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News & Analysis by UMKR Leaders & Members
by Lisa D. Bender
Lisa Bender is a Co-chair of the UMKR Steering Committee and she chairs UMKR's Boycott and Divestment Committee. Lisa retired after 18 years as the Executive Secretary for the Director of Connectional Ministries of the Susquehanna Conference in Pennsylvania, and continues to serve her conference on the boards of Mission Central, Global Ministries, and Preachers' Aid Society. She served on the Northeast Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy from 2016-2022. Lisa has been a delegate to the UMC General Conference in 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2024.​
PHOTOS FROM LISA'S TRIP
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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.
This article also has been published, in a shortened version,
by Penn Live/Patriot News.
See it here: https://archive.ph/KmZTS​
July 24, 2025 – “Freedom is a constant struggle,” sang Rutha Mae Harris in Albany GA during the recent Civil Rights Journey attended by clergy and laity from several annual conferences in the Northeast Jurisdiction. Rutha, one of the original Freedom Singers, bellowed out inspiring gospel music from the heart of the Civil Rights Movement.
As we walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma AL and imagined we were there with John Lewis, we heard his words: “Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society."
During a stop in Birmingham AL, we were reminded of these words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
I couldn’t hear these words and others about the struggle for freedom of Black Americans without hearing the cries of so many other oppressed people who’ve suffered injustice. Mostly I heard the cries of Gazans being starved and bombed, and stories of those in the West Bank who face unending attacks from armed illegal Israeli settlers.
Slavery in the US ended legally in 1865. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has not yet ended. Persecution of Black Americans continued for decades, through the horrors of Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Palestinian people have suffered many of the same indignities for the past 77 years.
Over 4,000 known lynchings of Black men and women have been documented in the US. Over 59,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombs, drones and snipers just in the past 21 months. Over 180 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank so far this year.
Terror inflicted by KKK bombings and burning crosses reminded me of the terror experienced by Palestinians when illegal Israeli settlers set fire to their olive orchards and attack their places of worship. In fact, there have been over 750 vigilante attacks by Israeli settlers on their Palestinian neighbors in the West Bank in 2025 and several deaths from those.
The Freedom Riders of the 1960’s challenged bus stations unwilling to desegregate. Flotillas of Palestine solidarity activists carrying humanitarian aid are currently sailing across the Mediterranean to try to break the devastating blockade on Gaza.
White people who accompanied the Freedom Riders were called traitors to their race, just as Jewish supporters of Palestinian rights in groups like Jewish Voice for Peace are called self-hating Jews.
Ghandi’s philosophy of nonviolence strongly influenced Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Black leaders like United Methodist pastor Rev. James Lawson who trained those willing to participate in sit-ins, marches and demonstrations to stay peaceful even in the face of violence. Palestinian civil society has for years practiced the methods of nonviolence, advocating for the use of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to aid their cause.
Thriving Black communities were torn down to construct our highway system and build shiny new office buildings. Palestinian homes, farms, orchards and crop land are being bulldozed to build a Separation Wall and illegal Jewish-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land.
Redlining of residential areas dictated where Black people could live. Palestinian land has been carved up into segregated villages cut off from each other by illegal Israeli settlements accessed by highways that only Jews can use.
Some Southern school districts closed rather than admit Black students during desegregation efforts, while in Palestine children are harassed and roads blocked as they try to get to school. Some schools have been bulldozed and schools in Gaza are now non-existent.
The n-word, “boy” and other derogatory words were used to demean Blacks Americans and destroy their humanity. Palestinians are taunted by Israelis who call them snakes, rats, roaches, and worse.
Blacks in America fought for their voting rights and eventually won, while Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have no voting rights. The US and Israel have blocked elections in the West Bank for years out of fear Palestinians will elect leaders the US and Israel refuse to accept.
Public swimming pools in the US were segregated until 1950 and still today many Black children don’t know how to swim. In Palestine, access to water is tightly controlled by Israel. Water aquifers under Palestinian land have been confiscated by Israel; water is then sold back to Palestine in limited quantities and at exorbitant prices many cannot pay, while Jews in Israel splash about in large swimming pools in illegal settlements. In this hot month of July, Gazans were told they can’t swim or fish in the Mediterranean under threat of death.
Mass incarceration of Blacks reminded me that over 3,000 Palestinian adults and children are held without charges under administrative detention in Israeli prisons today. On too many occasions, those charged with crimes are innocent, set up as scapegoats. For sure, the governments of Israel and the United States have people who think and act alike.
Former Alabama Governor George Wallace famously said, “segregation today, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever,” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “We must defend ourselves against wild beasts.” Shocking statements such as these dehumanize the other and encourage more violence against the oppressed.
Youth led mass demonstrations like the non-violent Birmingham Children’s March are the predecessors of last spring’s student encampments for Gaza.
The gospel songs of freedom have evolved into rap, poetry slams and open mics.
There were many connections to make on this Civil Rights Journey. There are also differences. Black slaves and laborers were needed to assure the economy of plantation life. Israel does not need or want the Palestinian people – they have a law that says Israel is a state only for Jewish people. When the Palestinians are asked where is their Ghandi they reply “either in prison or dead.”
An even more significant difference I noted is that Black Americans turned to the Federal Government for help when their states weren’t complying with federal laws and they often got the help they needed. Palestinians have wide support from the world’s citizenry and most of the members of the rather impotent United Nations, but our government refuses to withhold weapon sales to Israel and our media continue to repeat Israeli propaganda out of fear of being called antisemitic.
After experiencing the Civil Rights Journey, I reflect that change takes a very long time and that laws passed to enforce justice don’t immediately change hearts and minds of the people or lead to freedom for the oppressed.
After experiencing the Civil Rights Journey, I reflect that change takes a very long time and that laws passed to enforce justice don’t immediately change hearts and minds of the people or lead to freedom for the oppressed.
To become more engaged in advocating for starving Gazans and an end to occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid faced by the people of Palestine, I invite you to look at the educational and advocacy resources on the website of United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR) at https://www.kairosresponse.org.
For those in my own region, the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, I would suggest reviewing Resolution 2 adopted at our annual conference and the resources for it: https://susumc.org/cbogm_pwj
We who advocate for peace with justice must continue to educate and inspire our government leaders, our media, our church members, and our families to recognize and accept that all people are created equally in God’s image, worthy of our love and grace, and deserving of freedom and self-determination.
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