In their Christmas Alert 2022 Kairos Palestine describes the reality Palestinians face as “becoming ever grimmer.” The challenges are daunting. “Still,” they write, “our faith sustains us, our hope is strong, and our love is deep.” Their appeal to the global community of faith? “This season, more than ever we covet your prayers, your advocacy and actions.” 

The content of this year’s Alert is “A Declaration to the World,” the statement issued at the close of Kairos Palestine’s annual International Conference held in Beit Sahour last month. UCC PIN friends, Michael Spath, executive director of the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP), and Mark Braverman, Palestine Portal, were in attendance among 180 participants from Palestine and around the world. 

The Declaration reasserts Kairos Palestine’s embrace of the “universal calling that came out of the land for the people of the land and the entire world: deepening our understanding, and expanding our practice, of creative resistance grounded in the radical logic of Christ’s love – an agape that defies human logic . .” You can access and read the full Alert here.

The “logic of love.” What could be a more succinct phrase to capture the essence of the incarnation, the imperative for justice-seeking, the heart of faith, and the motivation for UCC PIN’s witness and solidarity work inspired by our Palestinian partners?

With this year-end E-News, UCC PIN takes a moment to reflect on our labors of love, if you will, looking back at 2022 and then looking ahead. This past year UCC PIN’s solidarity work has been laser-focused on implementation of the 2021 General Synod resolution Declaration for a Just Peace Between Palestine and Israel which named Israel as an apartheid regime and its occupation as a sin. Our challenge? To turn the resolution’s prophetic words into acts of justice and to expand Palestinian solidarity work at all levels of the UCC. 

 Looking Back

Our efforts in 2022 have been various:

●In conjunction with Michael Spath and the ICMEP, UCC PIN organized and offered webinars on: Mainline Christian Zionism, A Human Rights Framework for a Political Solution, and The Weaponization of Antisemitism. 

●Committed to being guided by and accountable to Palestinian partners, we held listening sessions with: Omar Haramy, Administrator, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem; Rifat Kassis, General Coordinator for Kairos Palestine and Global Kairos for Justice; and Bernard Sabella, director of the Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches. 

●To address the challenge of grounding General Synod resolutions in the grassroots of local congregations, UCC PIN has developed a program of Solidarity Circles for local church leaders and this fall launched our first Circle, with the reverends Eric Fistler and Marla Schrader facilitating, supported by the Rev. Susan Switzer. 

●Through our monthly E-News we have shared and promoted webinars, films, educational and liturgical resources, and earlier this month UCC PIN hosted an online book discussion of Kelley Nikondeha’s The First Advent in Palestine. 

●We collaborate with other denominational PINS through, for example, participating in monthly calls, one coordinated by Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and another on the No Way to Treat a Child Campaign, coordinated by Defense of Children International-Palestine.

Looking Ahead

UCC PIN will be continuing all of this work into 2023. But additionally, in January UCC PIN will be rolling out a redesign of our UCCPIN.org website, with thanks to Kelly Cox, our Social Media Consultant. Based on the experience of and learnings from our first Solidarity Circle, we will be organizing and facilitating additional Circles for congregational leaders. Given that this is a General Synod year, UCC PIN plans to be a presence in Indianapolis, hosting an exhibition booth and offering programs there. And as always, we will be listening to the Cry for Hope of our Palestinian partners and inspired and guided by their sumud, their steadfast faith and perseverance. 

Please Support the Work of UCC PIN

The most important ingredient for UCC PIN’s work is love, and the passion for justice-seeking and the commitment to solidarity that are expressions of that love. But our work also requires funds, and additionally so, as we enter a General Synod year. UCC PIN is entirely self-supporting. Our funding comes entirely from members of the steering committee, some congregations, and supporters like yourself. 

Please consider making a generous year-end financial contribution to support PIN’s mission. To do so, click on the button below. With deep gratitude to you all for your passion for justice and peace for all Palestinians and Israelis, for your solidarity, and for your support of UCC PIN’s mission.