Day: May 19, 2021

Partners for Peace: Personal reflection on Israel-Palestine situation

May 19, 2021 /

A message from Sue Ellen Klein, the leader of Partners for Peace and a member of our Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East team.   

As a spokesperson for Partners for Peace,
 
I feel compelled to comment on the current Israel-Palestine situation.  With all that is being shown and written about the situation, I can only respond from my heart and my own personal experience. As an American, Jewish woman – as a living being – I am heartbroken, disgusted, and ashamed, as I have been for many years. I am neither a historian nor a religious scholar. I simply choose not to be silent, despite my own sense of vulnerability.
 
Born in 1941, I grew up in a Jewish home, more secular than religious. As for so many like me, the film ‘Exodus”* defined our perception of Israel as the sacred safe haven for Jews around the world.  We raised money to plant trees in Israel; we bought and gifted Israel bonds. I attended Hebrew school until I was confirmed at age 15. I knew nothing of the Palestinians or the Nakba** – or, for that matter, of what it means to be a Jew in the context of contemporary America or the world.
 
During much of my life, support of Israel was a significant activity. My family visited Israel many times and developed strong Israeli friendships. I have come to understand that affiliation with Israel became synonymous with Jewish identity rather than a religious imperative.
 
When I moved into center city Philadelphia, I began a journey of activism and community engagement which informed and crystallized my deeply held sense of justice. Among new affiliations, I joined an activist congregation, Mishkan Shalom, founded by Rabbi Brian Walt, a rabbi raised in apartheid South Africa and the founding executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights – North America. It was through Rabbi Walt that I began to understand what I now know to be true. Click here for a recent opinion piece on Israel-Palestine by Rabbi Walt.
 
I was a founding member of the Jewish Dialogue Group, which sought to provide a process for progressive Jewish activists, representing varied issues, to work collectively despite differences of opinion on the ‘Israel-Palestine conflict.’  We were not particularly successful in this endeavor, and I understood that it is within the Jewish community itself that the wall of silence and intransigence is the most pronounced.  
 
I share the opinion that the government of Israel acts to subjugate, suppress and expel the Palestinians from the Biblical lands which it essentially views as its own.  Its dehumanization and denial of basic human rights are racist, self-evident, and illegal, and the United States government must hold the Israeli government accountable and responsible.  
 
I agree with Rep. Ayanna Presley:  “We cannot remain silent when our government sends $3.8 billion of military aid (annually) to Israel that is used to demolish Palestinian homes, imprison Palestinian children, and displace Palestinian families.  A budget is a reflection of our values.”  
 
I feel kinship with and have great admiration for the Israeli people; they are smart, and courageous, and, I believe, kind.  And yet,  ‘Justice, justice shall you pursue’ –  we are taught that the pursuit of justice has, from the beginning, been a fundamental tenet of Judaism.  What does this mean in the context of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people?  When, if at all, do Biblical readings and past realities override the responsibility to defend human rights and dignity?  It is a dichotomy with which many Jews live.  I have made peace with my decision. 
 
In peace,  Sue Ellen
 
* Watch ‘Exodus 1947,’ a fascinating one-hour PBS documentary narrated by Morley Safer about the true story of the resurrected ship, renamed Exodus 1947, and the ‘illegal’ American efforts to finance and crew the most infamous of 10 American ships that attempted to bring Jewish holocaust survivors to Palestine after WWII against British resistance.  (Available for free on Amazon Prime or to rent  for $.99.)

** Nakba – the displacement of Palestinian society, known as the Nakba (Arabic: النكبة‎, al-Nakbah, literally “disaster”, “catastrophe”, or “cataclysm”), in which between 400 and 600 Palestinian villages were destroyed and Palestinian history erased.  (Wikipedia

Suggested Resources and Action Items

Invitation to Flower Communion

May 19, 2021 /

Mother’s Day always signals to me the likely final burst of big spring snow in Fort Collins, and so also signals a green light for planting! It’s always a risk, of course, the snow is sneaky that way (and it’s not like we wouldn’t be grateful for the moisture!). 

But then again, planting is a risk, period. You never know exactly how something will turn out – if it will flourish or whither. Even with our best efforts, there’s a lot about gardening that is out of our control. And yet we take the risk and make the investment because when the flowers bloom or the tomatoes arrive, or the perennial comes back year after year, we remember life’s resilience, and the way simple beauty can be healing and redeeming, despite everything. And we remember the lessons of loving with an open hand, a leaning in that is also always a letting go. 

This is the practice we felt drawn to for our Flower Communion this year. Rather than a simple exchange of cut flowers as is more traditional, we want to invite us to a shared practice of planting. 

Next Thursday and Friday, you are invited to come to the church to participate in a plant exchange. Bring a cutting from your garden, pick up a gem from the nursery, or bring the small shoots you’ve been growing from seed. Or, bring seeds ready for planting! It can be flowers or vegetables, or ground cover, or…whatever you are inspired to bring. In turn, receive someone else’s plant, cutting, or seeds. (Don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on a plant. We’ll have some extras.) 

You can either take home the plant you receive and plant it somewhere you can see it, or you plant it on the church grounds. We’ll have a map of places for you to plant and some tools (or feel free to bring your own). We imagine this as a wonderful way to begin to “reclaim” our church grounds, as well as a reminder of the way life persists, changes, and invites us to keep planting with a spirit of playfulness, leaning in, and letting go.

Join us at the church during any of the following times for Flower Communion:

Flower Communion Dates & Times (at the church):
Thursday, May 20th: 4:30-6:30 pm
Friday, May 21st: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm & 4:30 – 6:30 pm

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