tours to Palestine
Read More
Prayer

Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation
A father bathing his daughters in Gaza City (Credit: Wissam Nassar)

The current siege of Gaza has created severe restrictions on the availability of food, water, medical care, commerce and industry. A year after the March of Return, which resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, many peacemakers are feeling frustration and failure at our inability to focus attention on the condition of the people of Gaza. In response, MennoPIN is launching a new campaign among Mennonites to “End the Gaza Siege.”

The first step in the campaign is called the “Mennonite Twinning Initiative with Gaza.” This initiative will match Mennonite congregations with churches, mosques, hospitals, clinics and schools. Already, eight congregations have signed up and are on their way to being paired-up with Gaza!

Please give prayerful consideration to your congregation becoming a “twinning” congregation with Gaza! To find out more about the initiative, the Gaza scandal, and guidelines for ethical relationships, visit the MennoPIN website mennopin.org and click on End the Gaza Siege tab at the top of the front page. Interested congregations can send an email to mennopin@gmail.com with the Subject line “Twinning Initiative.”

At the last MennoPIN Steering Committee meeting, we made the decision to focus our energies leading up to the MC USA 2021 Convention around two goals: (1) End the Gaza Siege and (2) Say NO to Christian Zionism. To effectively do both, we need volunteer help from you. Here is a brief description of each goal:

End the Gaza Siege – Through education and action, we hope to bring greater awareness to Mennonite congregations about the decade-long Israeli blockade that is devastating Gaza and its people and to inspire action toward freedom and justice there. The Gaza Twinning Initiative is the first step in that direction, but there is much more to do.

Say NO to Christian Zionism – One of the most potent forces in the United States today promoting unquestioning allegiance to Israeli policy toward Palestine is Christian Zionism. With the formation of this committee, we want to say NO to Christian Zionism. The most prominent group supporting Israel and the complete removal of Palestinians from their land is Christians United for Israel (CUFI), whose base of 5,000,000+ mostly evangelical members is by far the largest pro-Israel lobby in this country. We want to educate Mennonites about the dangers of Christian Zionism’s false theology and to develop actions to challenge and confront its goals.

If you have interest, energy and time to serve on one of these new committees, we would love to hear from you. Please write us at mennopin@gmail.com indicating your interest. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, based in Jerusalem, will hold it’s first international gathering from December 2 to 7, 2019 in Bethlehem. The gathering will include organizations such as Kairos Palestine, Al-Liqa, Dar Al-Kalima and Bethlehem Bible College to demonstrate the wide variety of work being done within the Palestinian community. There will also be the opportunity to meet Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters.

Omar Haramy, Sabeel’s Coordinator, says this about Sabeel’s hopes from this conference: “We want this gathering to be a time of fellowship, when our friends can update their knowledge of the situation, but more importantly, when they can explore new, effective and nonviolent ways to ‘kumi’ – rise up – so they can build on these new ideas when they return to their communities.”

For more information about the conference and how to register, please click here.

In December 2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for snap elections after his ruling coalition began to fall apart. The resulting April 2019 elections pitted a coalition of religious and settler parties led by Netanyahu against his primary opponent, the Blue and White Party, headed by Benny Gantz and fellow generals who have led punishing military attacks against Palestinians for many years. That election came to a draw with both parties garnering 35 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s legislative branch. Because neither side could forge a ruling coalition, a new election was called for September 2019.

However, the ‘rerun’ election was also inclusive. This time Gantz gained 33 seats while Netanyahu’s total was 32. Whether either side can form a ruling coalition, whether they come together in some form of shared rule or whether an unprecedented third election will be called remains to be seen. But, as always, the people of Palestine are the big losers.

Jonathan Cook, a freelance journalist based in Nazareth who writes insightfully about the Israel-Palestine conflict, offers these comments on the September election:

• “The more Israeli Jewish society reaches stalemate, the more the country’s marginalized community of Palestinian citizens – a fifth of Israel’s population – finds itself dragged on to the political battlefield. Israel’s 1.8 million Palestinian citizens have now been thrust into the heart of a national conversation among Israel Jews about a supposed threat the minority poses to the country’s political life.”
• “There has always been the subtext of Jewish politicians’ discourse that Palestinian parties have no role to play in shaping the country’s politics…Netanyahu went further still in the most recent election. Desperate to win a far-right majority…the prime minister turned the threat posed by Palestinian voters to his own political fortunes…claiming that ‘the Arabs’ – including Palestinian citizens – ‘want to annihilate us all – women, children and men.’”
• “Netanyahu has introduced new levels of incitement against the Palestinian minority in Israel. But paradoxically, [if Netanyahu is forced from power], it may be his departure from Israeli politics that heralds a period of even greater demonization of the country’s Palestinian citizens.”

Take Action Now – Support H.Res 496
Rep. Ilhan Omar introduces her pro-BDS resolution, H.Res. 496

In July the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass H.Res. 246, known as “Opposing efforts to de-legitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement Targeting Israel.” Although it was a non-binding resolution, it nonetheless put Congress on record as opposing BDS, a movement initiated by Palestinians as one nonviolent way to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation, allow the right of return for Palestinians and bring justice, freedom and equality for the people of Palestine. You can find out how your representative voted here. Although the text of the resolution does not mention Israel or Palestine, it has been interpreted as a response to the growing strength of the BDS movement.In response, Rep. Ilhan Omar has introduced a resolution, H.Res. 496, to “speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting.” You can read the text of H.Res 496 here. The resolution has 18 co-sponsors but needs more. Please encourage your congressperson to co-sponsor and vote for the resolution.

Go to Palestine: Tours

MennoPIN strongly encourages trips to Palestine to see upfront the struggle Palestinians endure on a daily basis. Established justice tours usually last about two weeks and offer both visits to Holy Land sites as well as experiences with Palestinians and those who actively work for justice and freedom for the people of Palestine. Or you may want to plan a do-it-yourself tour. To find out more about tours, visit the MennoPIN website and click on the Tours to Palestine tab.

Read More

Kumi Now.
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, Naim Ateek, Orbis Books, 2017
Why Palestine Matters
No Way to Treat a Child Campaign
Mondeweiss
The Electronic Intifada
HP-Free Church Campaign

Prayer

On the 70^th Great March of Return, 66 Palestinian civilians were injured due to the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border. At least 20 children, 3 women and a volunteer paramedic were among those injured this Friday, August 16, 2019. Twenty-nine civilians were shot with live bullets; 2 of them were deemed in a critical medical condition. Each protest has its own theme with this one being titled “Palestinian Youth Friday” and involving activities such as speeches by political leaders and theatrical performances. Lord, we continue to pray for the right to protest peacefully in Gaza without the threat of injury or death by the use of live ammunition and dispersal methods by Israeli forces. We are grateful for those who continue to find new ways to protest in a creative and nonviolent way. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.  Sabeel Wave or Prayer

August 2019 Monthly Update

In This Issue
When a Republican President Supported BDS
Is Kashmir the New West Bank?
Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation!
A New Short Film About Youth in Gaza
Support H.Res. 496
Tours to Palestine
A New MennoPIN Steering Committee
Read More
Prayer

When a Republican President Supported BDS

In 1948, Palestinians, forced from their homes by Zionist militia, become refugees.

The BDS movement would not begin until 2005, but President Dwight Eisenhower’s foreign policy toward Israel was, in part, shaped around principles central to BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions). Today, President Donald Trump, the Republican Party and most of the Democratic Party would have us believe that to be pro-BDS is to be anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. But Eisenhower would beg to differ.

Writing on August 22, 2019 on the American Conservative website (of all places!), Derek Leebaert detailed three instances in which the Eisenhower Administration censured the Israeli government for illegal aggression, violence and expansion against Israel’s Arab neighbors, including Palestine.

Leebaert described a 1953 massacre in the village of Qibya in the West Bank, a 1954 bombing of two US consulates in Egypt by a self-described Israeli “terror unit,” and a 1955 military assault against Syria. Following each attack, the Eisenhower administration reacted with censure resolutions at the United Nations (UN). Then, in February 1957, Eisenhower addressed the nation, declaring that he was ready to go beyond censure resolutions and threatened to push UN sanctions and to halt US private business dealings with Israel. Foreign Minister Golda Meir quickly back down.

Eisenhower used and threatened to use actions central to BDS today: sanctions and economic boycott. But today, supporters of BDS and congressional representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are roundly condemned by both parties as “anti-Semites” and “Israel-haters” who seek to destroy Israel. But a Republican president once used BDS tactics to help contain Israeli violence and injustice. And, it could happen today if Israeli lobbying dollars did not line so many congressional campaign pockets. “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.”

India’s authoritarian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, seems to be taking a page from another authoritarian right-wing Prime Minister’s book, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. When Modi, a Hindu nationalist, was Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, he oversaw, and was considered complicit in, a Hindu nationalist massacre of Muslims there.

Kashmir has long been disputed territory between India and Pakistan. For many years both India and Pakistan have abided by an agreement (called Articles 370 and 35A in India) in which each country would control portions of Kashmir near their borders, but the bulk of the territory would be self-ruling.

Recently, Modi declared those Articles void, making Kashmir a “union territory” of India. In addition to increasing tensions between Pakistan and India, Modi’s move allows Indians from outside Kashmir to buy land in Kashmir and create settlements protected by tens of thousands of additional Indian troops, leaving Kashmir’s dominantly Muslim population (about 96%) disenfranchised and with far less power. Is Kashmir the new West Bank? Will Modi follow the Israeli model?  Only time will tell.

Become a Gaza Twinning Congregation!
A father bathing his daughters in Gaza City (Credit: Wissam Nassar)

The current siege of Gaza has created severe restrictions on the availability of food, water, medical care, commerce and industry. A year after the March of Return, which resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, many peacemakers are feeling frustration and failure at our inability to focus attention on the condition of the people of Gaza. In response, MennoPIN is launching a new campaign among Mennonites to “End the Gaza Siege.”

The first step in the campaign is called the “Mennonite Twinning Initiative with Gaza.” This initiative will match Mennonite congregations with churches, mosques, hospitals, clinics and schools.

Please give prayerful consideration to your congregation becoming a “twinning” congregation with Gaza! To find out more about the initiative, the Gaza scandal, and guidelines for ethical relationships, visit the MennoPIN website mennopin.org and click on End the Gaza Siege tab at the top of the front page. Interested congregations can also send an email to mennopin@gmail.com with the Subject line “Twinning Initiative.”

Seventy percent of the population of Gaza, about 1.4 million people, are under 30 years of age. Half of Gaza’s population, living in a virtual open-air prison, are children. View this short film to see some of the challenges these young people face and how they are Gaza’s best hope for the future.

Support H.Res 496
Rep. Ilhan Omar introduces her pro-BDS resolution, H.Res. 496

In July the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass H.Res. 246, known as “Opposing efforts to de-legitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement Targeting Israel.” Although it was a non-binding resolution, it nonetheless put Congress on record as opposing BDS, a movement initiated by Palestinians as one nonviolent way to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation, allow the right of return for Palestinians and bring justice, freedom and equality for the people of Palestine. You can find out how your representative voted here. Although the text of the resolution does not mention Israel or Palestine, it has been interpreted as a response to the growing strength of the BDS movement.

In response, Rep. Ilhan Omar has introduced a resolution, H.Res. 496, to “speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting.” You can read the text of H.Res 496 here. The resolution currently has only 15 co-sponsors. Please encourage your congressperson to co-sponsor and vote for the resolution.

Go to Palestine: Tours

MennoPIN strongly encourages trips to Palestine to see upfront the struggle Palestinians endure on a daily basis. Established justice tours usually last about two weeks and offer both visits to Holy Land sites as well as experiences with Palestinians and those who actively work for justice and freedom for the people of Palestine. Or you may want to plan a do-it-yourself tour. To find out more about tours, visit the MennoPIN website and click on the Tours to Palestine tab.

A New MennoPIN Steering Committee

At the July 2019 MennoCon19 MC USA convention in Kansas City, a new steering committee was formed. Two of the founding MennoPIN members left the steering committee, leaving large shoes to fill. We expressed profound gratitude to Tom Harder and Joy Lapp. They both served MennoPIN with passion, dedication and skill for many years. They will be missed! Thank you, Tom and Joy!!

The new Steering Committee members are Anita Rediger, Bob Atchison (New), Joe Roos (Chair), Jonathan Kuttab, Jonathan Brenneman, Lydia Brenneman (New) and Rod Stafford.

Please feel free to bring your ideas, hopes and concerns for MennoPIN by writing us at mennopin@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Read More

Kumi Now. https://kuminow.com/
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, Naim Ateek, Orbis Books, 2017
Why Palestine Matters http://new.israelpalestinemissionnetwork.org/70-study-resources-/publications/363-why-palestine-matters
No Way to Treat a Child Campaign http://nwttac.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_child_detention_bill
Mondeweiss https://mondoweiss.net/
The Electronic Intifada https://electronicintifada.net/
HP-Free Church Campaign https://www.fosna.org/free-your-church-hp

Prayer

On the 70^th Great March of Return, 66 Palestinian civilians were injured due to the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border. At least 20 children, 3 women and a volunteer paramedic were among those injured this Friday, August 16, 2019. Twenty-nine civilians were shot with live bullets; 2 of them were deemed in a critical medical condition. Each protest has its own theme with this one being titled “Palestinian Youth Friday” and involving activities such as speeches by political leaders and theatrical performances. Lord, we continue to pray for the right to protest peacefully in Gaza without the threat of injury or death by the use of live ammunition and dispersal methods by Israeli forces. We are grateful for those who continue to find new ways to protest in a creative and nonviolent way. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.  Sabeel Wave or Prayer