Year: 2018

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Tell Congress to oppose anti-BDS legislation

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(illustration: Marina Djurdjevic)

It is urgent that members of Congress hear from constituents who oppose these bills.

By Evangelical Lutheran Church of America | Feb 15, 2018

“As churches and church-related organizations, we reject any efforts by the state to curtail these rights. We urge you to oppose the proposed legislation, and thus support the rights of individuals and institutions to spend and invest in accordance with their faith, values, and policies.”

Dangerous bills that could undermine the work of advocates for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis continue to make their way through Congress. These include the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R. 1697 and S. 720) and the Combating BDS Act of 2017 (H.R. 2856 and S. 170) which are part of a larger effort at the federal and state levels to outlaw or penalize the use of boycotts, divestment and sanctions aimed at Israeli government policies.

It is urgent that members of Congress hear from constituents who oppose these and similar bills. The U.N. Human Rights Office recently released a report outlining progress in developing a database of businesses engaged in certain activities related to Israeli settlements, as mandated earlier by the U.N. Human Rights Council. A new House resolution critical of the council includes a call to support the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. . . .

Continue reading “Tell Congress to oppose anti-BDS legislation”

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Unitarian group supports BDS nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

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Norwegian member of parliament, Bjørnar Moxnes, nominated the BDS movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize on Feb 2.

By Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East | Feb 9, 2018

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) strongly supports the nomination of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize. Justice and human rights have been systematically denied the Palestinian people, and UUJME is convinced that this tragedy is at the heart of the war, violence and turmoil that has characterized the Middle East for 70 years. We are convinced there will not be lasting peace for anyone in the region without justice for the Palestinians, and the BDS movement for Palestinian rights is the world’s best hope for achieving that justice.

A member of the Norwegian parliament, Bjørnar Moxnes, has nominated the BDS movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize. UULME have been asked by the US Interdenominational Palestine Working Group to support the nomination with a statement on our website. The goal is to persuade the Norwegian public and the Nobel committee that there is broad support for the nomination.

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Nov 2018 Israel/Palestine Impact Trip: Informational meeting (Next Saturday)

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Do you want to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Do you wonder if there’s a role for Christians to play in this long-running and often violent dispute?

Date: Saturday, Feb 24, 2018
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 am
Location: Bellevue Presbyterian Church, Room S-140
1717 Bellevue Way NE
Bellevue, WA  98004
Information: More information here →
Event Details

Join us to hear about the Bellevue Presbyterian Church trip to Israel this November that explores the Biblical themes of reconciliation and social justice. Much of our time will be spent with Israeli and Palestinian guides and guests. We’ll listen to them share their stories with the hope we can glimpse what stands in the way of peace and reconciliation to the Holy Land. We will also visit the holy sites of Jerusalem and the places where Jesus spent time around Galilee.

Through a diverse array of tour guides and speakers — Israeli and Palestinian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, political, religious and tribal leaders, policymakers, peace builders, grassroots activists, artists, journalists, musicians, writers, and many more — this trip provides rare cultural immersion for travelers of all backgrounds and perspectives.

More information here →

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Two anti-BDS bills reintroduced in Washington State legislative session

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A letter to Washington State legislators.

By Washington Freedom to Boycott | Feb 8, 2018

“The court has rightly recognized the serious First Amendment harms being inflicted by this misguided law. . . . This ruling should serve as a warning to government officials around the country that the First Amendment prohibits the government from suppressing participation in political boycotts.”
— Brian Hauss, ACLU attorney

To the Honorable Representative:

As Washington residents and Washington organizations, we are disturbed at ongoing attacks on our First Amendment right to boycott. In the Washington State Legislature, two measures from 2017, HJM 4004 and HJM 4009, both condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, have been reintroduced into the House Judiciary Committee during the 2018 legislative session. Though these measures appear not to be moving forward, we are concerned that similar anti-boycott language might be inserted into final legislation during this busy session.

HJM 4004 and 4009 radically mischaracterize the BDS movement. BDS is a grassroots campaign to gain equal rights for Palestinians and to pressure Israel to abide by international humanitarian law. While BDS is modeled after the South African boycott and thus calls for broad boycotts against Israeli institutions, nothing in it calls for discrimination against individuals solely because of their national origin, religion, or ethnicity.

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Panel Discussion: Bombs, the Blockade, and the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

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People stand in front of houses destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in the Yemeni city of Saada. (photo: Reuters)

Please join our brothers and sisters for this panel discussion on the crisis in Yemen.

Date: Thursday, Feb 22, 2018
Time: 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Location: University of Washington
Kane Hall, Room 110
4069 Spokane Lane
Seattle, WA 98105
Information: Download event flyer here →
Tickets: Free
Speakers
  • Congressman Adam Smith, Congressional Representative, Washington’s Ninth District
  • Kate Kizer, Policy Director at Win Without War (formerly with Yemen Peace Project)
  • Kate Gould, Legislative Director for Middle East Peace at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
  • Aisha Jumaan, Yemeni-American Activist, President of Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
  • Amy Hagopian, moderator
Event Details

The UN describes Yemen as having one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. A UNICEF report says 9.6 million children (80% of all the children in Yemen) need humanitarian assistance, and the World Food Program predicts the deaths of 150,000 malnourished children in the next few months. The current cholera outbreak, a direct result of this siege, reached its millionth case and has been characterized as the worst and fastest spreading cholera epidemic in modern history.

More information here →

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Massachusetts activists defeat anti-BDS bill

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Graffiti on the Israeli separation wall in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, Jun 2014. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler / ActiveStills)

Anti-BDS measures have passed in more than 20 states, and federal legislation is pending in Congress.

By Nora Barrows-Friedman | Electronic Intifada | Feb 13, 2018

“By asking the state legislature to pass a bill that strikes at free speech, [supporters] forced legislators to choose between supporting Israel’s occupation and supporting free speech.”
— Cole Harrison of Massachusetts Peace Action

Activists in Massachusetts successfully pressured state lawmakers to stop a bill on February 8 that would have classified the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign for Palestinian rights as “discrimination.”

The bill requires anyone who enters into a contract with the state worth more than $10,000 to pledge that they will not refuse to do business with any person based on the person’s “race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation.”

It has no chance of being passed this session as a key committee declined to advance it.

Continue reading “Massachusetts activists defeat anti-BDS bill”

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Panel Discussion: Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East

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Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace. (photo: maecannon.com)

Can multifaith dialogue help promote reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians? Can “constructive conflict” bring the two sides closer to peace?

Date: Sunday, Feb 25, 2018
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Location: Overlake Christian Church
Student Room
9900 Willows Rd NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Information: Event information here →
Tickets: Free
Event Details

The panel will discuss how multifaith dialogue and engagement in constructive conflict can help lead to a comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During this gathering you will also hear about work being done in Palestine, Israel, and the United States to help achieve peace and justice in the Holy Land.

If you’d like to better understand the realities affecting both Israelis and Palestinians, and how people of faith in the United States can play a positive role in pursuing peace, please join us on Sunday, Feb 25 and Overlake Christian Church in Redmond.
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Israeli police recommend corruption charges for Netanyahu

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Feb 11, 2018. (photo: Ronen Zvulun)

The police accuse Netanyahu of accepting nearly $300,000 in gifts over 10 years.

By David Halbfinger and Isabel Kershner | The New York Times | Feb 13, 2018

“[The Prime Minister is] up to his neck in investigations. He does not have a public or moral mandate to determine such fateful matters for the state of Israel when there is the fear, and I have to say it is real and not without basis, that he will make decisions based on his personal interest in political survival and not based on the national interest.”
— Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking about former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was forced to resign in 2008

The Israeli police recommended on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, casting a pall over the future of a tenacious leader who has become almost synonymous with his country. The announcement instantly raised doubts about his ability to stay in office.

Concluding a yearlong graft investigation, the police recommended that Mr. Netanyahu face prosecution in two corruption cases: a gifts-for-favors affair known as Case 1000, and a second scandal, called Case 2000, in which Mr. Netanyahu is suspected of back-room dealings with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the popular newspaper Yediot Aharonot, to ensure more favorable coverage.

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Israel’s decision to put Ahed on trial could backfire

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Ahed Tamimi at Ofer Military Prison. (photo: Jerusalem Online)

Arrested in December for slapping an Israeli soldier who had entered her yard, 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi was later arrested in the middle of the night, is currently being held in a military prison, and is being tried in a closed military courtroom.

By Loveday Morris | The Washington Post | Feb 13, 2018

“The Israeli military supposes by arresting Ahed Tamimi they can silence their activism. But although painful, it’s definitely put a spotlight on Palestinian children in detention.”
— Fadi Quran, senior campaigner with the activist group Avaaz

Slouching in her chair and mouthing messages to her friends and family from under a cascade of strawberry-blond curls, Ahed Tamimi in many ways appears to be an everyday teenager.

But the tussle of television cameras and photographers that crowded in for a shot of her in the dock of a small Israeli military court in Ofer for a bail hearing last month was a reminder that she is far from it.

Ahed, who recently turned 17, was arrested after a video of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers who had entered her front yard went viral last year. On Tuesday, after nearly two months in detention, she went on trial on 12 charges, including assault of a soldier and incitement.

Continue reading “Israel’s decision to put Ahed on trial could backfire”

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Nov 2018 Israel/Palestine Impact Trip: Informational meeting

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Do you want to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Do you wonder if there’s a role for Christians to play in this long-running and often violent dispute?

Date: Saturday, Feb 24, 2018
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 am
Location: Bellevue Presbyterian Church, Room S-140
1717 Bellevue Way NE
Bellevue, WA  98004
Information: More information here →
Event Details

Join us to hear about the Bellevue Presbyterian Church trip to Israel this November that explores the Biblical themes of reconciliation and social justice. Much of our time will be spent with Israeli and Palestinian guides and guests. We’ll listen to them share their stories with the hope we can glimpse what stands in the way of peace and reconciliation to the Holy Land. We will also visit the holy sites of Jerusalem and the places where Jesus spent time around Galilee.

Through a diverse array of tour guides and speakers — Israeli and Palestinian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, political, religious and tribal leaders, policymakers, peace builders, grassroots activists, artists, journalists, musicians, writers, and many more — this trip provides rare cultural immersion for travelers of all backgrounds and perspectives.

More information here →