Solidarity and Intersectionality
by Jonathan Kuttab
Following two remarkable webinars, hosted by our friends and affiliates in Washington State and Southern California respectively, the in-person segment of FOSNA’s Fall Tour is off to a great start thanks to the amazing efforts of Friends of Sabeel Colorado. With superb dedication and foresight, they had a full program prepared for me. In addition to meeting me at the airport, they had 4 different drivers assigned to take me from one meeting to the next as well as prepare a table with sign up sheets, flyers, and books, having arranged meetings at Denver University’s School of International Studies, the University of Colorado, Denver, Iliff School of Theology, Heart of the Rockies Christian Church in Ft. Wayne, and more. The final event, “Together for Palestine,” was a marvelous conclusion to my time in Colorado, providing what I believe to be a useful template for the activities of FOSNA affiliates and partner organizations throughout the United States.
Held this past Saturday at a local church, the Together for Palestine event consisted of an entire slew of activities between 11:00am and 5:00pm. The event resulted from the cooperation of 18 different local organizations and groups who came together to give true meaning to the concept of solidarity and intersectionality: from Jewish Voice for Peace and Black Lives Matter to the Center for Freedom and Justice, FOSNA, and many others. The organizers practically set up a whole bazaar of displays, with Palestinian dresses and jewelry, embroidery and artwork, a bedouin tent, numerous Palestinian products, a henna table where an artist painted hands and faces, and more. It had beautiful live oud music and plenty of Palestinian food, most of it donated by local Palestinian restaurants to feed the hundreds of participants. There were door prizes of beautifully embroidered pieces, as well as a recitation of poems written by Palestinian children aged 7-13.
It was a celebration of culture and fun, not just complaints (albeit justified) and depressing news. Hundreds of people, mostly young, milled around and enjoyed the day. The few speakers (I was proud to be one of them) were both upbeat and unapologetic. Video presentations were also part of the program, as well as folk dancing.
Iman Jodeh, the first Palestinian and Muslim state representative in Colorado, spoke of her journey from the village of Lifta in Palestine to her current American dream. Joel Northam powerfully stressed the clear parallels between the Palestinian struggle and the struggles faced by African Americans and other marginalized communities. He stated that the Palestinian cause was the moral litmus test for all progressives, since their case is so clear and the odds against them so overwhelming that one could only support Palestinians out of commitment and principle.
All agreed that, given the odds against us, we can only succeed through unity and solidarity. We need to show up for each other, and together we can indeed have an impact. The hope is that this form of cooperation would continue and that each organization or group can show up not only at each others' activities and functions, but can speak with one voice to all progressive issues such that their collective voice cannot be ignored by those in power.
Another speaker highlighted lessons learned from the new Just Vision film, BOYCOTT, which explains how easily anti-BDS legislation can be used as a template to stifle all progressive causes and penalize or criminalize those unwilling to forfeit their right to protest or boycott in support of any progressive cause, whether it relates to fossil fuels, the NRA, and measures restricting reproductive rights, etc.
Martin Luther King Jr. once declared that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". And, it was Nelson Mandela who said that "we know all too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians". We can no longer afford to continue preaching to the choir, shouting within our "echo chambers," or advocating within our own social justice silos. At FOSNA, we believe in intersectionality, and we will work hard to build cross-movement alliances and support justice for ever more constituencies.
Take Action!
Preach Palestine is back!
Friends of Sabeel North America is calling on Christian leaders across the U.S. to commit their congregations to Preach Palestine this Advent season.
Be it an entire service or a single prayer, we are asking you to once again Preach Palestine and lift up the Palestinian people such that they would come to experience the joy, justice, and peace of Christ's liberating reign, as a very real light in the present darkness.
Now Is the Time!
Can you commit your congregation to Preach Palestine this Advent season?
Visit the Holy Land With Us!
This Advent season, join FOSNA in the Holy Land to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and bear witness to apartheid in action.
Let Palestine Speak!
(7amleh) On Sept. 22nd, an independent Human Rights Due Diligence report was published on Arabic and Hebrew content moderation on Meta’s platforms as it pertains to Israel/Palestine within the context of the May 2021 Uprisings. It is time to pressure Meta (the Facebook company) to end the censoring of Palestinian voices on their platforms.
Campaign Update
¡URUGUAY NO VA! / URUGUAY IS NOT GOING!
Uruguay has rejected Israel's invitation to host their pre-World Cup training!
From The the Coordinación por Palestina team: "As we said when we launched the campaign, we do not want the celeste T-shirt to be used to whitewash Israeli apartheid or to cover up its serious violations of human and collective rights of the Palestinian people.
We based our statement on the letter we delivered on June 3 at the AUF (Uruguay's Football Association) headquarters, with the signature of more than 20 social, human rights and football-related organizations in our country.
In these months, the AUF received four letters from Palestinian football clubs and associations explaining the continuous and serious aggressions that Israel commits against Palestinian football and sports, plus countless messages from organizations around the world asking the national team not to lend itself to whitewash Israel's crimes through football.
The many messages sent to the AUF include: from a former coach of the Palestinian national football team, from musician Roger Waters, from Jewish anti-Zionist groups in several countries, from religious institutions, from human rights organizations and solidarity groups from five continents, and from territories as far away as Palestine/Israel, South Africa, India, Canada, USA, Europe, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Turkey, and from our own region. We are deeply grateful for all the solidarity and support received from so many territories and people!
We hope that these messages have been read and heard by the national team players and the AUF leadership; and we are hopeful that they will be taken into account in the future. Because as we said from day one: you cannot play with apartheid."
For a FREE PALESTINE, URUGUAY DOES NOT GO!
Get Involved!
We invite you to join us in the following events and activities:
Hosted and Facilitated by SABEEL-Hawai'i:
October 15: Honolulu
Palestine: A New Vision for Peace with Justice
SABEEL-Hawai’i presents: Debunking the Two-State Solution with Jonathan Kuttab
Cosponsored by: SFJP@UH, JVP-Hawai’i, Ka Lāhui Hawai’i Kōmike Kalai’āina
Saturday, October 15th 6:30pm - 8:00pm
St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral
229 Queen Emma Square, Honolulu Hawai'i
October 16: Honolulu
Being a Christian Voice for Palestine: The Past, Present & Future of Friends of Sabeel North America
St. Clements Episcopal Church invites you to come learn about the mission, work, and impact of Friends of Sabeel North America. Join FOSNA Executive Director Jonathan Kuttab for two services. Join us at 8:00am or 10:15am with breakfast in-between.
Sunday, October 8:00am & 10:15am
St. Clement's Episcopal Church, Honolulu
October 17: Maui
Palestine: A New Vision for Peace with Justice
In the evening of Saturday the 17th, Jonathan will be speaking at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Maui.
2140 Main St. Wailuku, Maui, HI 96793
October 21: Honolulu
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict from a Christian Palestinian Perspective
Afternoon workshop for Education Day–Peace & Reconciliation at Convention 54: the Annual Meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i
12:30 pm
'Iolani School, Honolulu Hawai'i
October 25: Virtual
The Covivencia Declaration: Justice, Peace and Reconciliation in Palestine – Christian Perspectives
Join Rev. Allan Boesak (South Africa), Jonny Clark (Northern Ireland), Rifat Kassis (Palestine), Mark Braverman (USA), Stephen Sizer (UK) as they share their analyses about Zionism, Apartheid and unity from a Christian perspective. Organized by Covivencia Alliance.
Hosted and Facilitated by NorCal Sabeel:
October 25: Berkeley
Targeting the Lawyers & Journalists: Israel’s War on Civil Society
With Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder of Al-Haq and Nonviolence International and Executive Director of Friends of Sabeel North America
Join us at Berkeley Law School in Booth Auditorium, October 25th at 4:00pm or watch it live online.
Hosted by Dr. Hatem Bazian, sponsored by NorCal Sabeel, JVP-Bay Area, Palestine Studies Working Group, Ethnic Studies Department, IROP, ISC, Islamophobia Studies Journal, MENALSA, LSJP, Berkeley MLSA, AMPR.
October 26: Berkeley
Palestinian Liberation Theology: A Spiritual Call for Justice, Freedom and Equality
Jonathan Kuttab will be speaking on Palestinian Liberation Theology at the Pacific School of Religion on Wednesday, October 26th at 12 noon. Because of limited space, and provision of light refreshments for lunch, we would appreciate your RSVP to Hassan Fouda at SabeelTOL@gmail.com.
Graduate Theology Union
Bade Museum
Pacific School of Religion
1798 Scenic Ave, Berkeley, CA
12pm - 2pm
November 5: Dearborn
Palestine Israel: Past, Present, Future
On November 5, the Intercultural Community Center of Dearborn (ICCD), Michigan, will host an educational event titled "Palestine-Israel: Past, Present, and Future."
This will be both an in-person and Zoom event by registration. There will be a panel discussion, a documentary (in-person only), and a general discussion.
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem:
Weekly
Sabeel Prayer Service. Join Sabeel every Thursday (6pm Jerusalem) for online Bible Study, discussion, and prayer. Examine scripture in light of the ongoing realities confronting the Palestinian Church and the pursuit of Palestinian liberation.
Wave of Prayer. Subscribe to receive Sabeel's Wave of Prayer, enabling friends of Sabeel around the world to pray over issues of critical concern to the Holy Land on a weekly basis.
Kumi Now! (Week 41) Mental Health. Mental health is too often a taboo subject even in the healthiest of societies. But in societies torn apart by violence or affected by constant hardship mental health can become an even more difficult subject to address. World Mental Health Day, celebrated on October 10, was founded by the World Federation of Mental Health to raise awareness of mental health issues around the globe and direct resources where they are needed. One such area is Palestine, where the constant use of tear gas, night raids, checkpoints, and other forms of psychological warfare take their toll in the West Bank and the combined injustices of the blockade of have created a society on the brink of crisis in Gaza. Here’s what you need to know about mental health in Palestine and what you can do so that together we can rise up.