Welcome to the website of the Upper New York (United Methodist) Conference Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine-Israel. You will notice that numerous topics are listed under our banner on the header. Each one is a page you can click for information.
If you’d like to help bring healing to the Holy Land, we encourage you to click on “UM Kairos Response: Catalogue & Resources.” On that page you’ll find numerous ways to speak with words and deeds that transform.
United Methodist Kairos Response is an organization among UMs which has taken up the cry of Palestinian Christians for justice. “Kairos” is a Greek word for “significant time.” While “chronos” refers to the calendar, “kairos” refers to the “now” when we choose to live fully and extravagantly the opportunity God presents for life in abundance. The Kairos Document was penned several years ago , challenging faithful people everywhere to hear the yearnings of the brokenhearted and oppressed in Palestine-Israel.
As the community of those who listen and care continues to expand, we offer these many resources, and also an interactive, photographic Facebook page–a “place” to build community and mutual support. Visit that page at the web address which follows, and “like” us or leave a comment. We look forward to your partnership in bringing holy peace to the Holy Land! https://www.facebook.com/pages/UM-Palestine-Israel-Task-Force-UNYAC/697571236995771
Our spiritual journey (as a United Methodist Task Force) began about 25 years ago. Bishop Stith had encouraged trips to the Holy Land. After many tours of the holy sites, there was a growing concern that we meet the “Living Stones:” Palestinians and Israelis who are living the story of reconciliation today. In 1989, a journey for “deeper understanding” was taken, at which point a group was organized to work on urgent human needs and issues of fundamental justice in the Holy Land today. The North Central NY Task Force was formed for the purpose of educating and advocating for peace and justice in Palestine-Israel. In 2014, a few years into the life of the “Upper New York Annual Conference,” the Task Force was recognized as an arm of the new body’s “Social Holiness” witness and outreach.
Our discerning is ongoing. Many members of our Task Force have participated in Holy Land trips to learn and to understand more clearly what it means to live in the Holy Lands today, both for Palestinians and for Israelis. By trips we mean experiences led by David Wildman from the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, delegations from Interfaith Peace-Builders, Christian Peace-Maker Teams, YMCA-YWCA JAI of East Jerusalem (Olive Harvest) and others. We aim to stay in contact with Kristen Brown–our new United Methodist Liaison in Jerusalem, with Alex and Brenda Awad, and others working and living in the area.
We listen, pray, and raise funds to send more people to experience for themselves the injustice which brings about the oppression of two peoples. When our travelers return, they share their experiences with the intention of increasing understanding here in the U.S.A. of what daily life is like for both Palestinian and Israeli people, and how we as Americans are involved in perpetuating power relations harmful to both.
Our Mission: With Jesus’ command to love, and the Palestinians’ Cry for Hope calling us to action, we covenant to educate, equip, and mobilize the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church in all its entities: local congregations & regional districts, for prophetic witness and advocacy toward the goal of just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel. Working in partnership with our Board of Global Ministries and Board of Church and Society, and other action groups, we commit to pursuing human and civil rights, security, & self-determination for all who share this land, called “holy” by each of the Abrahamic faiths: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
Our Vision: As disciples of Jesus, the Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel affirms the dignity and sacredness of all people, stands against oppression and injustice, and works for peace with justice in Palestine and Israel, in partnership with:
UMKR – United Methodists for Kairos Response
US CPJ – US Campaign for Palestinian Justice
FOSNA – Friends of Sabeel North America
CMEP – Churches for Middle East Peace
AFSC – American Friends Service Committee
MFSA – Methodist Federation for Social Action
PPF – Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
CPT – Christian Peacemaker Teams (Hebron)
Eyewitness Palestine
Rebuilding Alliance
Gary Bergh Scholarship
Gary Bergh, an original member of the Task Force, believed that a way for many people to learn about the actual situation in Palestine is for them to go there in person. This memorial scholarship fund is for that purpose.
The Gary Bergh Scholarship Fund furthers our United Methodist stance: “We seek for all people in the region an end to military occupation, freedom from violence, and full respect for the human rights of all under international law.”
The Scholarship helps people visit Palestine-Israel to learn what will contribute to peace with justice in the Holy Land.
How to apply: Gary Bergh Scholarship Fund
How to donate:
Call Linda Bergh 315-640-9890
Karen Peterson 607-739-3141
Christine Root 518-384-5506
Gary Doupe 607-743-5062
Merle Showers 716-862-4235
Upper New York
UNITED METHODIST TASK FORCE
ON PEACE with JUSTICE in PALESTINE/ ISRAEL
URGENT CONCERN –
No Way to Treat a Child
Approximately 2.9 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, of which around 45 percent are children under the age of 18.
Quite often, Palestinian children in the West Bank as young as 14 are taken from their homes in the middle of the night, with no specific charges or evidence. Parents are not allowed to accompany them, or to know where their children are being taken or for how long. During arrest or in detention, these children endure abusive treatment facing military jurisdiction and courts.
Israeli children never face military courts.
To counter this verified unjust, and highly inappropriate treatment, contact your Member of Congress to endorse House bill HR 2590 which prevents U.S. tax dollars from paying for human rights violations against Palestinian children in Israeli military detention.
For more information see the article:
“No Way to Treat a Child.”
CURRENT ACTION CONCERNS
Home Demolitions:
Israel’s ethnic cleansing
Some 73 people, including 41 children, were made homeless when their dwellings were bulldozed in the Bedouin settlement of Khirbet Humsa, in the Jordan Valley, the UN reported.
In the spring of 2021, Israel gave orders for 16 evacuations and home demolitions in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Israeli settlers tried to move illegally into some Palestinian homes during negotiations. East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, is part of historical Palestine, conquered and occupied by Israel since 1967 and recognized by the UN as the Palestinian Territories.
The UN called these Israeli actions a “grave breach” of international law.
Illegal Israeli Settlements
Land designated for a Palestinian state has been disappearing as hundreds of Israeli outposts are awarded to settler groups. Such areas mushroom into full residential and business communities, taking over Palestinian springs for lawns, fountains, and swimming pools—as Palestinians get by with rainwater from cisterns. West Bank Israeli towns are accessed by roads that only Israeli settlers may use. Land belonging to Palestinians for generations is being steadily confiscated.
Since 2004, The United Methodist Book of Resolutions has a section: “Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land.” The 2012 General Conference passed a resolution calling for the boycott of Israeli settlement products. For information on products to be boycotted, go to: www.kairosresponse.org
Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism is a political and theological ideology that uses Christian texts to support the subjugation of Palestinians by the modern nation-state of Israel based on the belief that Israel has a cosmic purpose to bring about the “End Times.” It has deeply influenced evangelicals and some mainline churches. Christian Zionists make up the largest US bloc to directly fund Israeli settlements, lobby political leaders, and demonize Palestinians through lobbies like Christians United for Israel (CUFI). To learn more, read: An Ethical Critique of Christian Zionism – ELCA
Gaza
Along the Mediterranean coastline, extending for about 25 miles north of the Egyptian border, is a region known as Gaza, inhabited by nearly two million Palestinians. It is often described as “the world’s largest open-air prison.”
Under blockade since 2006, sealed off from travel by land, air, or sea, Gaza has been declared unlivable. Water is 95% polluted and electricity –unpredictable—is available only a few hours a day. When Gaza’s leaders resist, Israel retaliates with US-supplied high-power weapons, destroying infrastructure and refusing materials to rebuild. Vital farm land has been destroyed, and water supplies polluted by the bombing of sewer treatment facilities. Fishing is limited to a few miles from shore, where water is most degraded.
Demand a peace process that respects
International Law.
Legislation Passed at Annual Conference:
–To divest from governments that maintain a prolonged military occupation in contradiction to International Law.
–To divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard and Motorola Solutions because of their role in the military occupation of Palestine.
Useful Reading:
Blood Brothers, and We Belong to the Land:
personal narratives by Elias Chacour
“Kairos Palestine, a moment of truth,” by Palestinian Christians to the Christian World
“My Plea to the people of Israel: Liberate yourselves by liberating Palestine,” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Lest We Forget: The US – Israel Relationship” “ The Illusion of an Imaginary Common Interest” by Americans for Middle East Understanding