United Methodists are responding to Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth ,a statement of faith and urgent call to action from Christians in Palestine. UMKR seeks, through nonviolent means and in partnership with Palestinian Christians, freedom, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis.
🔸= Something New or Recently Updated
Read these sections of the
Winter-Spring 2019
newsletter:
TAKE ACTION:
• NO US $$$ for Abuse of Children - goes to our action alert eblast
• Rise Against Racism, Counter CUFI
• UNITED METHODISTS' NEWS:
Response to GC2019; 2019 Resolutions;
Oppose Anti-Free Speech Bill; MFSA Says "No"; UMC Board's Actions
• PARTNERS' NEWS
Two Steps Forward for Lutherans; AMP: 500 Strong on Capitol Hill; JVP: "Zionism, a false & failed answer"
IN THE NEWS: ISRAEL/PALESTINE
• SUMUD: The Great March Continues
• UN Report: Israeli War Crimes
• Removing Last Restraints in Hebron
• Palestinian Revenues, Economic Crisis
• Waging War on Prisoners
• Deporting and Denying Entry
• Israeli Elections: Game-changer or...?
IN THE NEWS: UNITED STATES
• Ilhan Omar and a New Frontier
• US, Israel Fight Int'l Criminal Court
• Airbnb Whirlwind Ends in Disgrace
• Occupied no longer? Golan Heights
• Deal of the Century...Not!
IN THE NEWS: SPOTLIGHT
• Black-Palestinian Solidarity
• SEIZE THE DAY
Coming Events, June-Dec 2019
• THE HOLY LAND BECKONS:
News on ethical tourism AND
Upcoming 2019 Trips
UMKR Newsletter: Winter-Spring 2019
Read the newsletter eblast in your browser
UNITED METHODISTS' NEWS
UMKR Responds to GC 2019
and Judicial Council Rulings
FROM THE STATEMENT:
"We are deeply saddened that the decisions coming from General Conference 2019 did not lead our church in a way forward together, but instead increased the pain of our LGBTQ siblings, strengthened
punitive enforcement of exclusionary policies, and sharpened the divisions in our church, leaving many United Methodists struggling to discern what our way forward, individually and collectively, should be."
"In the wake of the painfully divisive experience of GC2019 and the findings of the Judicial Council in April 2019, UMKR renews its commitment to the vision of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition, to
mutually support justice efforts on behalf of oppressed peoples and marginalized communities within our own denomination and around the world. We would be among those who answer the prophet’s call: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” (Isaiah 1:17)"
"UMKR also renews our invitation to all United Methodists...to join with UMKR in fulfilling our founding mission: seeking freedom, justice, and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis."
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UMKR's 2019 Resolutions:
Government Bonds, Ethical Investing
For 2019 Annual Conference sessions happening this year
in the U.S. and around the world, UMKR has prepared
three pieces of church legislation; all focus on
strengthening and expanding the church's ethical
investing policies:
▶︎ avoiding investing in the government bonds of any
country maintaining a long-term military occupation,
▶︎ calling for strong ethical investing guidelines throughout
the denomination, and
▶︎ amending the UMC Book of Discipline to include governments maintaining prolonged military occupations as a prohibited criteria for United Methodist investing.
See the resolutions for Annual Conferences and a Q&A supporting resource
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UMKR Opposes Senate's
Anti-Free Speech Bill
In January 2019, UMKR helped to organize a
statement with over a dozen faith-based partners
to oppose Senate bill S.1 of 2019. It's purpose is to
provide legality for unconstitutional bills in U.S. state
legislatures that seek to penalize support for boycott
and divestment campaigns for Palestinian rights.
FROM THE STATEMENT:
"As faith leaders, we have long used the nonviolent
instruments of boycott and divestment in our work for justice and peace. These economic measures have proven to be powerful tools for social change, from strengthening labor rights for farm workers to ending apartheid in South Africa. As has been warned by the ACLU and other civil liberties groups, anti-BDS legislation is an extremely grave attack on free speech that threatens the use of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions for other peace and human justice causes....WE CALL ON ALL AMERICANS to join us and the ACLU in defending our First Amendment right to freedom of speech." See the full statement
[See "In the News: United States" in this newsletter for more on this bill.]
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MFSA Says 'No' to Eurovision in Israel
In January 2019, Methodist Federation for
Social Action (MFSA) – which has championed
the cause of full inclusion for LGBTQ persons
in the United Methdodist Church for decades
– joined over 60 organizations worldwide in
calling on LGBTQIA communities to boycott
the highly popular Eurovision contest in Israel.
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE ON THE
LGBTQIA BOYCOTT OF EUROVISION:
"More than 60 queer and trans liberation organizations from nearly 20 countries across Europe and beyond are calling on global LGBTQIA communities to boycott the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. The signatories condemn Israel's "shameful" use of Eurovision, which has a strong following among LGBTQIA communities, to "distract attention from its war crimes against Palestinians" and "forward its pinkwashing agenda, the cynical use of gay rights to distract from and normalize Israel's occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid." The statement, initiated by Palestinian queer groups, recalls the 1969 Stonewall Riots symbolizing LGBTQIA resistance against daily harassment and violence, drawing parallels with the tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza protesting...." See MFSA's post of the full press release
See the press release about this action
See the full statement and signatories at
PinkwatchingIsrael
MFSA Keeps Palestine in Our Minds
MFSA has been raising United Methodists' awareness of
Palestine with their Devotions for the Advent and Lenten
seasons. During Advent 2018, a transgender United Methodist
missionary serving in Bethlehem shared her thoughts on
privilege and discrimination in the US and Palestine and the
importance of transformational change in ourselves, our
institutions and our societies. See her message
In April, an MFSA Devotion for Lent was written by Lisa Bender;
the UMKR Boycott and Divestment Committee Chair
describes her first experience seeing the reality of the Israeli
military occupation and how that galvanized her activism in
UMKR. See this devotion
Do you get MFSA's mailings?Every United Methodist
justice advocate should know about MFSA's work!
You can subscribe at their home page – mfsaweb.org –
and scroll to the bottom of the page.
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UMC Board Endorses Legislation; Joins Ecumenical Actions
When the new version of the McCollum bill was introduced
in Congress this year, The General Board of Church and
Society (GBCS) of the United Methodist Church became
one of the first institutional endorsers of this
groundbreaking legislation
See the list of endorsing organizations
(See the action alert in TAKE ACTION in this newsletter
for more about this bill.)
ALSO:
In March 2019, GBCS joined many other Christian
denominations and organizations in two ecumenical actions:
Rejecting Trump’s Recognition of Israeli Annexation of Golan Heights
"...we fully reject this unilateral declaration and are especially concerned about this Administration’s disregard for international law.... the Golan Heights are occupied and were acquired by force in the 1967 War in contravention of international norms.... We are further concerned that such a pattern does not bode well for the future of West Bank territory, also occupied by Israel." See the statement
To U.S. Congress: Restore UNRWA Funding and
Other Humanitarian Aid for Palestinians
"We have witnessed the negative impacts of the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)....Denying basic services to vulnerable populations will not bring about peace and security for anyone in the region. Furthermore, humanitarian assistance must be provided on the basis of need alone; it is unconscionable and against universally-agreed humanitarian principles to withhold aid to extract concessions from political leaders." See the letter to Congress
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News & Analysis UMKR News & Alerts