Don Wagner in conversation with Michael Spath: What I’ve Learned in 50 Years of Palestinian Solidarity

Wednesday, August 24, 12:00noon ET

Dr. Michael Spath interviews friend and mentor to many, Rev. Dr. Don Wagner via Zoom on the release of his autobiography “Glory to God in the Lowest! Journeys to an Unholy Land.”  His book is a personal, political, and religious journey from an evangelical Christian faith and conservative politics to solidarity with the poor and advocacy for anti-war, anti-racism, and Palestinian rights.

From the Foreword by William J. Barber II & Phyllis Bennis

     Don Wagner's remarkable memoir tracks his own history and his own transition as he moved from life as a young, conservative white evangelical Christian in rural upstate New York to become a committed activist for Palestinian rights.  All the while he interrogates and challenges the theological origins and the political consequences of Christian zionism for Palestinians in the occupied territory, inside Israel, and in far-flung exile.

     Wagner's transformation didn't happen all at once.  He came to oppose the Vietnam War as a seminary student and to understand the primacy of racism in US society while working as an assistant pastor in a Black church.  He began to grasp the reality of colonialism while meeting with Palestinians living - and dying - under Israel occupation, and those facing dispossession and massacres in the refugee camps of Lebanon and beyond.  Over time, he examined, confronted, and finally came to staunchly oppose what he eventually recognized as Christian zionism.

HOST

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

CO-SPONSORS 

FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America)

UCC-PIN (United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network)

PCAP (Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace)

IPMN (Israel Palestine Mission Network-Presbyterian Church USA)

MennoPIN (Mennonite Palestine Israel Network)
QPIN (Quaker Palestine Israel Network)

ICAHD-USA (Israel Committee Against House Demolitions-USA)

Kairos West Michigan 

Joining Hands for Justice in Palestine/Israel

Emmaus Road Mennonite Fellowship