The following statement was issued today by the Board regarding the Not Another Bomb event:
Our church has a long history of activism, since the founding of our local church in 1951, each generation has had to continue to side with their values and take action for the issues that matter, some that have shaken us to the very core. Today we are gathered once again, to speak up and seek out actions to bend the arc of the Moral Universe back in a direction that bends towards Justice.
Grounded in the values of Unitarian Universalism, informed by previous resolutions, statements, and actions passed by General Assembly of our denomination, the UUA’s democratically elected governing body has given much attention to this situation and the devastation that this has wrought upon the people of Gaza and collectively the people of our earth. They state:
“There are crystallizing moments in the course of history when, in spite of the differences that exist among us, our common reverence for life demands that we speak with moral courage and clarity on the side of love. As people of faith and conviction, Unitarian Universalists share a belief that every human life is sacred, endowed with worth and dignity from the moment of birth, with no person more deserving of freedom and flourishing than any other. Our living tradition has long maintained that the only hells that exist are those that we create for one another, here on earth.”
In the context of the situation currently unfolding in Gaza our denomination has not been silent, nor have we been new to the conversation.
“Unitarian and/or Universalist congregations and communities around the world have issued calls for peace, justice, and reparations in the Palestinian territories for decades. In 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced, and at least 280,000 were displaced in 1967 when additional Palestinian lands were violently occupied against international law. UUA General Assembly resolutions 18 in 1982 and 2002 called for ending the occupation of Palestinian lands and a 1982 UUA Board of Trustees resolution 8 declared that “criticism of the policies of the government of Israel should not be equated with or confused with anti-Semitism.”
Continuing this heritage of faith in action we have an ongoing commitment to act in solidarity with the people that are directly affected by this atrocity. With love at the center of our faith,
“a growing number of Unitarian Universalist communities and individuals are calling for ending unconditional military aid to the State of Israel and affirming solidarity with Palestinian safety, support, and self-determination, including Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism, Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, Unitarian Universalist Association senior leadership, and thousands of UU religious professionals, lay leaders, and congregants. With the U.S. providing Israel the highest amount of military aid in the world, UUs in this country bear a responsibility to speak out against these policies.”
In 2024, During the annual General Assembly of the UUA, with congregations represented from all over our country and world, an action of immediate witness was passed by a solid margin that we, as a people of faith must act in alignment with our values, principles, and traditions.
This Action of Immediate Witness: Solidarity with Palestinians states as follows:
“We, the delegates of the 2024 General Assembly, call on our UU congregations and communities to be in solidarity with Palestinians by engaging in the following actions based on the guidance of Palestinian and impacted partner organizations:
- Witnessing:
- Call for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the apartheid; declare our moral outrage and shared horror at Israel’s massacre, mass incarceration, torture, destruction of the land, and poisoning soil for future generations, and decimation of systems of care that support life in the region.
- Call for an immediate permanent ceasefire, massive humanitarian aid, the release of all captives, and an end to genocide around the world.
- Educating:
- Hold teach-ins about Palestine and Israel that include sacred spaces for spiritual processing.
- Organizing and Advocating:
- Engage with Palestinian-led groups and coalitions supporting liberation.
- Sign, amplify, and carry out the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge.
- Support boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel and corporate enablers, and end US military aid to Israel, until it ceases its policies and practices of apartheid, military occupation, settler colonialism, and genocide.
- Protect the freedom and safety of solidarity activists by supporting protests and opposing legislation and policies that restrict First Amendment rights.”
Our congregation, in the spirit of our faith, in solidarity with our fellow humans experiencing unimaginable violence, opens our space to allow people to have a voice, a rising up within our communities to be seen, heard, and stand for what each person holds as their personal moral conviction. To have dialogue with others in the community about things that are important to them within this tragedy. We do not push any particular political party nor candidate but we encourage every person to engage and let our leaders know what we believe as well as what we want to see: change and a better future.
We encourage people to register to vote, to actively seek knowledge around the issues and to engage to the fullest extent in the building of a future that collectively we seek to create.
As a congregation we hold that all lives are sacred and therefore we cherish the lives of the Jewish people and Palestinian people as their governing bodies destroy the people that live in the area of this conflict and the land that these communities inhabit. We seek to help build a future where all can thrive and live in a world free from human rights violations and genocide.
