Category: Non-Quaker Resources

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United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network

 

Who We Are
At a Glance: Events at UCC’s 2005 General Synod convinced a few activists of the need for a grass-roots organization to promote justice for Palestinians and to support Global Ministries partners in Palestine and Israel. This concern led to the founding of the UCC Palestine/Israel Network in 2012. The effort was supported by staff from UCC’s Wider Church Ministries as well as Justice and Witness Ministries.

 

What We Do
At a Glance: Our work is aligned with our mission statement. We initiate resolutions of witness for consideration by various settings of the UCC; support implementation of adopted resolutions; develop educational materials for use throughout the UCC; publicly state, support and endorse pro-justice positions; and cooperate with allied groups working toward a just peace and recognition of Palestinian human rights.

 

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The Promised Land Exhibit by the Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience

The Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience was founded to provide a Jewish perspective on the Israel/Palestine conflict. The Jewish perspective is rooted in Jewish values, to treat our neighbor as we would want to be treated.

An interactive exhibit of historical photographs and documents with links to audio and video materials, founded to provide a perspective on the Palestine-Israel conflict rooted in Jewish values of truth, justice, and peace to treat our neighbors as we would want to be treated.

Dr. Steven Feldman, founder of the Promised Land exhibit, is a dermatologist in Winston Salem, North Carolina. As a child, Steve collected dimes to help plant trees in Israel. Like most young Jewish boys, he believed that Jews had come to an uninhabited land of deserts and swamps and made the land bloom. But as an adult he saw United Nations data that showed that about 700,000 Palestinians became refugees during the fighting of 1948. “That seemed odd,” he says. “If we Jews had come to a land of empty swamps and deserts as I had been taught as a child, how did so many Palestinian men, women and children become refugees?”

Steve’s questions led to more research, finding many moral Jewish voices that have been advocating for peace for all people in Israel and Palestine. The Jewish-sourced materials and historical artifacts that he found are now on display in the Promised Land Museum exhibits as well as online at promisedlandmuseum.org. 

“You don’t have to be anti-Palestinian in order to love Israel,” he says. “Judaism, not to mention the Holocaust, teaches us to support peace, justice and security for all people.”

More information

About hosting the exhibit

Announcement about the reception, forum, and panel about the exhibit at the Friends Meeting at Cambridge (MA) February 3, 2019

Radio broadcast of panel discussion, February 16, 2019, WZBC-FM

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Why Palestine Matters, The Struggle To End Colonialism (book & website)

Why Palestine Matters, The Struggle To End Colonialism, contextualizes the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people within other global justice struggles. With a foreword by Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, the book is grounded in international law and brings Palestine into focus through a lens of intersectionality, calling all those who struggle for justice against oppression to consider the challenge of seeing Palestinians in the context of other justice struggles. Why Palestine Matters demonstrates that the project of human emancipation is not limited to Palestine, but it also cannot proceed without Palestine. The book is a 108-page, full-color publication with visuals on every page, a discussion guide, and maps. A companion website features enhanced resources for study, including video clips and discussion guide: WhyPalestineMatters.org. Published by the IPMN.org, The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) whose General Assembly mandate engages them “toward specific mission goals that will create currents of wider and deeper involvement with Israel/Palestine.”

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B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

 

B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

works to end Israel’s occupation in acknowledgment of the fact that ending the occupation regime is the only way to forge a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all persons living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. While it is not B’Tselem’s role to choose between the various political options that can bring about this future, one thing is clear: none of them include continuation of the occupation.

The name B’Tselem, bestowed upon the organization by former Member of Knesset Yossi Sarid, literally means “in the image of” in Hebrew. It is taken from Genesis 1:27: “And God created humans in his image. In the image of God did He create him” and is also used as a synonym for human dignity. The name expresses the Jewish and universal moral edict to respect and protect the human rights of all people.

B’Tselem was founded in 1989 and until recently devoted most of its efforts to documenting human rights violations that come under Israel’s purview as occupying power. This included publishing statistics, testimonies, video footage and reports concerning human rights violations and their implications, in order to promote better living conditions for the occupied population – with the understanding that the occupation was to be a passing matter.

Yet after almost half a century of occupation, during which Israel’s policies in the Occupied Territories have created profound changes that indicate long-term intentions, it is clear that this reality cannot be viewed as temporary. Therefore, B’Tselem continues to document and publicize human rights violations while also exposing the injustice, violence and dispossession that lie at the very core of this regime of occupation, challenging its legitimacy in Israel and abroad and helping to expedite its end.

B’Tselem has established a strong reputation among human rights organizations in Israel and around the world. It has received various awards, including the Carter-Menil Award for Human Rights, together with Al-Haq (1989), the Danish PL Foundation Human Rights Award, together with Al-Haq (2011), and the Stockholm Human Rights Award (2014). B’Tselem’s video project was granted the British One World Media Award (2009) and the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum Award (2012), among others.

 

B’Tselem is an independent, non-partisan organization. It is funded by donations alone, from foundations in Europe and North America that support human rights activity worldwide and from private individuals in Israel and abroad.

Receive and distribute our materials

B’Tselem distributes all its material free of charge. If you would like to receive our publications on a regular basis, send us your address via mail or e-mail. Please specify if you would prefer to receive reports in English or Hebrew.

Once a month, B’Tselem sends a newsletter to its e-mail subscribers. The newsletter includes information on individual cases and larger policies concerning human rights, as well as calls for action. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

(November 11, 2017)

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Mondoweiss—News & Opinion About Palestine, Israel & the United States

Mondoweiss is an independent website devoted to informing readers about developments in Israel/Palestine and related US foreign policy. We provide news and analysis unavailable through the mainstream media regarding the struggle for Palestinian human rights.

According to the editors, Mondoweiss is “a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective”. Its founder describes himself as progressive and anti-Zionist. (Wikipedia)

More about Mondoweiss

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OCHA—The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the Occupied Palestinian Territories

OCHA in the occupied Palestinian territory

In 2002, OCHA established its Country Office in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), occupied by Israel since the 1967 war, to support international efforts to respond to the humanitarian situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Gaza Strip.

The major drivers of humanitarian vulnerability in the oPt are the protracted occupation, the systematic denial of Palestinian human rights, and continuing conflict, punctuated by frequent outbreaks of violence. In the West Bank, continuing settlement expansion and the lack of a horizon for ending the occupation are major sources of frustration and conflict. In the Gaza Strip, years of blockade and recurrent outbreaks of hostilities have eroded basic infrastructure, service delivery, livelihoods and coping mechanisms. The overall context is that of a protracted protection crisis driven by lack of respect for international law, and a lack of accountability for violations.

More globally

OCHA oPt works to ensure a coordinated and effective response to humanitarian needs stemming from the conflict, the occupation and other policies, as well as from natural disasters or extreme weather events.

OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.

OCHA’s mission is to:

  • Mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies.
  • Advocate the rights of people in need.
  • Promote preparedness and prevention.
  • Facilitate sustainable solutions.

For the most up-to-date information, including alerts, daily facts and recent publications, check out our official Facebook page.

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Compassionate Listening Project

An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.

– Gene Knudsen Hoffman, Compassionate Listening pioneer and international peacemaker.

Gene Knudson Hoffman (Quaker inspirer) & Leah Green (founder)

Welcome to the Compassionate Listening Project ~ a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals and communities to transform conflict and strengthen cultures of peace. (Please note that our website is not functioning in Chrome. To see our full website with dropdown menus and full navigation, make sure you’re using Safari or Firefox. We apologize for the inconvenience!)

Our independent facilitators offer:

• Trainings with our highly acclaimed curriculum;
• Skilled facilitation with families, communities and in the workplace;
• Journeys in conflict and post-conflict zones;
• Mentoring new facilitators;
• Publishing books and producing videos;
• Unique community events.

We invite you to spend time on our website; learn about our history, meet outstanding facilitators, read about our trainings, and visit our calendar to join a Journey or look for trainings in your area.

To see the benefits of your generosity in action, we invite you to view a short video of Compassionate Listening in action.

Thank you for your support, both spiritual and material.

Compassionately yours,

Leah Green, Founding Director

MORE HERE

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Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice

Rachel Corrie

Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003, while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition.

Since her killing, an enormous amount of solidarity activities have been carried out in her name around the world.

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice is a grassroots, 501(c)3 non-profit organization that conducts and supports programs that foster connections between people, that build understanding, respect, and appreciation for differences, and that promote cooperation within and between local and global communities. The foundation encourages and supports grassroots efforts in pursuit of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice, which we view as pre-requisites for world peace. Continuing the work begun and envisioned by our daughter, Rachel Corrie, our initial emphasis has been on Israel/Palestine.

Cindy & Craig Corrie (Photo by Scott Weinstien)

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What is BDS?

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.

Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

BDS is now a vibrant global movement made up of unions, academic associations, churches and grassroots movements across the world. Eleven years since its launch, BDS is having a major impact and is effectively challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

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Jewish Voice for Peace Fighting Antisemitism

Jewish Voice for Peace is dedicated to working toward justice, dignity, and equality for all people, and to actively opposing all forms of oppression. Fighting antisemitism is an important part of our work for a more just world.

As a community rooted in Jewish traditions, we understand antisemitism as discrimination against, violence towards, or stereotypes of Jews for being Jewish. Antisemitism has manifested itself in structural inequality, dispossession, expulsion, and genocide, with the most well-known examples being in Europe, with the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, and the Nazi Holocaust in the 1940s. Antisemitism does not impact all of us who identify as Jewish in the same way. The experiences and histories of Jews of color and/or Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews are distinct from those of white, Ashkenazi Jews. Jewish communities around the world have had different experiences with discrimination, bigotry, and violence. In this statement, we will be focusing on two forms of antisemitism that resonate in the United States today: Christian antisemitism and racial antisemitism….

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

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Palestine Israel Tool Kit from the Palestine Israel Network of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship

The holy land where Jesus was born, ministered, crucified and resurrected is today one of the most contentious places on earth. Conflict in the modern state of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is always near the headlines in our media-driven world, but mythology and tradition, injustices and grievances, and competing geopolitical interests in the region make it difficult to separate fact from fiction, truth from propaganda. 

Here we have compiled various resources to help readers learn the basics, broaden knowledge, dispel misunderstandings, and find out ways to join with others to work toward peace with justice in this sacred but troubled place.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND FOR THE TOOL KIT

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If Americans Knew

IF AMERICANS KNEW provides information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is one of the world’s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation. It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power – and duty – to bring a resolution.

A good source of the Shrinking Palestine Map Cards (and other educational materials)

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Eyewitness Palestine

Go beyond the headlines.  See the land of Palestine/Israel. Connect with Palestinian and Israeli peace-builders. Learn frameworks and strategies for justice. Act to build bridges between people and movements.

An unforgettable experience. Every Eyewitness Palestine delegation is real, honest, heartfelt, and genuine. There’s only one way to truly understand the realities of Palestine/Israel – through the eyes of those who live there.

JOIN ONE OF OUR 2020 DELEGATIONS:

RACE, CLASS & MONEY DELEGATION June 2020 Daily realities of a colonial conflict

MILITARIZATION, REPRESSION & SURVEILLANCE DELEGATION August 2020 Effects of the military-industrial complex

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE& OLIVE HARVEST DELEGATION November 2020 A culturally rich & engaging journey

Planting olive trees in the Jordan Valley (photo by Skip Schiel, 2015)

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Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression.  JVP seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians; a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on principles established in international law; an end to violence against civilians; and peace and justice for all peoples of the Middle East.

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Nonviolence International and Holy Land Trust Create the Sumud Freedom Tour

We invite you to join us this December 21 through January 3, 2008 as part of a coalition of student delegates who will travel throughout Israel and Palestine with the purpose of engaging in an active and educational tour. Participants will meet with agents of change on the ground and learn about methods of nonviolent resistance while also deepening their understanding of global oppression and joining together to form broad, diverse coalitions of change that can have impacts in their own international communities.

Nonviolence International was founded by Mubarak Awad, a leader of the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising in Arabic).

As a young Palestinian man, Mubarak Awad learned about nonviolent direct action from the writings of Gandhi, King, and Gene Sharp; after translating their theories and methods into Arabic, he distributed pamphlets throughout Palestine’s West Bank. When the Israeli government imprisoned Mubarak in 1988, Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State, George Shultz, pressured the Israelis to release Awad. Since the early 1990’s Dr. Awad has taught nonviolence in classes at American University in Washington, D.C. where he lives in exile from his place of birth—East Jerusalem. Mubarak’s wife is a Quaker, Nancy Nye, who served as principal of Ramallah Friends Girls’ School in the mid 1980’s. Wilmington Yearly Meeting (Ohio) included in its 2005 epistle: “Mubarak Awad, a Palestinian who is founder of Nonviolence International, gave the Peace Memorial Lecture. As a pacifist he worked with individuals and villages until being deported from his country. He continues working for peaceful solutions to conflicts.”

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Tree of Life Educational Fund

The Tree of Life Educational Fund (TOL) a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation was established by The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme to provide cross-cultural and transnational travel experiences, interfaith conferences and educational opportunities to help participants to become more enlightened and more engaged in making this a more just and peaceful world in which to live.

© 2014-2023 Quakers Advocating Justice for Palestine