Category: Events

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January Actions for Ceasefire in Gaza

January 12 & 13 | Emergency Summit for Gaza

In-person in Chicago or on Zoom, join communities of faith on January 12 & 13 for an Emergency Summit for Gaza, a two-day event that includes speakers, discussions, prayer, and collective action. The summit is sponsored by the Rainbow Push Coalition, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Red Letter Christians, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, the Arab American Institute, Faith for Black Lives, the Muslim Civic Coalition, the U.S. Palestinian Council, Sojourners, and others. Tickets are free, but registration is required!

See a full agenda & register >

January 13 | March on Washington for Gaza

Christians calling for a ceasefire in Gaza will meet in Washington, D.C. ahead of the national March on Washington for Gaza on January 13. Gather with CMEP, FOSNA, and other Christian voices for Palestine at 12:30 p.m. at the National Museum of American History on Madison Drive NW between 12th Street and 14th Street NW. The march begins at 1 p.m.

Learn more >

January 13 | Candlelight Prayer Vigil for a Ceasefire

Join Christian leaders in prayer for a ceasefire and demilitarization in Israel and Palestine. The vigil will take place at 4 p.m. ET at The Ellipse (south of the White House), 15th St & Constitution Ave NW, south of the chainlink fence. You can also livestream the event with Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP). Learn more, register, & find the link to the YouTube channel where the event will be livestreamed at CMEP.org.

January 14 | Ceasefire Prayer Service

Live from Jerusalem, join Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) and Bethlehem Bible College for this streaming of a live prayer gathering in Jerusalem on Sunday morning. The event will take place at 12:30 a.m. PT.

Learn more & register >

January 19 & 20 | Shabbat for Ceasefire

“In this time of crisis, join Jews (and friends!) in the ceasefire movement to lift up our hearts in rage, grief, hope and connection.”

Shabbat for Ceasefire, which will also be livestreamed, is co-sponsored by Rabbis for Ceasefire, Kol Tzedek Synagogue, Hineinu Baltimore, Tikkun Olam Chavurah, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.

Learn more & register >

January 26 | National Day of Action

On January 26, several organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) are holding a National Day of Action and encouraging communities across the country to plan local activities.

Learn more >

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“Life in Palestine in This Time of War” with Fr. Fadi Diab and Dean Thomason at St. Mark’s Cathedral

On Sunday, December 10, Dean Thomason at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle was joined virtually by Father Fadi Diab, rector of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Ramallah. Father Diab provided updates from the Christian community in Ramallah.

“We’re very much, psychologically, devastated,” he said. “The community we serve [is] also overwhelmed with the pain that mainly comes from Gaza, but also from places that the Israeli army invades in the West Bank.”

St. Andrews is providing stress-relief and trauma-response training and programs for teachers and community members, and shelter and sustenance for community members who’ve been displaced from homes and jobs. Demolition of Palestinian homes, he said, is happening quickly.

Fr. Diab also discussed the harms of propaganda in the West, far-right political power in Israel, and increased settler violence in the West Bank, armed and encouraged by Israel’s government.

“I don’t dare to drive on these roads, because you don’t know when the settlers will attack,” said Fr. Diab. And from the side of Israel’s police: “Any call for a ceasefire puts you in danger of being arrested.”

Take Action

  • Read more updates and donate at afedj.org — the American Friends of Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
  • Write to friends and Christian siblings in Palestine, who feel isolated and alone.
  • If you live in the U.S., pressure your elected representatives to call for an immediate ceasefire.

“We are called to save lives,” said Fr. Diab. “It is your role as Americans to reach out to your leaders, and convince them that this is not acceptable, this is morally indefensible, and we need a ceasefire and end to this conflict forever.”

Listen to a recording of the full conversation between Dean Thomason and Father Diab here.

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Priest from Palestine to Speak at St. Mark’s

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Rev. Dr. Fadi Diab of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

Everyone is invited to attend:
Date: Sunday, July 16, 2023
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Bloedel Hall at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
Information: See below
Tickets: Free
Event Details

Rev. Dr. Fadi Diab is the rector of St. Andrew’s Parish in Ramallah.  He will preach at the 9:00 and 11:00 AM services and participate in a forum between services.  Fr. Diab participated in the writing of Kairos Palestine Document and continues to serve on Kairos Palestine board.

More information here →https://saintmarks.org/calendar/friends-talking-forum/

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St. Mark’s Mideast Focus Ministry presents

 

Please join this Saturday afternoon conversation about the current situation in Israel-Palestine.  Speakers will be Miko Peled, Israeli-American activist for justice and author of The General’s Son: Journal of an Israeli in Palestine, and Maya Garner, advocate for justice in Palestine and founder of Friends of Hebron, an American non-profit working with peace and justice advocates in the West Bank.
       
  Date: Saturday, May 20, 2023  
  Time: 2:00 PM  
  Location: Bloedel Hall at St. Mark’s Cathedral  & On-line  
  Information:

No need to register for in-person participation;
to participate online join using this Zoom link.

  
  Tickets: Free  
Event Details

Following the conversation, Peled will sign copies of the new Tenth Anniversary Edition of The General’s Son, and the Saint Mark’s Mideast Focus Ministry will officially open the collection of resources now housed in the Bloedel “Center Stage” meeting room.

Hosted by Amnesty International: Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights [Pacific NW]; co-sponsored by Saint Mark’s Mideast Focus Ministry, The Bishop’s Committee for Justice & Peace in the Holy Land of the Diocese of Olympia, and Kairos Puget Sound Coalition.

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Eric Alterman on the history of the US debate over Israel

Peter Beinart’s Notebook this week is hosting Eric Alterman, who teaches at Brooklyn College, was for many years a columnist at The Nation and is author of the new book, We Are Not One: A History of America’s Fight over Israel. Beinart syas reading the book, he was struck by how often over the last seventy-five years the same pattern has repeated itself: An American president wants Israel to change its behavior, Israel and its American allies push back, the American president backs down. Are the political dynamics, especially in the Democratic Party, changing enough to break this pattern?
Date: Friday, March 3, 2023
Time: 9:00am PST / 12:00pm
Location: On-line
Information: Event information here →
Tickets: Subscription required for this event
Event Details

More information here →

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Alice Rothchild presents ‘Finding Melody Sullivan’

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Please join physician, author, and filmmaker Alice Rothchild to Seward Park Third Place Books.  She will be discussing her newest young adult novel Finding Melody Sullivan, about a 16-year-old who must face her internal demons and the external realities of war and occupation after the death of her mother.
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Third Place Books Seward Park, 504 Wilson Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118
Information: Event information here →
Tickets: Free, but registration required in advance
Event Details

16-year-old Melody Sullivan is falling apart after the death of her mother. She pours her cynicism and grief into poetry and an intense relationship with her powerhouse best friend, Yasmina Khdour. When Melody’s father drags her to an overseas archeology conference in Jerusalem, she is left to wander alone.

Hanging out on a Tel Aviv beach, smoking dope with her Israeli cousins and their army buddies, sounds like fun. While stoned, she is sexually assaulted by a friend of her cousin. She cannot share this devastating truth with her emotionally distant dad and impulsively flees to Hebron where Yasmina is visiting her family. As a Palestinian, Yasmina is unable to enter Jerusalem. Melody’s only other source of solace is Aaron Shapiro, a shy, religious boy back home with an awkward crush on her, but Aaron’s anxious texts make it clear he believes she’s wandering into enemy territory.

This is a story about trauma and taking emotional risks, about facing internal demons and the external realities of war and occupation, about finding oneself in the most unexpected places.

More information here →

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Continuous Trauma and Social Devastation: Gaza and Washington leaders in discussion on social trauma and healing

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Please put this date on your calendar and join our brothers and sisters at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle.  Additional information in the Events section below.
Date: Thursday, January 26, 2023
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bloedel Hall, 1245 10th Ave E, Seattle 98102
In person and also on zoom: register for zoom: http://bit.ly/3k1Aflv
Information: Event information here →
Tickets: Free
Event Details

The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme is the leading mental health non-governmental organization in the Gaza Strip. At this Symposium, Gaza Strip psychiatrist Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei will visit in person, and give an update on current conditions. Panelists and the audeince will then discuss intersections with “glocal” social divisions and the best ways forward.

Participants will include

  • Imraan Siddiqi, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Washington chapter
  • Damon Shadid, Seattle Municipal Court judge
  • Jonathan Kanter, Director, Center for the Science of Social Connection at the University of Washington, and Core Leadership Team of the Office of Healthcare Equity of UW Medicine.
  • Brian Baird, PhD , psychologist and Congressman for 12 years, was one of the first and very few U.S. officials to visit Gaza following the Israeli bombing and invasion of 2008-2009.

This event is co-sponsored by the Saint Mark’s Cathedral Mideast Focus Ministry, The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia’s Bishop’s Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, US-Gaza Mental Health Foundation, USA-Palestine Mental Health Network, the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Affairs, Jewish Voice for Peace—Health Advisory Council, Jewish Voice for Peace—Seattle chapter, Kairos Puget Sound Coalition, Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and SUPER-UW: Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at the University of Washington

Attend in person in Bloedel Hall, or online via Zoom. Register to attend online using this Zoom link: http://bit.ly/3k1Aflv No registration needed for in-person attendance.

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Zoom Event: Voices from the Holy Land Online Film Salon: “BOYCOTT”

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When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona, and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech across 33 states in America.
BOYCOTT traces the impact of state legislation designed to penalize individuals and companies that choose to boycott Israel due to its human rights record. A legal thriller with “accidental plaintiffs” at the center of the story, Boycott is a bracing look at the far-reaching implications of anti-boycott legislation and an inspiring tale of everyday Americans standing up to protect our rights in an age of shifting politics and threats to freedom of speech.
Register now and join in a discussion of the film with Peter Beinart, Editor-at-Large for Jewish Currents; JustVision filmmaker Jen Marlowe; and Bahia Amawi, plaintiff in the film. Our moderator will be journalist Mnar Adley, founder and executive director of MintPress News.
REGISTER NOW TO WATCH THE FILM FOR FREE beginning Oct 5th, for four days.
Then join the discussion on Oct 9th.
Date: Sunday, October 9, 2022
Time: 4:00pm Eastern / 1:00pm Pacific
Location: On-line
Information: Event information here →
Tickets: Free, must register to see film and discussion
Event Details

This film is not yet available to the public and is still in the film festival stage. This is a unique opportunity to preview for free a film that will have significant impact when it is publicly released to the marketplace. One or more of the legal cases portrayed in the film may be going to the Supreme Court. Your confirmation email, from Zoom, will include a link to watch the film during the period from now through 4:00 PM on the 9th. This link is for your use only. Please do not share the link with others.

Co-sponsors for this event are the United Methodists for Kairos Response and the Methodist Foundation for Social Action.

More information here →

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A Conversation Among Faith Leaders Witnessing to Peace and Justice in Israel & Palestine

On September 24, the Mideast Focus Ministry of Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, the Bishop’s Committee for Justice & Peace in the Holy Land, and Kairos Puget Sound Coalition brought together prominent voices from different religious backgrounds to ask where the struggle to achieve justice and peace in the Israel-Palestine goes from here. Participants included:

  • Rev. Naim Ateek – Founder, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
  • Rev. Richard K. Toll – Founding Exec. Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
  • Rev. Don Wagner – Former National Program Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
  • Jonathan Kuttab – Executive Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
  • Mark Braverman, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Kairos U.S.A.
  • Alice Rothchild, M.D. – Jewish writer and social activist for peace
  • Ranna Harb – Co-Founder, Falastiniyat (Palestinian diaspora collective)

Watch a full recording of the event below: