Over twenty-five years ago a handful of American Christian pilgrims, scandalized by the injustice they had witnessed in the Holy Land, and learning of the role of the U.S. in supporting Israel’s ongoing illegal military occupation of Palestinian land, were inspired to take up the Palestinian cause back home, to educate their fellow Christians and church leaders, and build a movement with the ambitious goal of changing U.S. policy in the Middle East.

It was 1996, a year of Likud incitements on Haram al-Sharif, bus bombings in Jerusalem, and a Sabeel international conference with hundreds of participants, including many Americans, that concluded with the World Council of Churches International Advocacy Week.

But back home in the U.S. our Sabeel Friends were discouraged by the apathy and ignorance they found in their faith communities. Palestine was a remote reality, a place read about in history books, a name that invoked TV news of terrorists set on destroying the little country of Israel. Most American Christians did not know that Palestinian Christians even existed. It would not be an easy task to break through the fog of misinformation fed by the media and swallowed by God’s people in the pews.

But how to break through America’s illusions of inviolability and triumphalism? Hats off to those first faithful, undaunted Friends of Sabeel who began planting seeds to win hearts and minds. They were like the first Christians set out to build the Kingdom of God in the midst of an unfriendly Roman Empire. Voices in the wilderness (sound familiar?). Through grassroots education in churches from 1996 to 2000, early FOSNA made great strides in bringing more awareness to the U.S. role in Israel’s military occupation.

In 25 years that tiny mustard seed planted in the fertile soil of steadfast faithfulness to the demands of Gospel justice has grown into a tree where the doves of peace have perched.

Twenty years is but a blip on the screen of history, but these years raised new consciousness among American Christians, thanks to hundreds of volunteers and thousands of financial supporters. Indeed, that mustard seed has gone wild, its roots going deep into the heart of things, its branches reaching up toward heaven and out to embrace the world. It is a symbol of faith and, as its name implies, it burns with a passion for justice.

FOSNA is now well-positioned to coordinate major national campaigns. Recent campaigns have included No Child Behind Bars/Drop G4S, HP-Free Churches, and Countering CUFI. Likewise, our Municipal Divestment Organizing Guide helps local groups identify contract renewal dates, map local power structures, form coalitions, and win, and we support those Countering Anti-BDS Legislation. We have come alongside campaigns like No Way to Treat a Child. Israel is complicit in violations of international law and profits from the detainment and abuse of Palestinian children, in direct contravention to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The systematic attack on children and their parents, in Gaza and the West Bank, traumatizes an entire generation in an attempt to limit Palestinian self-determination.

We are confident in our foundation, our anchor, our rock, who is Christ the Liberator. We will carry on with this work of Sabeel, undaunted by a world spinning increasing toward violence. We believe the Kingdom of God is at hand, ours to discover, to nurture and release into the world. In prayer and in solidarity with our Palestinian friends, with the Peace of Christ, the Salaam of Christ, we will be called back to life.