PEACEMAKING: "Hope is in the Making of it"

These two posts are so dear to me. The first is a reminder of what's possible when Jews and Muslims, Christians and others, Palestinians and Israelis, come together in a single and coordinated movement for justice and the renewal of holy lands. It's simply not the case that such work is anti-Semitic or riddled with bigotry: it is the urgent work of decolonizing land and culture. And the work is ours. It belongs to all of us. When we come together--as Jews and Muslims and Christians, as Israeli activists and Palestinian farmers and North American partners--that work is a vibrant expression of all that's noble and good in our peoples. And, yes, hope is in the making of it!
And then, the second: it's a sobering tale about the ways some would delegitimate genuine advocacy and criticism that names injustice and racism for what it is. It's so important that we work at this, that we name this for what it is, that we resist it. And our schools--elite private schools, public schools, colleges and universities across the country--must not give in to the pressure. It's not moral. It's not who they are or who our children need them to be.

The call to discipleship--which is a radical call to peace and justice--insists on watchfulness, sobriety and solidarity. I turn my mind and heart to those powerful activists who are forging a wonderful and lively bond south of Yatta in the West Bank. May the God of Moses and Miriam fill their hearts with songs of liberation, and sustain them in the long, hard work ahead.

URGENT: On April 30, 2019, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced H.R. 2407, the "Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act," a bill prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding for the military detention of children by any country, including Israel. Some have called this bill itself anti-Semitic; but it is clearly not that. In fact, it represents the heart and soul of Jewish moral and ethical teaching: human commitment to the wellbeing of children, wherever and whoever they are. You can be a 'citizen sponsor' of this bill. Go to this link to sign on!