The Response of the Church
By Jonathan Kuttab
It is a sad commentary on the moral position of the church in the West that, in the face of an ongoing, unspeakable genocide being played out in real time before our eyes and in light of the forced displacement of millions, massive civilian casualties, brutal attacks on churches, mosques, bakeries, residential buildings, and hospitals, it requires “great moral courage” to deviate from the prevailing narrative or even to simply call for de-escalation or a ceasefire! Some churches have quietly canceled events, downplayed concerns raised, or attempted to maintain a low key response if not outright silence.
Fortunately, this has not been a uniform response among Christians. I want to acknowledge, therefore, the tireless advocacy and activism of our many friends and supporters among the grassroots who have been speaking out, making calls, sending emails, composing articles and letters, preaching Palestine, raising funds, organizing lectures and interviews, meeting with representatives, drafting statements, joining and organizing marches, protests, sit-ins, and other direct actions alongside and in solidarity with the amazing witness of our Jewish, Muslim, secular, and other partners and friends. FOSNA National Organizer, Chad Collins, together with local and regional partners, has been bouncing back and forth between Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and elsewhere organizing marches, busses, vigils, meetings with and protests outside the office of political leaders, and more. Recently, a group of Catholic leaders were dispersed in Washington D.C. while conducting a prayer vigil on behalf of the murdered civilians of Gaza.
Significantly, FOSNA organized a direct action this past Sunday in Philadelphia, a pilot that we hope might serve as a model for similar actions across the country. A group of local Palestinian-American Muslims and Christians, together with Jewish American members of If Not Now, held signs and passed out flyers challenging attendees gathering for Sunday worship at a local megachurch to “Pray for the children of Gaza.” This event was initiated by the FOSNA members in the Philadelphia area in conjunction with a local mosque and with the participation of the Jewish advocacy organization If Not Now.
Initially, the demonstrators were asked to leave the property, which they refused to do until they spoke to the lead pastor. Eventually, they were invited to come inside the church to pray with the entire congregation.
What followed was truly transformative, as can be seen in the attached video. The pastor declared before all that the church supported the call for a ceasefire now and an end to the killings. He then asked the veterans, in a congregation of 20,000, to come up front, lay hands on the demonstrators and join them in a prayering for peace in Gaza and Palestine! As tears flowed, and those in the church felt the presence of God’s spirit as they prayed together, this promised to be the beginning of new relationships between the local Christian and Muslim communities, with an open invitation to the wider Jewish community as well. While we recognize that the pastor's language does not go so far enough to emphasize the need for justice and does not acknowledge the massive power imbalances between Israelis and Palestinians, to simply call publicly for a ceasefire and pray for our government to recognize it's role in our current political climate is an act of moral courage that we affirm and applaud. We applaud, too, the courage of the demonstrators in pressing the issue.
At a time of intense polarization and heartbreaking dehumanization, activities like this that bring together and foster relationships between religious communities is vitally important in fighting the wave of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim sentiment that is on the rise. It also provides a far better basis for interfaith interaction and relationship building than what Jewish liberation theologian Marc Ellis refers to as “the Ecumenical Deal.” The Ecumenical Deal, under the guise of Jewish-Christian or Muslim dialogue, avoids discussing the issues of justice and Palestine and blocks all initiatives which might “hurt the feelings of” or “cause discomfort” for those in power—rather than confronting them with a prophetic message.
This coming Sunday, more direct action will be undertaken at numerous Philadelphia churches, and we hope in many other places as well, calling on Christian worshippers gathering on the Lord’s day to remember to pray for the children of Gaza, demand an end to bloodshed, and call on their legislators to stop supporting further violence.
One would have thought that such a minimal demand (stop the bloodshed) was elementary, that it would not require so much agonized discussion among supposed followers of the Prince of Peace, but in the current atmosphere in the United States, this is apparently not so. To go beyond that call for a ceasefire and call for a lifting of the siege, the provision of true justice, self determination, and equality for the Palestinians and an end to apartheid and discrimination in the Holy Land may be a moral mountain too high to climb for many churches. Be it legitimate guilt over past anti-Jewish bigotry and violence, misguided theologies that practically enshrine anti-Palestinian bigotry as a point of doctrine, and/or the desire to keep the people in the pews and the tithes coming, churches have succumbed to a servile acquiescence and pandering to those in power that has, in these days, muted the prophetic voice of the church. This moral failure may be the most profound outcome of the current fighting in the Holy Land.
FOSNA NewS
Save the Date: Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Take Action!
Shut it down for Palestine November 17! We must keep building momentum and increase the pressure with more marches, walk-outs, sit-ins, and other forms of direct action directed at the political offices, businesses, and workplaces that fund, invest, and collaborate with Israeli genocide and occupation. LEARN MORE.
Keep calling. Keep Writing. Don't stop. Stay loud. Our pressure is making an impact. Keep it up. CALL NOW.
Take It to the Pews! Our churches and meetings are complicit. They shouldn't be; they don't have to be.
1. Using the template at the following link, contact your local, regional, and national leadership. LEARN MORE.
2. PREACH PALESTINE, and don't stop preaching Palestine. We are collecting a library of resources at the following link. LEARN MORE.
3. Take the Pledge and Join the Apartheid-Free Movement. Now more than ever. LEARN MORE.
4. To learn more about engaging in your own Take It To the Pews Direct Action, please contact jonathankuttab@fosna.org
Get Involved
We invite you to join us in the following events and activities:
November 17: Pittsburgh
SHUT IT DOWN FOR PALESTINE THIS FRIDAY!
FOSNA is proud to be part of the Pittsburgh Palestine coalition. Join us in front of John Fetterman’s office and march to Arconic headquarters.
Senator John Fetterman has expressed unconditional support for Israel multiple times as they commit genocide against Palestinians.
Arconic is a global supplier of aluminum sheets used to manufacture Boeing Apache helicopters and Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets used by Israeli forces on Palestinians. #SHUTITDOWN
Meet at 310 Grant St. at 1:30 pm Friday Nov. 17!
November 19: Online
VFHL Film Salon: "Media and the Palestine Problem"
Is it bias, laziness, fear of being fired, or just plain ignorance? New report after news report offers unbalanced, incomplete, un-contextualized, or just-plain wrong reporting on Israel and Palestine.
What are the consequences of this for public opinion and government policy?
Weekly
Sabeel Prayer Service. Join Sabeel every Thursday (6pm Palestine) 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! October: November 19 to November 25 - Gender Based Violence
Kumi Now is an online gathering every Tuesday (6pm Palestine) with a guest speaking on the weekly topic. Register here.
Women in the occupied Palestinian territory face persistent gender-based violence through night raids, settler violence, collective violence towards their families, humiliation and assault from occupation forces, and the restrictions of a patriarchal society. This week, the United Nations observes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. Here’s what you need to know and what you can do about gender-based violence so that together we can rise up.