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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Resources Webinar
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The Fierce Urgency of Now: Legislation for the
United Methodist General Conference 2024
Wednesday, 21 January 2024
Presented by UMKR and MFSA
We call on The United Methodist Church to SPEAK and ACT NOW for human rights, freedom, and a just peace in the Holy Land.
This April, the United Methodist Church will gather for its signature quadrennial event, and 862 delegates from around the world will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for the UMC General Conference of 2024.
Among the 1000+ pieces of legislation submitted, UMKR and justice partners in the church are advancing a legislative slate with eight important petitions.
There has never been a more crucial moment for Christians to speak and act with courage and compassion for the people of Palestine and Israel. As an international institution, one of the world's largest churches, we are genuinely capable of making an impact.
So many United Methodists are horrified by the devastation we are seeing today in the Holy Land, and we are urgently seeking avenues to become part of the solution.
That is what UMKR's legislation provides.
• UPHOLDING the UMC's historic opposition to colonization of occupied Palestinian territory,
• AVOIDING profits from illegal occupations and the immense suffering they cause,
• PROTECTING children's human rights and ENDING military abuse of Palestinian children,
• DEFENDING our right to challenge injustice with economic action, and more!
Learn WHAT these resolutions propose, WHY Palestinians Christians are calling to us for these actions, and HOW each can be meaningful action for real and lasting solutions in Israel/Palestine.
UMKR and MFSA invite you join us for a different kind of webinar, that comes around once in a quadrennium: a briefing on Palestine-related justice legislation for the UMC General Conference, presented by a diverse panel of experts on these issues.
OUR SPEAKERS
M. Theresa Basile is Communications Director, Education Chair, and a co-founder of United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), a board member of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), and she has served in leadership with US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). Throughout her years in the United Methodist Church, Theresa has engaged in inclusive and intersectional justice and peace advocacy on a wide range of issues. She currently serves in the Leadership Teams of the Western Methodist Justice Movement (WMJM) and MFSA in the California-Pacific Conference, as well as ecumenical, interfaith, and civil society movements and communities.
Dov Baum is director of Corporate Accountability in the American Friends Service Committee and leader of the Apartheid-Free Communities initiative. She is a co-founder of Who Profits from the Occupation and of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel. Dov frequently lectures on feminism and democracy in Israel/Palestine, the economics of the Israeli occupation and the military industry, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and corporate responsibility. She has been active with numerous groups in the Israeli anti-occupation and democracy movement, including Black Laundry, Boycott from Within, Zochrot, and Women in Black.
Mik Jordahl is an attorney in Sedona, Arizona. He was featured in the film “Boycott,” as as a plaintiff who successfully obtained a 2018 state-wide injunction against Arizona’s ant-BDS law, which banned government contracts for those who join in boycotts supporting Palestinian rights. As counsel, Mik has helped strike down three unconstitutional Arizona laws: a prohibition on same sex marriage, a prohibition on peaceful begging, and a state law preventing cities from raising their own minimum wages.
Miranda Cleland is an advocacy officer at Defense for Children International - Palestine and lives in Washington, DC, where she advocates for the human rights of Palestinian children. Miranda holds a bachelor’s with honors from American University in International Studies and Arabic language, and she is a former Senior Community Engagement Associate with GlobalGiving.
Rev. Jane Susan Eesley is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministies, currently serving as Advocacy Coordinator at the Methodist Liaison Office in Jerusalem. She is an elder in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference where she has served several congregations. From 1990 to 1993, Jane served as a United Methodist mission intern, first assigned first to the Greek Catholic Society Infant Welfare Center in Jerusalem, then to Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA).
Watch the webinar below.
Below the video, see information and resources shared during the webinar.
Related Resources
Legislation for General Conference 2024 and supporting resources: handouts, articles, videos, and more
UMKR's collected slate of legislation for General Conference 2024
and resources for all:
UMKR GC 2020 Resolutions and Supporting Resources
• "Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land" and resources
• "United Nations Resolutions on the Israel-Palestine Conflict" and resources
• "Excluding Government Debt of Countries Involved in Prolonged Military Occupations" and resources
• "Protecting the Right to Peacefully Address Injustice" and resources:
• "Addressing Israel Detention of Children" and resources
• "Holy Land Tours" resolution:
UMC Resolution: Holy Land Tours
Information and resources about tourism in the Holy Land:
https://www.kairosresponse.org/tours.html
More resources related to boycotts, divestment, and our right to engage in economic advocacy:
Palestine Legal: information on US states with anti-boycott laws:
https://legislation.palestinelegal.org
Current boycott campaigns that we can support:
https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
Identifying companies that are complicit in the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime for potential divestment and boycott actions:
Investigate: http://www.investigate.info
Who Profits: https://www.whoprofits.org
Collection of statements, articles etc opposing the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19zAdT920Sd-KHnvdP6BhXlBGwofGbzgWbGF65f_V7ZI/edit#gid=1184373771
The UMC's standing resolution "Holy Land Tours" directs us to contact the Methodist Liaison Office when planning a visit to the Holy Land.
The Methodist Liaison Office (MLO) in Jerusalem:
Rev. Jane Eesley, our United Methodist Liaison
Jeesley@umcmission.org
Jeesley@gmail.com
Samar Hashweh, the MLO manager
Office@Mlojerusal.em.org
Contact them when planning a Holy Land visit.
UMKR's collection of authoritative reports and resources on Israeli apartheid:
https://www.kairosresponse.org/it_is_apartheid.html
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