As violence escalates further in the Middle East, the Unitarian Universalist Association justice ministry, Side With Love, invites us to lament, to stay present and to act for justice. Read their email below.
Our faith calls us to proclaim that liberation is possible even as the devastation stretches beyond what any human spirit should be forced to hold. As we watch the news out of Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, the West Bank, and Israel our spirits are unimaginably stretched – especially those of us who have family and beloveds in danger on these lands. As people who commit to center love as the fundamental theological anchor of our faith, we are called to embody that commitment beyond our church walls, our nations’ flags, and even our personal pains. We are called to be beacons of true transformation, dreaming and creating pathways towards a justice that leaves nobody behind.
As people of faith, we reject the false narrative that the safety of some must come at the expense of the safety of others. It is that choice which has permitted too many atrocities in the U.S. and abroad. As our Unitarian ancestor and abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper reminds us, “We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest [sic] of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.”
The Israeli government’s project of settler colonialism is now expanding to many countries. The violence must end. The U.S. government funding for this violence must also end. The cost to our collective soul is too high. The escalation in Lebanon and Yemen, which has caused more devastation and destabilization, must stop. U.S. military aid to the Israeli government must cease. And the oppression that has long fueled this conflict must finally come to a permanent and sustained end. Sovereignty for Palestine and an end to the occupation of Palestinian lands must be realized.
We are not bystanders to the moral imperative of our time. We are each called to faithful witness on the stage of history. We will not crumble under the shadow of a troubled past but be fortified in the light of the truth – that all life is a reflection of the Divine. Let us rise in that truth.
Let us live into our sacred duty to reject any actions that violate that truth, and instead fully embrace the opportunities for a holy and wholly liberated future. May we recover our collective humanity by making a different choice than we have over decades of this compounding human rights atrocity.
We can start by first witnessing this moment and grieving the lives, homes, and futures that this violence has stolen.
We invite you to join us on Oct. 6 for “Still Here: A Unitarian Universalist Vigil for Gaza” at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT.
We can honor the commitments of our 2024 General Assembly’s Action of Immediate Witness, “Solidarity With Palestinians,” and move towards the necessary humanitarian demand of calling, yet again, for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and prisoners, and for the U.S. to stop shipments of military weapons to Israel.
Join us in taking action and renewing this commitment by calling your representative to ask that they support the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, which blocks a proposal to send $20 billion in weapons to Israel.
Tell Your Senator: Block Weapons to Israel
And finally, deepening in our knowledge and values through education and discourse so that we may align our work in healing and accountable solidarity with the many living under the remnants of settler colonialism and empire. Visit Resources for Engaging Palestine & Israel for ongoing resources and learning opportunities.
We embrace liberation as a collective process and collective responsibility. Each of us has a role in cultivating the collective thriving of which so many lives and futures, including our own, depend.
Towards collective liberation and a free Palestine, today and always, we Side With Love.
Love and courage,
The Side With Love Team
P.S. Check out UUJME’s Resources for Sunday, October 6th Worship Service for more