An Open Letter to Mennonite Church USA Congregations

Becoming Peacemakers in Israel/Palestine

(A beginning list of Follow-up resources follows)

For more than 60 years, Mennonites have witnessed to the good news of Jesus Christ in Israel and Palestine. In recent decades the human rights situation for Palestinians has deteriorated dramatically. Today, a power imbalance of Israelis over Palestinians distorts the lives of everyone living in the region and fails to provide the longed for security. A system of forced segregation and oppression imposed by the Israeli government, which some have called apartheid, and the resulting spiral of violence calls for urgent collaborative action by all Mennonites including the agencies currently working in the region.

In response to the discernment of the Peace and Justice Partnership Council of Mennonite Church USA of the need for a common conversation among various parts of Mennonite Church USA, a delegation of ten persons (see below) traveled in Palestine/Israel, May 11-24, 2007. We visited many important centers in the region and engaged in dialogue with Christians, Jews and Muslims. During the visit we listened to our partners, talked with leaders of other agencies and heard from ordinary people as well as co-workers of Mennonite-related agencies.

Delegation participants - Daryl Byler (MCC Washington Office), Ron Byler (Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership), Ed Epp (MEDA), Kim-Vu Friesen (MC USA Executive Board), Stanley Green (Mennonite Mission Network), Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach (MCC Washington Office), Rich Meyer (Christian Peacemaker Teams), Mark Regier (Mennonite Mutual Aid), Carol Rose (Christian Peacemaker Teams) and Lee Schmucker (Mennonite Mission Network)

The news release
The open letter (993k PDF)
A Biblical-Theological Reflection on Israel  Calvin E. Shenk

'Beginning list of resources'

In light of these disconcerting realities, in congregational education we encourage

1. Mennonite Church USA pastors and leaders to visit Israel/Palestine and to deepen their understanding of the current situation in this region.
   Learning tours/delegations
   • Glenn Witmer, Mennonite Church Canada WITNESS
   • Christian Peacemaker Teams
   • MCC

2. Congregational groups and Sunday school classes to use study courses like Under Vine and Fig Tree to counter the distortions of land and promise in Christian Zionism.
   • Under Vine and Fig Tree: The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict and Biblical Theologies of Land By MCC Middle East workers. To be published in August 2007 by Cascadia Press (with Herald Press as copublisher)
   • What is Palestine/Israel? Answers to Common Questions Sonia K. Weaver. Purchase from Herald Press
   • "Christian Zionism and Peace in the Holy Land" MCC Peace Office Newsletter, 35(3). July-September 2005
   • "Rethinking Holy Land: A Study in Salvation Geography", by Marlin Jeschke, 2005, Herald Press

3. Intentional and continued initiatives to meet with and listen to a range of voices of Israelis and Palestinians.

   Palestinian Sites:
   

   • * Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
   • * Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem
   • * BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugees' Rights
   • * Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People
   • * Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
   • * Wi'am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center

   Israeli Sites:
   

   • B'tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights
   • Gush Shalom - Israeli Peace Bloc
   • * Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
   • Jewish Voice for Peace
   • Rabbis for Human Rights
   • Refuse Solidarity Network
   • Yesh Gvul
   • * Zochrot Association

   Joint Palestinian-Israeli Sites:
   

   • Bitterlemons (a website that presents Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on prominent issues of concern)
   • The Alternative Information Center
   • The Coalition of Women
   • The Parents' Circle - Families Forum

   American Sites:
   

   • Jewish Voices for Peace and Love thy Neighbor, a Palestinian American Christian initiative for nonviolent

4. Use of other resources on Mennonite understandings and responses to the Middle East and Israel/Palestine for further study and reflection (see www.MennoniteUSA/peace).
   • "Another Round of Dangerous Optimism" Timothy Seidel, Peace Development Worker, Mennonite Central Committee - Palestine. February 06, 2007. How do we speak a word of hope that is not a "cheap" hope veiled in dangerously misplaced optimism? How should advocates for justice, peace and real security for Palestinians and Israelis respond to current reality?
   • "Peacebuilding in Palestine/Israel: A Discussion Paper" MCC, May 2005
   • "Children of the Nakba" DVD Produced by MCC 2005 Grade 10 to adult. For Palestinians, the events between 1947 and 1949 are remembered as a time when Israeli military forces destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages and expelled between 700,000 and 900,000 Palestinians from their lands -- about 85 percent of the Palestinian population at that time. These refugees have lived exiled from their land since then.

5. Groups already visiting Palestine/Israel to consider staying in Palestinian communities including Bethlehem and Nazareth for at least a part of their time in the region to encourage economic development in Palestinian communities.
   • * Open Bethlehem
   • Alternative Tourism Group
   • * Holy Land Trust
   • Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies
   • DVD from Open Bethlehem

6. Church institutions to gain greater understanding of their investments in this region and to avoid investments which violate international law and promote violence. We encourage exploring ways investments might be used to provide hope and promote peace in this region.
   • World Bank reports: report 1, report 2
   • "A Call for Morally Responsible Investment: A Nonviolent Response to the Occupation" Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center document
   • Interfaith Peace Initiative report on "Companies that Profit from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Land"
   • For a complete list of products manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements:
     boycott settlements products
   • Stewardship Investing section on the MMA website
   • MMA's new SRI blog, "In Good Faith"

7. Mennonite-related agencies working in Israel/Palestine to coordinate their work in the region.

8. Congregations and agencies to challenge U.S. military and economic support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to advocate for justice and protection of human rights for all people in the region.
   • MCC Washington Office
   • Churches for Middle East Peace
   • If Americans Knew
   • Foundation for Middle East Peace
   • Americans for Middle East Understanding
   • U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation
   • Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
   • Advocacy

     *denotes MCC partner

9. All parts of the church to strengthen our commitment to bridge-building between the alienated factions in this region.

Additional resources:

• MCC
• MCC Palestine update
• CPT in Palestine
• Bethlehem Then and Now, Advent Advocacy for all ages: Powerpoints, coloring pages, etc.
• Additional Mennonite resources:
  Advent Actions
  Israel / Palestine Resources
  
• On May 15, 2008, the state of Israel will celebrate its 60th anniversary of "independence" (1948) while Palestinians will remember 60 years of ongoing dispossession starting with the “nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”) when in 1948 upwards of 500 Palestinians villages were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees.  Many others were killed.  Visit these sites of MCC partners working to commemorate this history:
  www.badil.org – "Nakba 60 Campaign" being led by this Palestinian partner group in the West Bank
  www.zochrot.org – Israeli partner group working to make the Israeli public aware of the Palestinian historical and current realities