Ecumenical group calls for an end to the violence against Palestinians
In response to recent violence committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the Washington, DC–based ecumenical network Faith Forum on Middle East Policy has issued an alert urging U.S. Christians and "all persons of conscience" to contact their senators and representatives to call for an end to the violence. On March 30, 2018, Palestinians in Gaza initiated the "Great March of Return," with nonviolent demonstrations calling for their internationally recognized right to return to lands from which their families were displaced in 1948, when the state of Israel was created. That event 70 years ago, referred to by Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe), resulted in the displacement and dispossession of more than 750,000 Palestinians, forcing them to become refugees. Israel has never allowed them or their descendants to return.
Since the first demonstration on March 30, at least 111 Palestinians have been killed and about 12,000 people have been wounded, according to Al Jazeera. The highest number of casualties occurred on May 14, the same day the US Embassy was moved from Tel Aviv, the recognized capital of Israel, to Jerusalem. Until President Trump initiated the embassy move, most of the international community did not have embassies in Jerusalem as the city is claimed as a capital by both Palestinians and Israelis. The move has effectively ended Palestinian trust in any US-brokered arrangement for a just peace in the Middle East.
The Faith Forum alert, which includes a sample letter, is a follow-up to a statement co-signed by 14 Christian denominations, including the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, affirming the "rights of refugees, the right to demonstrate peacefully against injustice, and the right to live in and with dignity, not under closed military confinement or blockade." According to the statement, "more than 1.3 million of Gaza's nearly 2 million people are refugees." The Israeli blockade of Gaza, now in its 11th year, has devastated Gaza's economy and largely cut off residents from the outside world.
In addition to calling for an end to the violence, the alert asks the State Department to investigate how US military aid to Israel is being used, calls for an end to the blockade and for humanitarian relief to be extended to the people of Gaza, and expresses support for policies that promote the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis.
For more information, contact Friends of Wadi Foquin co-chair Rev. Michael Yoshii at michaelyoshii1@gmail.com or communications coordinator Julie Harris at julieharris61@gmail.com. Friends of Wadi Foquin is a partnership with the Palestinian village of Wadi Foquin, a United Methodist advance site in the West Bank, that also provides education about the larger context of the Israeli occupation.
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