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Greetings from the steering committee of the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network!

1. Peace Sunday: In our last update, we shared information about the upcoming Peace Sunday on September 21. For over a decade, September 21 has been recognized by many as an international day of prayer for peace. This year the Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA has provided Peace Sunday worship resources for congregations to “Pray of the Peace of Jerusalem.” Check them out at http://www.pjsn.org/Resources/congregations/Pages/Peace-Sunday-2014.aspx.

In addition to these worship ideas, consider hosting a film screening at your congregation for Peace Sunday. For example, check out The Stones Cry Out (http://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/the-stones-cry-out-the-story-of-the-palestinian-christians), a film that explores the Palestinian Christian experience of dispossession in 1948 and the destructive effects on the remaining Christian communities during the last 60 years of occupation.

Also, check out information from the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) of the World Council of Churches, for prayer, education, and advocacy ideas for your congregation: http://pief.oikoumene.org/en/world-week-for-peace.

2. Prayer and action for Gaza and all of Palestine-Israel: In this month’s issue of The Mennonite, find an article written by one of the MennoPIN steering committee members that provides some context to the situation in Palestine-Israel as well as offering suggestions for getting involved. Read the article here: http://www.themennonite.org/issues/17-9/articles/Prayer_action_for_Gaza. Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: September 2014” →

Greetings from the steering committee of the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network! We have several items to share in this month’s update.

1. Gaza: Much uncertainty and suffering persists in the Occupied Territories, and especially in Gaza. We continue to pray and act. MennoPIN signed onto a call along with many other faith groups for an arms embargo on Israel. The call points out:

“Israeli aggression against Palestine, both in the past two weeks, and over the past several decades, has been largely enabled by American military aid and international military sales. The US government gives Israel $3.1 billion a year to purchase the most advanced weaponry in the world. European Union countries, as well as Brazil, India, and Chile have also sold advanced weapons to the Israeli military. We support efforts to prevent the distribution of weapons to Gaza. We likewise call for a blockade of weapons to Israel. We are therefore joining the six Nobel Peace Laureates and thousands of others in endorsing the Palestinian call for an arms embargo on Israel. We will continue endorsing this call until the current bloodshed, blockade, occupation, and exile come to an end.”

Learn more about this call here.

There are many in our network who have been very active in our congregations and communities these past weeks: prayers, vigils, demonstrations, phone calls to policy makers, letters to newspapers editors. Would you share with us what you have done? We would love to gather this information and share with others in Mennonite Church USA.

As the brutality continued in Gaza, we witnessed brutality here at home. The killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri earlier this month—an unarmed, African-American teenager killed by police—had many identifying connections between Ferguson and Gaza. We are again reminded of the challenges of working for justice at home: that seeking justice in Gaza must be complemented by seeking justice at home, actively dismantling structures of oppression such as racism and poverty as well as militarism. Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: August 2014” →

Dear Friends,

As the terrible situation in Gaza continues, we are sharing an updated “Prayer and Action for Gaza” bulletin insert in English and Spanish. Please find this attached and again, ask your congregation to use this as a template for Sunday’s service. We will also post it on the MennoPIN website at mennopin.wordpress.com/gazaunderattack/. Please do let us know if you use this and share with us other ways you are responding in your community.

Keep up to date with what is going on, and on ways to get involved, by visiting the websites of Mennonite Central Committee (mcc.org/learn/where/middle-east/palestine), Christian Peacemaker Teams (cpt.org/category/cptnet-categories/palestine), and Mennonite Church USA (mennoniteusa.org/lament-and-prayer-for-israelpalestine).

Also, continue to check out websites like the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation (endtheoccupation.org/gazaunderattack) and Jewish Voice for Peace (jewishvoiceforpeace.org). Continue reading “Re: MennoPIN Update: #GazaUnderAttack” →

Have you read the Kairos Document? Still want more information?

Here are some reading, film, and media resources for further learning:

• For a short introductory video see Jewish Voices for Peace’s animated introduction on our Background Video page.
• Learn about organizations working for justice in Israel-Palestine within the Anabaptist community, in North America, in other US based denominations, and in the Middle East on our Organizations page. The MCC Palestine blog is a great resource.
• If you are interested in continuing to study, reflect, and act see our list of Study Guides. Many of these can be used as Sunday School Curriculum.
• Film is a powerful medium. We invite you to screen Documentaries at your churches. See our list of recommended Documentaries.
• Keep up with the latest news in the region with these Media Resources.
• There are many powerful and informative Books written about this issue. Read them on your own, or study them with a small group. Here is a list of our favorites: Books
• Requests for prayer can be found here.

Dear Friends, apologies for another email, but we wanted to follow up to our MennoPin Update: #GazaUnderAttack by sharing a “Prayer and Action for Gaza” bulletin insert in English and in Spanish that one of our steering committee members drafted for use at their local Mennonite congregation, and that was translated by a network member. Please find this attached and feel free to use this as a template for your own congregation. (And let us know if you do!)

The MCC Washington Office issued this action alert to call on Congress to stop U.S. complicity in suffering and to support a just peace in Palestine and Israel by addressing underlying causes: http://mcc.org/get-involved/advocacy/alert/stop-violence-address-underlying-causes.

And the MCC Ottawa Office has shared this prayer for Palestine and Israel: http://mccottawaoffice.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/a-prayer-for-palestine-and-israel/.

For another important perspective on Gaza see Rachelle Friesen’s* “Lessons from Gaza”: http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/lessons-from-gaza.html. And read updates by Christian Peacemaker Teams including info on a planned action today in Chicago: http://www.cpt.org/category/cptnet-categories/palestine. Continue reading “Re: MennoPIN Update: #GazaUnderAttack” →

Dear Friends,

Greetings again from the steering committee of the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network! As promised in our last email, we are passing along an update reporting on our recent steering committee meeting.

1. Steering Committee meeting:

In early June, the steering committee held its first face-to-face meeting in Lombard, IL, right outside Chicago. Attached you can read the notes from our time together, including some of the key issues and priorities we identified. What do you think of the directions described in these notes? We welcome your responses.

2. Outreach and networking:

One of the priorities we identified was network-building. For example, a networking goal we discussed was being able to identify a MennoPIN advocate in each of Mennonite Church USA’s 21 area conferences who could help give the network exposure at that level (e.g. workshops at annual conference meetings). Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: July 2014” →

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the steering committee of the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network. Much has happened since our last email update, and so we are eager to check in with you all. We will pass along an additional update in the coming week reporting on our recent steering committee meeting, but in this email we wanted to focus on the distressing situation in Gaza and pass along some ideas for prayer, resources, and ways to get involved.

Jewish Voice for Peace has organized an open letter and petition you can sign that says that “only by ending the occupation, which is funded by unconditional US military aid and diplomatic support, and embracing equality can this terrible bloodshed end”: http://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16061.

U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation has set up a web section to highlight ways to learn more and take action: www.endtheoccupation.org/gazaunderattack. On it you can find action alerts and opportunities, resources for local organizing and staying informed.

Below is a list of additional resources for learning and action followed by a few articles of particular interest. We close the email with a prayer from the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Will you join Sabeel and others from around the world as we pray for the people who live in Palestine and Israel, for those who face uncertainty, violence, and injustice, and those who yearn for the end of oppression? Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: #GazaUnderAttack” →

Dear Menno-PIN members,

The Menno-PIN Steering Committee had another very productive conference call this past Tuesday, and we are excited about our progress. We are planning to meet together in Chicago this coming June, to develop a strategic plan for the network and identify concrete steps for the important work of our network.

We also decided that it would be very helpful to have some additional information/input from each of you.  Would you be willing to answer the follow questions?

1) Where are you located and which congregation do you attend?

2) Are there any local organizations or interested people with whom you meet on the issue of Israel-Palestine?

3) What counsel, suggestions, or hopes would you like to share with us before we meet to develop our strategic plan? In other words, if you were part of the steering committee conversation in June what would you want to say? Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: April 2014” →

Dear Friends,

We are passing along a few pieces of information.

First is an update regarding the recent Mennonite Church USA delegation to Palestine-Israel.

Second is a petition we would encourage you to consider, drafted by Friends of Sabeel North America and written to Pope Francis as he prepares for his upcoming trip to the “Holy Land”.

Third, we are sharing information regarding an upcoming speaking tour here in the U.S. by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, to promote his new book, Faith in the Face of Empire.

Finally, while we are talking about new resources, please check out this new book by Mennonite scholar Alain Epp Weaver, Mapping Exile and Return: Palestinian Dispossession and a Political Theology for a Shared Future. Learn more about this important resource here: https://www.facebook.com/mappingexileandreturn. Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: March 2014” →

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the steering committee of the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network! This past month at our last steering committee check-in, we decided there were several items we needed to share with you all for your feedback and participation.

1) The first relates to the work of the Network subcommittees (Education, Advocacy/Action, Grassroots, and Communications). We are looking forward to getting these subcommittees off the ground, but we wanted to reiterate the invitation to join them. In particular, we are looking for folks to serve on the Communications and Grassroots subcommittees. Perhaps most importantly, we are looking for someone to serve as web manager for the Network website. Please do let us know if you are interested. Continue reading “MennoPIN Update: February 2014” →