Updates

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” →

Dear Friends,

Greetings! And welcome to the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network! This email goes out to over 100 folks who have expressed interest in and who have already provided helpful feedback on the form and function of this network.

As you all know, there has been significant interest among folks within the Mennonite Church in the U.S. in looking at action and advocacy opportunities related to the situation in Palestine-Israel. The beginnings of a “Mennonite Palestine Israel Network” have emerged, and as this initiative is getting off the ground a small steering committee has been formed including Jason Boone (coordinating minister at MC USA Peace and Justice Support Network), Tom Harder (co-pastor at Lorraine Ave Mennonite Church in Wichita, KS), Joy Lapp (professor at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt Pleasant, IA), Sue Lyke (kindergarten teacher in South Bend, IN), George Muedeking (worship leader at Albuquerque Mennonite Church in Albuquerque, NM), Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach (director at MCC U.S. Washington Office), and Timothy Seidel (student and member of Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, PA).

Many of us were at the recent Mennonite Church USA convention in Phoenix and observed significant ongoing interest in engaging the church’s role in Palestine-Israel. There was quite a bit of activity including workshops, a discussion on the Kairos Palestine Document and on alternative travel to the “Holy Land”, a conversation on “The Church an Israel/Palestine”, as well as a performance of the play “My Name Is Rachel Corrie” (with Rachel’s parents in attendance). It was also in Phoenix where many of us were introduced to the idea of this network. Continue reading “Mennonite Palestine Israel Network introductory letter” →