Date & Time
About This Event
Join Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Middle East Collaborative for a six week course developed by the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Gain perspectives and histories to put news headlines in greater context, discover where to learn more, and advocate for justice.
Six Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm Eastern time
Feb. 12, 19, 26
March 12, 19, 26 via Zoom
Learn why Palestine matters (for info on book). Scroll down to download the book.
Questions? – contact Sandy Rea drsandyrea@hotmail.com Deb Wood - qdeb406@gmail.com Please put WPM in subject line.
The purpose of propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.
– Aldous Huxley
The Palestine/Israeli relationship can often appear to be so complex and intractable that we don’t know how we can ever understand enough to work on justice. News coverage often comes without the entire context, so we can end up losing our ability to honor the humanity of all involved. When we stop seeing a person or group as human, we much more easily discount and discredit their experiences and humanity, making it much more easy to deny their needs and right to exist.
There are many things to consider: I think about the ways US taxes fund the conflict. It’s challenging to follow accurate ins and outs of Israeli politics, to follow Palestinian politics in the West Bank and Gaza. The need to sift through: Is it or is it not occupation? Is it, or is it not, apartheid? Is it , or is it not, antisemitism? These questions deflect us from the basic simplicity of the situation- a long history of injustice.
When I look at this through my Quaker lens, through what I value – that there is divinity in each person, the cornerstone for our testimony of equality, the cornerstone for our peace testimony – I know that everyone deserves systems that center justice. So how can I stand aside when systems of injustice limit the existence of a people? What can we do to help remove the occasion for war? The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war is over 70,000. Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank increased under cover of the war; and the war spread to neighboring countries.
To advocate for justice, it helps to understand more deeply the connections these two peoples have to the land, to understand a fuller history of the middle east than we get from the news stories, and what we have been taught, often predominantly framed by western assumptions, to learn there are multiple definitions of antisemitism, the origins of Zionism, and the realities of apartheid in the region.
Why Palestine Matters is a collection of personal stories, history, data, experience, and the thinking of a variety of people with the experience of the area and the knowledge of history with a Middle East lens. It is a curriculum that provides context for the challenges of Palestinian lives that have continued to be upended since the 1930s. It adds to our ability to address justice for Palestinians and safety for Israel. The curriculum helps uncover the history of the land that has not been shared broadly.
Members of the Middle East Collaborative work with allies from other organizations to present the 6 session course of Why Palestine Matters beginning February 12. See the PYM calendar to register. To download the book click here Why Palestine Matters – scroll down to “Free Digital Version”. The Middle East Collaborative looks forward to growing in understanding and advocacy together with you.
About This Event
Join Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Middle East Collaborative for a six week course developed by the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Gain perspectives and histories to put news headlines in greater context, discover where to learn more, and advocate for justice.
Six Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm Eastern time
Feb. 12, 19, 26
March 12, 19, 26 via Zoom
Learn why Palestine matters (for info on book). Scroll down to download the book.
Questions? – contact Sandy Rea drsandyrea@hotmail.com Deb Wood - qdeb406@gmail.com Please put WPM in subject line.
The purpose of propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.
– Aldous Huxley
The Palestine/Israeli relationship can often appear to be so complex and intractable that we don’t know how we can ever understand enough to work on justice. News coverage often comes without the entire context, so we can end up losing our ability to honor the humanity of all involved. When we stop seeing a person or group as human, we much more easily discount and discredit their experiences and humanity, making it much more easy to deny their needs and right to exist.
There are many things to consider: I think about the ways US taxes fund the conflict. It’s challenging to follow accurate ins and outs of Israeli politics, to follow Palestinian politics in the West Bank and Gaza. The need to sift through: Is it or is it not occupation? Is it, or is it not, apartheid? Is it , or is it not, antisemitism? These questions deflect us from the basic simplicity of the situation- a long history of injustice.
When I look at this through my Quaker lens, through what I value – that there is divinity in each person, the cornerstone for our testimony of equality, the cornerstone for our peace testimony – I know that everyone deserves systems that center justice. So how can I stand aside when systems of injustice limit the existence of a people? What can we do to help remove the occasion for war? The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war is over 70,000. Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank increased under cover of the war; and the war spread to neighboring countries.
To advocate for justice, it helps to understand more deeply the connections these two peoples have to the land, to understand a fuller history of the middle east than we get from the news stories, and what we have been taught, often predominantly framed by western assumptions, to learn there are multiple definitions of antisemitism, the origins of Zionism, and the realities of apartheid in the region.
Why Palestine Matters is a collection of personal stories, history, data, experience, and the thinking of a variety of people with the experience of the area and the knowledge of history with a Middle East lens. It is a curriculum that provides context for the challenges of Palestinian lives that have continued to be upended since the 1930s. It adds to our ability to address justice for Palestinians and safety for Israel. The curriculum helps uncover the history of the land that has not been shared broadly.
Members of the Middle East Collaborative work with allies from other organizations to present the 6 session course of Why Palestine Matters beginning February 12. See the PYM calendar to register. To download the book click here Why Palestine Matters – scroll down to “Free Digital Version”. The Middle East Collaborative looks forward to growing in understanding and advocacy together with you.