All people are equal and should be treated with dignity and respect.
But for decades, the Palestinian people have faced Israeli settler colonialism and occupation enforced through racist and discriminatory legal regimes, forced displacement, blockade and movement restrictions, and systematic human rights abuses.
According to legal scholars and the international human rights community, this situation constitutes the crime of Apartheid. It must end.
As people of conscience and loving communities, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their call for equal and full rights. Inspired by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, we want to declare our own communities “Apartheid-Free.”
Let’s build an Apartheid-Free world, starting with our own communities: our faith congregations, cities, campuses, and workplaces. We need to educate ourselves and others about racist laws and state systems at home and abroad, and we want to ensure that our communities do not contribute to the maintenance of Apartheid regimes. Together, we can work to promote freedom, justice, and equality for all.
HOW WE DO THAT
In an Apartheid-Free community, we ask ourselves to take a renewed public pledge against all forms of racism, bigotry, and oppression, including against racist discrimination, islamophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia in our own communities.
We seek to educate ourselves and our communities about the devastation of Palestinian lives under military occupation, settler colonialism, and apartheid, and about the connections between settler colonialism, racist oppression, and the cult of security in Palestine/Israel, in North America, and throughout the world.
Inspired by the anti-Apartheid movement that toppled the Apartheid regime in South Africa, together we are building a new anti-apartheid movement and encourage faith communities and all communities of conscience to step away from any and all support to Israeli apartheid, occupation, and settler colonialism.
YOUR CONGREGATION OR COMMUNITY
CAN TAKE THE PLEDGE
THE PLEDGE
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression;
WE DECLARE ourselves an Apartheid-Free community, and to that end;
WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
Contact UMKR for help in bringing the pledge to your church or community, we would love to assist you in introducing this subject with your group and organizing support for the pledge: umkr.organizing@gmail.com
CAMPAIGN RESOURCES
Palm card, 4"x6" - download this resource
FAQs on Apartheid-Free, the pledge and the movement
Includes: What is apartheid? Who says Apartheid? What does it mean to be an apartheid-free church?
How can we claim to be apartheid-free? Is it antisemitic to accuse Israel of apartheid? Isn't apartheid unique to South Africa?
LEARN MORE, TAKE ACTION
Learn about Israeli apartheid at our website
and share these resources:
a collection of the top reports and resources from leading human rights organizations: Yes, It Is Apartheid
Learn more about Palestine/Israel:
We have diverse learning resources, curricula and literature for your congregation: Education home page
Don't see what you need there? Contact us for assistance:
umkr.education@gmail.com
BDS Toolkit
This remarkable website offers excellent tools for BDS activism: Theological Foundations for BDS, analysis and answers for the biggest challenges in this justice work, BDS Stories from around the world, and so much more!
https://bdstoolkit.org/
Divesting for Palestinian Rights (AFSC)
Includes:
HOW TO DIVEST
DIVESTMENT LIST
METHODOLOGY
DIVESTMENT RESEARCH
DIVESTMENT ACHIEVEMENTS
https://afsc.org/divest
Political Advocacy
See some recommended tools for political advocacy
provided by UMKR partners: Political Action Tools
To join thousands of United Methodists in advocacy with elected leaders,
Subscribe with UMKR to receive our action alerts for political action!
Who has taken the pledge?
Hundreds of communities; scroll down this page to see them:
https://apartheid-free.org
Explore that website for more on Apartheid-Free Communities.
Contact UMKR for help in bringing this campaign to your congregation:
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Actions/Campaigns
MORE ABOUT THIS MOVEMENT
The Apartheid-Free network is a coalition of communities who pledge to work together to end Israeli apartheid. This coalition formed in 2022, following the emerging consensus among the international human rights community that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people amounts to the Crime of Apartheid. Originally created by faith groups in North America, the network currently includes congregations, faith communities, solidarity organizations, non-profits, campus groups, businesses, and more. Centered in North America, we encourage communities throughout the world to join the network.
The Apartheid-Free network asks ourselves and our communities to take a renewed public pledge against all forms of racism, bigotry, and oppression, including against racist discrimination, islamophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia in our own communities. We seek to educate ourselves and our communities about the devastation of Palestinian lives under military occupation, settler colonialism, and apartheid, and about the connections between settler colonialism, racist oppression, and the cult of security in Palestine/Israel, in North America, and throughout the world.
This coalition is convened by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and has a steering committee that consists of organizations and individuals that includes:
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Alliance of Baptists
Black Christians for Palestine (BC4P)
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
Episcopal Peace Fellowship – Palestine Israel Network (EPF PIN)
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (IPMN)
Mennonite Palestine Israel Network (MennoPIN)
Quaker Palestine Israel Network (QPIN)
United Church of Christ (UCC)
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME)
Building an anti-apartheid movement; stepping away from any and all support to Israeli apartheid, occupation, and settler colonialism.
You can learn more about Israeli apartheid at our website.
Apartheid-Free Communities
United Methodists are responding to Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth ,a statement of faith and urgent call to action from Christians in Palestine. UMKR seeks, through nonviolent means and in partnership with Palestinian Christians, freedom, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis.
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