2022—The Year That Was
The past year has been tumultuous for Palestine/Israel.
Settler violence spiked, becoming a normal part of life, with clear impunity for the perpetrators and the complicity of Israeli forces. A record number of Palestinians were killed, including 55 children, or held without charge or trial as administrative detainees, of which 815 were Palestinian children. The year ended with Israeli elections leading to the return of Netanyahu, alongside the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history. This new government empowers openly fascist, anti-Arab racists in positions of influence, specifically in areas of domination over Arabs, such as the settlements, the police force, and COGAT (the Israeli military administration governing the Occupied Territories).
2022 was also a year that witnessed a marked shift in the conversation surrounding Israel and Palestine as Amnesty International, following upon the previous work of Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem, issued an extensive report labeling and documenting Israel as an Apartheid regime, joining Palestinian organizations who long have been pointing out the apartheid nature of discrimination in all Israel (not just the Occupied Territories). Similar reports came from Harvard, the United Nation, and al-Haq, as well as a dossier on Israeli apartheid from Kairos Palestine. As the paradigm of a two-state solution clearly disappears, the challenge of finding a just and democratic solution in all Palestine/Israel based on true equality and human rights becomes the goal for all people, including Israeli Jews, Palestinian Arabs, and their supporters worldwide.
This was also the year when the world asserted at the FIFA World Cup that the people of the world, especially the Arab world, are still supportive of the cause of Palestine and reject the normalization of Arab regimes.
Coming out of the cold of the COVID-19 quarantine, 2022 allowed us to get our groove back a little here at FOSNA. In partnership with Sabeel Jerusalem, we sent a team of travelers to Palestine to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers on the frontlines, particularly those civil society/human rights organizations unjustly persecuted by Israel! Inshallah, we will be sponsoring at least two more trips in 2023. In addition, 2022 was a year of revival for many regional FOSNA gatherings—from Iowa to Colorado, Hawaii to NorCal, SoCal to Seattle, and on and on. Be it conferences in person to webinars online or targeted campaigns, FOSNA activism is back in force! And, to his credit, our Executive Director Jonathan Kuttab made the journey to ALL! We hope to see this trend continue in 2023 and will be planning on assisting our other regional gatherings, along with some amazing newcomers, in any way we can. Stay tuned! Finally, as Advent gives way to Christmas, Preach Palestine 2022 comes to a close. But it is important to remember that any time of the year is an important time to Preach Palestine.
In addition, we said goodbye to dear friends and loved ones this year, giants upon whose shoulders we stand, and we honor the work of those women and men of conviction who blazed the trails upon which we walk.
Thank you for standing and working alongside us in this work. Together, we are challenging the powers of oppression and domination that humiliate and suppress the Palestinian people. Destructive theologies, ideologies, and assumptions no longer go unchallenged. Americans are growing more aware of the reality of Israeli apartheid and the colonial violence on which it is built. And, thanks to the generosity of friends like you, FOSNA is the largest contributor to the essential work of Sabeel in Palestine!
On behalf of all of us at Friends of Sabeel North America, we are deeply grateful for your solidarity and profound generosity. FOSNA has big plans in 2023 and with your help, together we can:
Continue calling attention to the violent realities of Israeli apartheid and its catastrophic impact on Palestinian lives and communities.
Declare and embody a prophetic message for the churches in America, confronting destructive ideologies and promoting theologies of liberation, justice, and peace.
Support the essential work of the Sabeel movement for Palestinian liberation, in Jerusalem and all Palestine!
So, as 2022 comes to an end, we humbly ask all who have yet to contribute to help us continue in our mission to liberate religion from those who misuse it to justify oppression and dispossession.
Wishing you an absolutely blessed new year,
The FOSNA Team
FOSNA News
Now is the Time: 2022 Christmas Appeal
As 2022 comes to an end, we humbly ask you to help us continue in our mission to liberate religion from those who misuse it to justify oppression and dispossession. To read Sabeel Director Omar Haramy's message and give today, click the link below.
We are seeking an intern for the Spring Semester! If you would like a fully remote internship experience focusing on social media management and grassroots campus organizing for Palestine, please send your resume to friends@fosna.org.
Click the link below for more information!
Buy Challenging Religious Extremism Today
For just $1, you can purchase Rev. Naim Ateek's new booklet, "Challenging Religious Extremism" on FOSNA's online bookstore!
Get Involved!
We invite you to join us in the following events and activities:
January 13: Online
Confronting Apartheid
A webinar on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 7:00 pm CT
(5 pm PT, 6 pm MT, 8 pm ET)
This webinar is sponsored by the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Palestine Israel Network. It follows the resolution Confronting Apartheid approved at Diocesan Convention in November 2021 that recognized that Israeli treatment of Palestinians constitutes apartheid as defined in international law. How do people of faith and conscience take a moral stand on this issue?
Participants:
Richard Falk – professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 – will explain how Israeli apartheid corresponds to the definition in international conventions.
Rabbi Brant Rosen – founder Rabbi of the synagogue Tzedek Chicago and co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council – will discuss how Judaism inspires Jews to oppose apartheid.
Mai Kakish Khader –Director of TEE Arabic Language & Culture for Children of the Arab Diaspora, board member of the Seraj Library Project, founder and writer with Almondandfig.com – will describe how apartheid affects the daily life of her family in Palestine.
Harry Gunkel – member of the steering committee of Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network – will facilitate.
January 15: Online
Is Israel an Apartheid State?
Join Voices For the Holy Land's January Film Salon on January 15 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET.
Does Israel’s treatment of Palestinians constitute a form of apartheid–the systematic segregation and discrimination of a population on the basis of race, first put into place in South Africa? Such is the claim of the UN, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and journalists from a range of media. The International Criminal Court has labeled apartheid “a crime against humanity.” Two short documentary films explore the separate and distinct laws, physical infrastructure, civil systems and military enforcement applied to Palestinians in Israel and in the occupied territories. If this is apartheid, what is the authority of the UN and the ICC to adjudicate Israel’s violation of international law? Israel’s newly elected right-wing government promises more extreme forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence directed at Palestinian citizens of Israel and in the occupied territories.
Watch the film for free at your convenience | Join the Q&A Discussion with an expert panel.
Saleh Hijazi: Former Deputy Regional Direct - MENA at Amnesty International
Michael Lynk: Author, Associate Professor of Law at Western University, former UNHCR Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Territories
Edwin Arrison: Anglican Priest, Development Officer - Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation
Jonathan Kuttab (moderator): Attorney, author, Exec. Dir. Friends of Sabeel North America
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnoNjmg9qps
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 52) Christians in the Holy Land. Palestinians in the occupied territory face increasingly difficult circumstances due to the Israeli occupation. This has led many Palestinian Christians to emigrate, leading to a diminished Christian presence in the Holy Land. This week, as the World Council of Churches publishes the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle for Palestine and Israel, the Kumi Community is focusing on this problem. Here’s what you need to know and what you can do so that together we can rise up.