Week 20: The Ongoing Nakba Online Gathering

Tuesday, May 18, we learned about the ongoing Nakba. Guests included Reem Hamad, a resident of Sheikh Jarrah, and Dr. Bernard Sabella of Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR).

More about our guest:

Dr. Bernard Sabella is executive secretary of the Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East Council of Churches
and is a retired associate professor of sociology from Bethlehem University in the Holy Land, where he taught for over 25 years. His academic interests focus on Palestinian Christians and questions of identity and other challenges, including emigration. In 2006, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council’s Christian quota seat representing the city of Jerusalem.

You can follow him on Twitter. You can find DSPR on their website.

Activism Time

Full Kumi Action at:
https://kuminow.com/ongoingnakba/#kumiaction

The slides are available as a PDF at https://kuminow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/3-Action-Time-Slides-Week-20.pdf 

Urgent Action

Kairos Palestine has released a statement calling for world solidarity in support of peace in Palestine. 

We would like you to write emails to the World Council of Churches (WCC) and to the Vatican and Pope Francis, requesting that they preach and call for an end to evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and an immediate halt of all violence.

Please include a link to the Kairos Palestine statement at  https://www.kairospalestine.ps/images/kairos-palestine-call-for-world-solidarity.pdf 

World Council of Churches: media@wcc-coe.org

Pope Francis and the Vatican: accreditamenti@salastampa.va and spc@spc.va 

You might start your letter with

To Whom It May Concern,

I write as part of the Kumi Now initiative, a group of people from around the world that believes in nonviolent solutions to the conflict in Palestine and Israel. I am deeply troubled and saddened by the ongoing attempts to evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and elsewhere, and I’m horrified by the indiscriminate violence in Gaza. 

I beg you to implore all churches to preach on these issues this Sunday, May 23rd, and call for end to these evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and an immediate end to the violence in Gaza. I am including a link to a statement released by Kairos Palestine. Please read it, share it, and incorporate it into your services.

Actions to take for Sheikh Jarrah:

U.S.: Send letters to your representatives with FOSNA https://fosna.good.do/nodisposessioninsilwan/

Contact Congress: Peace in Sheikh Jarrah Write letters to members of the U.S. Congress at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/contact-congress-peace-in-sheikh-jarrah/

Contact the Canadian Government: Letter Writing with Just Peace Advocates https://actionnetwork.org/letters/write-canadian-government-savesheikhjarrah-protect-palestinian-families-and-stop-israeli-ethnic-cleansing-in-jerusalem/

Sign the U.S. Petitions http://bit.ly/StopJerusalemExpulsions https://actionnetwork.org/letters/savesheikhjarrah https://actionnetwork.org/letters/savesheikhjarrah

UK citizens can write letters about Sheikh Jarrah https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/sheikh-jarrah

Palestine Portal has a full list of actions you can take https://www.palestineportal.org/action-advocacy/direct-action/political-advocacy/advocacy-on-jerusalem/stop-jerusalem-expulsions/

Share these actions and information about Sheikh Jarrah and the recent reports about Israel’s apartheid far and wide!

From the Presentation/Chat

Shareable Catholic statement at www.cjphl.com.