UCC Letter to Canadian MPs re forced expulsions of Palestinian villagers from Masafer Yatta5/20/2022 The recent Israeli Supreme Court decision upholding the forcible expulsion of Palestinian villagers from their homes and land in Masafer Yatta, The United Church of Canada has written a letter to the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada.
The letter urges Canada to hold the government of Israel accountable for violations of international law and specifically to
RE: Canada must denounce and call for an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
Dear Minister Joly: It is with deepening sorrow that The United Church writes again within the same week urging you to take urgent and immediate action to protect Palestinian human rights. Today, thousands of Palestinians gathered in occupied East Jerusalem to pay their respects to murdered Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was laid to rest. Eyewitnesses present on the ground have told The United Church that mourners were beaten by Israeli police as they carried Abu Akleh's coffin to Mount Zion Cemetery to be buried beside her parents. Canada must condemn the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, and demand an independent investigation into her killing. Reports on autopsy results carried out on the body of Shireen Abu Akleh say that she was killed by a bullet to the head which struck underneath the protective metal helmet she wore. She was also clearly identified as press and could not have been misidentified as an immediate threat. B'Tselem, a highly respected Israeli human rights organization and a United Church partner, has stated that its initial investigation proves that the Israeli army narrative about the shooting of Abu Akleh is untrue. A thorough and independent investigation is crucial. Clip source: STATEMENT BY THE ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM FOR EASTER 2022 – Jerusalem Patriarchate News Gate 11/04/2022
Jerusalem 4.11.2022 The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem congratulates its congregations and all the people of the Holy Land on both sides of the Jordan River for the occasion of Easter and Saturday of the Holy Light, and at the same time we affirm our strong and renewed commitment to our natural right to celebrate our holidays along with our communities, families and to participate together in prayers at our churches in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the basic right of all our communities to access the Church of Holy Sepulchre and its vicinity during Easter festivities including Holy Light Saturday. Our communities have been exercising this divine right freely throughout the ages and different rulers, regardless of the circumstances that the Holy City went through in history. For many years, participating in prayers and even having access to churches in the Old City, especially during Easter holidays, has become very difficult for our congregations and our people in general, due to police unilaterally enforced restrictions and its violence against believers who insist on exercising their natural divine right to worship. Previously, we had cooperated with different Christian bodies and leaders to bring our case to the international, domestic and judicial levels, and we also coordinated with the police themselves, with the aim of preventing the police from continuing their unacceptable practices, but unfortunately the promises were great and what actually took place on the ground was not even remotely close to those promises. Instead of reversing its habitual unacceptable practices on Easter and Holy Fire Saturday, the police have recently informed the Patriarchate of additional new unilateral measures that increase restrictions on Holy Fire Saturday, to the effect that the police will only allow one thousand people to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on this great day, although it is customary to many thousands of worshippers to enter the church in celebration on that day. Furthermore, the police said that they will allow only five hundred people to enter the Old City and reach the Patriarchate yards and the overlooking roof of the Holy Sepulchre Church. The Patriarchate believes that there is no justification for these additional unjust restrictions, and affirms its explicit, clear and complete rejection of all restrictions. The Patriarchate is fed up with police restrictions on freedom to worship and with its unacceptable methods of dealing with the God given rights of Christians to practice rituals and have to access their holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has decided, by the power of the Lord, that it will not compromise its right to provide spiritual services in all churches and squares. It also announces that prayers will be held as usual by the Patriarchate and its priests, hoping that believers are able to participate. This position of the Patriarchate stems from the basis of divine right, heritage and history. The police must stop imposing restrictions and violence that, unfortunately, have become part of our sacred ceremonies. We also urge our congregations to uphold our historical heritage through participating in the rituals and celebrations of Easter and Holy Fire Saturday this year in the Church of Holy Sepulchre and its vicinity. By Munther Isaac in Sojourners “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!” Palestine and Israel are back in the news. So again, we Palestinians hear this common refrain. But such calls for prayer are no longer enough. I say this as a Palestinian pastor who believes in prayer, leads prayer services for peace, and genuinely values your good intentions. But good intentions are not enough. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the peace prayers.” He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:9, emphasis added). Peacemakers of every faith pray — and they discern what’s really happening, call things by their names, then speak truth to power. Here’s how this works. In a new book, “Apartheid South Africa! Apartheid Israel!” Brian J. Brown, a South African Methodist minister, calls on Christian churches, not just to recognize that Israel is an apartheid state, but to declare that total opposition to that apartheid is mandatory for any person or church that claims to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Brown’s lifelong war against apartheid has been driven by the conviction that it is utterly incompatible with any Christian theology faithful to the social teachings of Jesus Christ. His position was true in South Africa and it’s true in Israel-Palestine today, he says, offering a detailed comparison of the two regimes; but in the case of South Africa the churches saw the light more easily and took a stern line more quickly. Faced now with the cresting consensus of the human rights community that Israel is an apartheid state, mainline churches in the U.S. and around the world are finally hearing Palestinian church leaders’ clarion calls to action, such as the 2020 “Cry for Hope” declaration from Jerusalem. Brown’s own passionate cry makes clear why Western liberal churches can no longer temporize on the question of apartheid or fail to understand its profound significance to them as followers of Christ’s teaching. Brown began fighting apartheid in the 1960s, helping to lead the radical, multiracial Christian Institute of South Africa. In his book he recalls that most members of the CI came to believe that “support for apartheid was not just evil but heretical.” Today, this is becoming the view of many church-based Palestinian solidarity activists. That means that as mainline denominations continue to move rapidly to condemn Israel as an apartheid state – a forced move really, given the irrefutable reports – they will find themselves not just lending support to the long-suffering Palestinians but in an existential struggle for “the very being of the Church, the integrity of the Christian faith, and the credibility of the Gospel,” to quote “Cry for Hope,” which Brown reprints in his book. ACTION TODAY: 3 QUICK ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE NOW TO SUPPORT PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS10/28/2021 The following appeal was sent to Human Rights for Palestine Israel (HRIP) Champions. 2021-10-28
Dear Friends, Your urgent help is needed. We’re asking you to spare 2 minutes out of your day in support of Mission & Service partner Defense for Children International-Palestine and five other Palestinian human rights defenders who are under serious, immediate threat from the Israeli government. Six leading, respected Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations have been extraordinarily and suddenly designated as “terrorist organizations” by the Israeli government. Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP is a Mission & Service partner) is one of the six organizations. This means all their activities are now banned, and it authorizes the Israeli government to close their offices, seize their assets, and arrest and jail their staff members. It also prohibits funding or even publicly expressing support for their activities. Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem (also a Mission & Service partner) has called it an “act characteristic of totalitarian regimes”. Hope, disappointment, self-censorship: What it's like to be a Palestinian Canadian | CBC News6/25/2021 Clip source: Hope, disappointment, self-censorship: What it&apos I cannot speak frankly and honestly through my pain and the pain of those I love,' says Idris ElbakriIdris Elbakri · for CBC First Person · Posted: Jun 22, 2021 11:00 AM CT | Last Updated: June 22 This First Person article is the experience of Idris Elbakri, a Canadian Palestinian living in Winnipeg. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I am a proud Canadian Palestinian. Palestine is my homeland and Canada is my adopted country. I love both.
Interestingly, Canada equipped me with tools and concepts to help me process my Palestinian experience and understand it more deeply. Canada's welcome of refugees showed me that there is no shame in being the grandson of Palestinian refugees. Welcoming and assisting refugees gave me firsthand appreciation to what Jiddo and Tata (Grandpa and Grandma) might have gone through when they fled the onslaught of the Jewish militias on their neighbourhood in Haifa in 1948. When I hear of the hopes (unrealistic as they may be) of some new Canadians to return to their countries of origin for even just a visit, I understand why my jiddo refused to buy a house in the diaspora. He always wanted to go home. My grandparents did not willingly choose to leave Palestine, they were forced to, and they never got over it. I also acquired vocabulary. Thanks to the amazing resilience and powerful sharing of Indigenous Canadians, I became more able to explain my own experience and that of my family. Press Release:
An Israeli container ship was prevented from docking Monday at Prince Rupert, B.C 2021-06-15 — Today at the meeting of the Coordinating Team, UNJPPI commended the action of the protesters who prevented an Israeli container ship from docking Monday at the Prince Rupert, B.C., port. Their aim was to block Israel from shipping goods to North America. As reported by CBC News, “The container ship, the Volans — owned by Israeli shipping company ZIM — was anchored in Prince Rupert's harbour for most of the day Sunday. “The protesters said they were acting in solidarity with a movement called Block the Boat, which aims to block Israel from shipping goods to this continent as a reaction to the recent conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants.” The #BlockTheBoat campaign is an action by the Palestinian BDS. “In response to Israel’s ongoing atrocities, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and a large coalition of all major Palestinian workers unions and professional associations have called on their fellow trade unions and workers worldwide to boycott Israel and businesses that are complicit with its apartheid regime.” ### For more information, contact info@unjppi.org https://bdsmovement.net/news/block-boat-longest-blockade-israeli-zim-ship-history BY MUNTHER ISAAC MAY 19, 2021 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!” Palestine and Israel are back in the news. So again, we Palestinians hear this common refrain. But such calls for prayer are no longer enough. I say this as a Palestinian pastor who believes in prayer, leads prayer services for peace, and genuinely values your good intentions. But good intentions are not enough. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the peace prayers.” He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:9, emphasis added). Peacemakers of every faith pray — and they discern what’s really happening, call things by their names, then speak truth to power. Here’s how this works. Call things by their names Peacemaking begins by refusing to repeat the common descriptor of what is happening in Palestine and Israel: a conflict. Palestinians are not experiencing a conflict between two parties. We Palestinians are experiencing an occupation: one nation controlling another; the laws, policies, practices, and military of one state oppressing the people of another, controlling nearly every aspect of our lives. Palestinians in Jerusalem are not facing evictions from their homes. They are experiencing ethnic cleansing, which the U.N. has described as “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.” |
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