In 2007, Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA) engaged this discussion by releasing an open letter to congregations on “Becoming Peacemakers in Israel/Palestine,” including a helpful biblical-theological reflection. And in 2011, MCUSA issued its own response to Kairos Palestine with a letter to Palestinian Christians as well as a letter to members of Mennonite Church USA.
MCC produced “Peacebuilding in Palestine/Israel: A Discussion Paper” in 2005 meant to help facilitate a conversation in communities in North America about stewardship, divestment, and economic justice.
The Fall 2010 issue of the MCC U.S. Washington Office Memo, “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: U.S. Policy towards Israel-Palestine,” also lifts up issues named in the Kairos Palestine Document, as does issues of the MCC Peace Office Newsletter such as “Christian Zionism and Peace in the Holy Land” and “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: A Question for the Church.”
Students from several Mennonite-related colleges and universities issued an open letter to Mennonite Church USA to call for attention to and support for selective divestment from the Israeli occupation. They state “Our purpose is to promote peace in Israel/Palestine by first removing our complicity. We urge Mennonite churches and institutions to join us in resisting the structural violence of the illegal Israeli Occupation by making sure our investments are not supporting international law or human rights violations.”
In response to a 2015 statement from the delegate assembly of Mennonite Church USA in support of Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers, the Rev. Alex Awad, former dean of Bethlehem Bible College, urged delegates to make a “serious study of the Kairos Document.” MennoPIN adapted materials from the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church to produce a Kairos study guide for Mennonite congregations. That study guide is available here.
MennoPIN 