By Don Bryant
If the faith communities in America practiced what they preached, our government would not fund wars and genocides like it does. I have witnessed a silencing about the capitalist war budget by religious organizations for decades, including my own.
Last month I worked with the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community (CPAC) to present “Palestine: History Erased, Future Forbidden – What’s Our Connection to the Palestinian Struggle for Existence?” at my Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Southwest U.U. Minister Rev. Ali, congregation board president, Adrienne, Mike, the worship team liaison, Noelle with CPAC, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and I met together to plan the event.
CPAC comrades Candice and Patrick set up a display with the Israel Bonds divestment petition, literature, and crafts to benefit Ashraf’s Gaza Water Campaign. John, with CPAC and Cleveland United Against War, worked with Sharon, our U.U. video volunteer, to set up our PowerPoints.
Rev. Ali opened the event with the customary U.U. chalice lighting. John presented slides on the history of Palestine and three short videos – one featuring U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib at the recent People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, MI. I followed with slides and descriptions of my trip to Occupied Palestine this past March and seven slides from our 2009 Gaza Delegation. I arranged the slides in relation to the U.U. shared values of equity, generosity, interdependence, justice, pluralism, and transformation.
Recurring themes in our presentations included apartheid Israel’s 76-year occupation, ethnic cleansing, illegal settlements and genocide, Palestinian resistance, martyrdom, refugee camps, and the Nakba. Sustainability, resilience, and the graciousness of the Palestinian people remain predominate throughout the decades of oppression. The slides were also meant to be impactive with images of the murals of Palestinian martyrs. “Palestinians honor all their martyrs,” I narrated, “even a newborn is considered a martyr as we learned in the current genocide.”
Lively discussion co-facilitated by CPAC volunteers, with hummus, pita, and spinach pies followed in the Fellowship Hall with 25-30 participants. Our diverse group offered varying perspectives. We unpacked Zionism and the conflation of antisemitism with “anti-Israeli” or “anti-Zionist.” We compared the pro-Israeli narratives in the media with the facts on the ground under occupation. Mark, a Cleveland Congregation U.U. member, talked about settler violence and displacement of Palestinians that he witnessed and resisted with a Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV) delegation to Masafer Yatta in 2022.
Our presentation on Palestine’s history and current struggle for survival and self-governance will serve as a model for future CPAC presentations with other faith and community groups. Contact CPAC to schedule a presentation at your group gathering.