[mpen-dayton4] FW: "Celebrate Differences July 4th photo contest!" & "USTV Media: Thoughts on America..." & "Charleston" & "A Flag Highjacked by Modern Segregationists" and more
FYI. Best, Munsup
P.S. "He who dares not offend cannot be honest" - Thomas Paine
P.P.S. Please reply back to me with ‘unsubscribe’ on the subject line if you no longer want to receive my e-Newsletters. The convenient link to unsubscribe is no longer available due to security reasons.
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· FW: Celebrate Differences July 4th photo contest!
· FW: WE Global Network Conference
· FW: USTV Media: Thoughts on America & Independence + July 4th Quotes & More (7/4)
· FW: Tell the Walmart Heirs to Hold Charter Schools Accountable
· FW: Charleston
· FW: Burning Black churches by abagond
· FW: The Saudi Air War: Devastating a People and Their Culture
· FW: Some Advice on Same-Sex Marriage for US Church Leaders From a Canadian
· FW: A Flag Highjacked by Modern Segregationists | Spectator Alert | July 1, 2015
· FW: SPLC battles hate group funding & domestic terrorism, stands up for marriage equality
· FW: Will you thank the UCC for standing for justice?
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From: NCCJ of Greater Dayton
Subject: Celebrate Differences July 4th photo contest!
Celebrate America by Celebrating Differences!
Join our July 4th social media photo contest!
July 4 is when we commemorate everything America means to us. Our country looks different now than in 1776 - we see people of various cultures, races, religions, genders and abilities coming together to build today's United States. Each individual contributes unique strengths and skills.
America is better and more beautiful of our differences!
NCCJ of Greater Dayton believes in celebrating differences.
The July 4th weekend is a great time to celebrate differences!
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Snap photos of what "Celebrating Differences" looks like to you and post them on NCCJ's social media sites. | |
Be creative and feel free to express yourself. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at NCCJ Dayton. Use the hashtag #Celebrating Differences.
Be sure to tell your friends and see if you can get the most likes! By the way, there is a $50 gift card for the photo with the most likes/shares.
Celebrate American and Celebrate Differences!
PS - Take a look at our logo under "What to Do" at Dayton.com!
From: Verletta Jackson
Subject: WE Global Network Conferenence
Dayton was selected as the host site for the Third Annual Welcoming Economies (WE) Global Network Convening, which will be held on July 9 from 8-5pm at the Dayton Convention Center.
Our keynote speaker is Felicia Escobar, the White House special assistant on immigration policy. We have fifteen different workshops and while all of them resonate with the work of Welcome Dayton, there are a number of sessions that are focused on various areas that might be important to your department or staff that interface with foreign born citizens such as:
· Language Access
· Neighborhood Revitalization
· Economic Development
· Engaging the immigrant and refugee community
You can view the full agenda and read descriptions of all workshops online. I’d like to ask that you consider helping us deepen our work on these important issues by attending the event and also encouraging your friends and colleagues to attend.
If you have employees or others that would benefit from attending the conference, please contact Melissa Bertolo at 333-1422. We have limited scholarships available for community members who may not be able to afford the registration fee, but may be interested in attending. The online registration deadline has passed, but she will register you manually.
From: info@ustvmedia.org
Subject: USTV Media: Thoughts on America & Independence + July 4th Quotes & More (7/4)
* USTV MEDIA: IN CELEBRATION OF REVOLUTION *
Our friend, the author and scholar Harvey J. Kaye, delivers this missive on BillMoyers.com for the 4th of July, reminding us that social democratic principles are, contrary to some prevailing political opinion, at the very heart of the creation and evolution of America's political purpose.
Social Democracy is 100 Percent American http://billmoyers.com/2015/07/03/social-democracy-is-100-american/
ALSO READ...
- An American Berlin Wall Moment: The Confederacy and a 150-Year End To The Civil War
- Thoughts of American on Celebrating "Independence"
Available HERE... http://www.ustvmedia.org
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* ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE And THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION *
An essay worth reading every Fourth of July:
"How the Founding Fathers Fought...Illegal Domestic Spying" https://eff.org/r.20mu
And on a related note...
* PROTECT YOUR CELL PHONE FROM MASS SURVEILLANCE *
Here is an excellent interview with security researcher Christopher Soghoian on "How to Use a Cellphone Without Being Spied On." He provides useful information on how you can take some simple and readily available steps towards increasing the privacy of your cell phone from hacking.
Watch and read the interview with Democracy Now here: http://tinyurl.com/ozfolfy
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* RECLAIM THOMAS PAINE! *
Thomas Paine was the one truly radical Founding Father of America, a man who changed the face of the world through his writings. "Common Sense" inspired the American Revolution, "Rights of Man" defined the French Revolution, and then "The Age of Reason" called on us to use our ability to reason as the basis for our beliefs and morality.
He is a man largely forgotten and greatly misunderstood, ironically quoted by all and every political faction in America today. Yet his ideas about democracy, equality, slavery, pensions, healthcare and education and morality would have created a very different kind of nation if they had been acted on.
WATCH THE VIDEOS produced by writer and actor Ian Ruskin
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?TheHarryBridgesProje/2aa375b492/fb6736b579/0c6d7f1d4a
THE LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE, Historical theatrical project of Ian Ruskin http://thelifeofthomaspaine.org/
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* MOVE TO AMEND - Needed Now More Than Ever *
https://movetoamend.org
Formed in September 2009, Move to Amend is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals committed to social and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant democracy that is genuinely accountable to the people, not corporate interests.
We are calling for an amendment to the US Constitution to unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated in political campaigns.
"Legalize Democracy" is a documentary film by Dennis Trainor, Jr. about the movement to amend -- why it is needed, and how you can get involved.
WATCH IT HERE... http://youtu.be/QFsq2WMxhzE
Help spread the word by hosting a house party to support Move to Amend and show the film.
Details about hosting a party are here: https://movetoamend.org/houseparty
For more information about Move To Amend, visit: https://movetoamend.org
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* QUOTES FOR THE DAY *
· "Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
· "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a New Government....it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security." - Thomas Jefferson
· "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds. - Samuel Adams
· "People who advocate freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are people who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without the awful roar of the thunder and lightning. Without struggle, there is no progress. This struggle might be a moral one. It might be a physical one. It might be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. People may not get all that they pay for in this world, but they certainly pay for all that they get." - Frederick Douglass
· "As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?" - Alexis de Tocqueville
· "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
· "In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
· "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." - Thomas Jefferson
· "He who allows oppression, shares the crime." - Erasmus Darwin
· "Find who profits from the existence of injustice. When you do, you'll have simultaneously discovered its cause and solution." - Steven Salaita
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* WEBSITES OF INTEREST *
· Freedom of the Press Foundation, Building a Stronger Foundation for Press Freedom and Transparency in a Digital Age https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/
· PrivacySOS: Sunlight on Surveillance http://privacysos.org/
· Evolve Society (David DeGraw) http://daviddegraw.org/
· KickItOver.org (Challenging Classical Economics) http://www.Kickitover.org
· TomDispatch.com (Analysis of Post-9/11 America and Empire) http://www.tomdispatch.com
· New Media Rights http://www.newmediarights.org/
· Expose The TPP http://www.exposethetpp.org
· Jay Rosen's PressThink: Ghost of Democracy In The Media Machine http://pressthink.org/
· David Korten (The Post-Corporate World) http://www.davidkorten.org/
· Manyfesto, A blog on neoliberalism, imperialism and the atomization of society http://manyfesto.org/
· Roots Action http://rootsaction.org/
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"Don't believe everything you hear. But believe everything you say." - A Luta Continua...
Pass it on...UnCommon Sense TV Media http://www.ustvmedia.org, Twitter @ustvmedia
From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: Tell the Walmart Heirs to Hold Charter Schools Accountable
Hi, I signed a petition to Walmart Family Foundation, Buddy Philpot, and 3 others which says: "With over $200 million in charter school fraud reported last year, it’s clear that the rapid expansion of charter schools with no public oversight isn’t working for taxpayers and students. The Walton Family Foundation has been the biggest driver of the rapid expansion and its grantees have led the battle against appropriate oversight. We ask that the Walton Family Foundation demand that its charter school and charter advocate grantees adhere to a public oversight and accountability agenda that helps safeguard taxpayer funds. The eleven common sense steps for charters would be a start to creating a more transparent system that works better for kids and will help push out some of the worst offenders in the charter school sector. " Will you sign this petition?
Click here: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-the-walmart-heirs?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=315978
From: AlterNet on Behalf of Becky Bond, Murshed Zaheed & Elijah Zarlin, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Charleston
The following sponsored email was sent to you by AlterNet on behalf of CREDO Action:
Tell President Obama and the Department of Justice: This is domestic terrorism.
Petition to President Obama and his Department of Justice:
"Investigate and prosecute the Charleston attack as an act of domestic terrorism."
Add your name:
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The despicable attack on one of the nation's oldest Black churches is not just an act of hatred but of domestic terrorism -- and the Department of Justice should treat it as such.
The shock and trauma from the images and stories from Charleston are still very much with us, and it is impossible to put into words the pain being felt by families and friends of the victims. What is possible is naming the crime accurately -- and that's an act of domestic terrorism against the Black community.
The United State's first anti-terrorism law was the 1860 Ku Klux Klan act, passed under President Ulysses S. Grant to combat the ubiquitous culture of racial violence in the South.1
The massacre in Charleston not only fits the literal definition of domestic terrorism as outlined in federal law,2 it is an extension of a long history of terrorizing the Black community.3
Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said that the Department of Justice is investigating this attack as a hate-crime.4 And Friday afternoon a State Department spokeswoman said they were additionally investigating it as possible domestic terrorism. They should. Investigating this as a strictly a hate crime would exacerbate a dangerous double standard which pervades American media, law enforcement priorities and our national security apparatus.
All too often, when American media cover crimes committed by African-Americans or Muslims, the suspects are characterized as thugs or terrorists, while white suspects are characterized as mentally unstable lone wolves -- sweeping under the rug the history and ideology of racist violence in this country.5
These characterizations present a skewed representation of the real threats facing our nation. The day before the horrific shooting in Charleston, the New York Times ran an op-ed entitled "The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat" which criticized the stilted treatment of domestic terrorism stating:
"But headlines can mislead. The main terrorist threat in the United States is not from violent Muslim extremists, but from right-wing extremists. Just ask the police."6
Indeed, a February report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found that "A large number of independent studies have agreed that since the 9/11 mass murder, more people have been killed in America by non-Islamic domestic terrorists than jihadists."7
The fact is, racism is deeply and structurally ingrained in our nation's history of state sanctioned violence against and criminalization of black citizens, resulting in an environment in which they can never feel safe, whether praying in church, standing on a playground, or walking down the street.
Federally prosecuting the Charleston massacre as a hate-crime would be an improvement over leaving it to the judicial system in South Carolina -- which has no hate crime law, and still flies the Confederate battle flag at the state capitol.
But acknowledging and treating it as an act of domestic terrorism is not only appropriate, it is necessary -- as a recognition of our country's history of racial terrorism, as a move toward aligning law enforcement priorities with significant threat of domestic, white extremism, and as a vital statement that Black Lives Matter. Reports that the DOJ is considering this are encouraging, but we need them to be sure to investigate AND prosecute as domestic terrorism.
Tell President Obama and the Department of Justice: Investigate and prosecute the Charleston attack as an act of Domestic Terrorism. Click here to sign the petition.
It's important to recognize that cries of "terrorism" and the fears they inspire have been abused by politicians, often in a racist way, to stigmatize people of a certain creed and color, and to drag this nation into unjust wars. But we can't let previous abuse of this term deny the reality of what's happened in Charleston, or perpetuate a dangerous double-standard that downplays the importance of crimes when the victims are people of color.
Thank you for speaking out.
P.S. -- This is not the first time that the Emanuel AME Church and it's community has been terrorized. We encourage you to consider a donation as a show of solidarity and to help the community recover from this terrible tragedy.
Add your name:
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- Dara Lind, "Why calling the Charleston shooting terrorism is important to so many people", Vox.com, June 19, 2015.
- "Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code", FBI.com
- Conor Friedersdorf, "Thugs and Terrorists Have Attacked Black Churches for Generations", The Atlantic, June 18, 2015.
- Rick Gladstone, "Many Ask, Why Not Call Church Shooting Terrorism?", NY TImes, June 18, 2015.
- Anthea Butler, "Shooters of color are called 'terrorists' and 'thugs.' Why are white shooters called 'mentally ill'?", The Washington Post, June 18, 2015.
- Charles Kurzman and David Schanzer, "The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat", NY Times, June 16, 2015.
- Justin Salhani, "Focus On Islamic Extremism Leaves Radical Right Overlooked", ThinkProgress, June 18, 2015.
From: khalfani718
Subject: burning Black churches by abagond
Burning Black churches
Mon 29 Jun 2015 by abagond
The Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield, Massachussetts burns
on November 5th 2008 – right after Obama won the 2008 election.
(Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office via Reuters.)
The burning and bombing of Black churches (1822- ) has a long history in the US. It has sometimes been used as an instrument of White racist terror. There have been waves of church burnings:
· after the Civil War,
· during the civil rights movement,
· the 1990s and,
· just last week.
Last week:
· June 21st 2015 – College Hill Seventh Day Adventist in Knoxville, Tennessee
· June 23rd 2015 – God’s Power Church of Christ in Macon Georgia
· June 23rd 2015 – Fruitland Presbyterian Church in Gibson County, Tennessee
· June 24th 2015 – Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina
· June 26th 2015 – Glover Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina
· June 26th 2015 – Greater Miracle Temple Apostolic Holiness Church in Tallahassee, Florida
Of these, two seem to be an accident while at least three seem to be arson. No one was hurt – they mostly took place in the middle of the night.
For comparison, during this same period only one fire took place at a non-Black church: the College Heights Baptist Church in Elyria, Ohio.
The authorities have not (yet) ruled any of these a hate crime. That is generally hard to prove – mainly because most arsonists are never caught. There are no suspects so far in last week’s arsons.
Given the timing – just after the Charleston massacre and during a week in which there were calls to take down the Confederate battle flag at the South Carolina capitol – it seems likely that some were hate crimes.
Last November Michael Brown’s father’s church was burned.
The first recorded Black church burning was in 1822: the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina – the very church that was the scene of the Charleston Massacre.
After the Civil War and during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, the Klan and other Whites bombed and burned Black churches as acts of terrorism. Black churches during these periods were staging grounds for organizing Blacks to demand equal rights.
According to civil rights historian Taylor Branch, during the 1950s and 1960s Black churches were being bombed almost every week. In Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964, churches were burned almost every other day.
The most infamous case was in 1963: the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birminghma, Alabama, which left four Black girls dead.
In the 1990s there was another wave of Black church burnings. Some White churches were burned too, but most were Black, even though the US is only 13% Black.
At that time Black churches were not a hotbed of protest for equal rights. Many of those burned had rarely organized anything more than a church supper.
Of those arsonists who were caught, tried and found guilty, only 23% were found guilty of a hate crime. Because of plea bargains and the difficulty in proving hate, the actual number was probably higher. Few, though, belonged to hate groups.
The most infamous church arsonist of the 1990s was Jay Scott Ballinger. In 1998 and 1999 he burned 50 churches across the South and in the Midwest. He was part of – a satanic cult that burned down churches.
Sources: Especially The Atlantic (2015), Washington Post (2015), Department of Justice (1998), Baltimore Sun (1996), Washington Post (1996).
From: Logan Martinez
Subject: [DaytoniansAgainstWarNow] (Yemen) The Saudi Air War: Devastating a People and Their Culture
The Saudi Air War: Devastating a People and Their Culture
Lamya Khalidi, June 26, 2015, New York Times
While the international media has devoted extensive coverage to the barbaric destruction of museums and archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State, not so with the continuing aerial vandalism perpetrated in Yemen by Saudi Arabia. The same obscurantist ideology by which the Islamic State justifies its destruction of cultural heritage sites appears to be driving the Saudis’ air war against the precious physical evidence of Yemen’s ancient civilizations.
For more than 10 years, I was one of a number of American and Yemeni archaeologists surveying and excavating sites dating to the fabled South Arabian kingdoms and beyond, to prehistoric times. We were members of the Dhamar Survey Project, started by the University of Chicago and named for a historic town in highland Yemen.
The team spent decades exploring the magnificent megalithic monuments and walled towns of a civilization that developed terraced agriculture as early as the third millennium B.C., an ancient tradition that has stunningly etched the entire surface area of the region’s steep mountains like a topographical map. The project collected thousands of artifacts from more than 400 sites, including tools, pottery, statuary and inscriptions in ancient South Arabian languages.
We ensured that all of these artifacts, evidence of ancient cultures that traded at great distances during the Neolithic period and eventually built roads to link the highland towns to major incense trade routes, were deposited in the Dhamar Regional Museum. There, they were restored and studied by foreign teams and Yemeni archaeologists, and put on display.
This museum has just been obliterated from the air. In a matter of minutes, the irreplaceable work of ancient artisans, craftsmen and scribes — not to mention the efforts of Yemeni and foreign researchers who have dedicated years of their lives to studying and preserving this legacy — were pulverized. The museum and its 12,500 artifacts were turned to rubble by Saudi bombs.
Since March, Saudi Arabia has conducted a large-scale campaign of air attacks on its neighbor with the stated purpose of driving back the Houthi rebels who have taken control of the capital Sana and large parts of the country. These aerial bombardments have not managed to reverse the gains of the rebels, but have succeeded in devastating Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world.
Thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced, amid severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies.
Less reported is that these bombardments show a pattern of targeting cultural heritage sites in a country that has made extraordinary contributions to world civilization. Mohannad al-Sayani, director of Yemen’s General Organization of Antiquities and Museums, confirmed to me by email that 25 sites and monuments have been severely damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the conflict.
Thought by many to be the historic home of the Queen of Sheba, Yemen is one of the great jewels of human antiquity, with a legacy of magnificent temples, water-management projects and towering cities dating back thousands of years. This cultural wealth is not limited to ancient sites: Three of Yemen’s cities are on the Unesco World Heritage list for their breathtaking vernacular architecture.
Yemen is central to the story of mankind: Sixty thousand years ago, early man walked through Yemen along the Bab al-Mandab, one of the major out-of-Africa routes that Homo sapiens took to colonize Eurasia. Archaeologists like me have found the remnants of prehistoric cultures that navigated the Red and Arabian Seas 8,000 years ago; these early travelers and traders left behind impressive megaliths.
Then there are the prehistoric walled hilltop towns and massive cities that were ruled by the South Arabian kingdoms of the first millennium B.C. Yemen also boasts a rich Islamic heritage that includes some of the oldest, most elaborately decorated mosques in the world.
On June 12, the historic city of Sana, itself a Unesco World Heritage Site, was bombarded by the Saudis. This city, continuously inhabited for over 2,500 years, contains some of the most beautiful traditional architecture in the world. The deliberate targeting of a civilian district of the old city was inexcusable and raises serious questions about Saudi Arabia’s intentions in this conflict.
Ten other sites in Yemen are on the tentative Unesco World Heritage List. One of these, the old city of Saada, has also suffered extensive damage from air attack.
Another is the Marib Dam, one of the most renowned monuments of Yemen. Constructed no later than the first millennium B.C. and still in operation until around the sixth century A.D., this feat of engineering genius enabled the irrigation of an estimated 24,000 acres of fields by means of an elaborate system of canals. The dam, adorned with inscriptions in ancient South Arabian script, allowed the Sabaean kingdoms, famous for having controlled the incense routes, to subsist in the desert margin.
On May 31, the Marib Dam was bombarded and gravely damaged by the Saudi-led coalition. There can be no legitimate reason to attack this ancient monument. It is not a military target, and lying in an uninhabited area at the edge of the Ramlat al-Sabatayn desert, it has no strategic value.
The desecration of these archaeological sites and monuments, as well as the architecture and infrastructure of Yemen’s historic cities, can be called only a targeted and systemic destruction of Yemeni world heritage. Yet it has not been named as such.
The international media has devoted extensive coverage to the barbaric destruction of museums and archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State. This is not the case with the continuing aerial vandalism perpetrated in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.
The same obscurantist ideology by which the Islamic State justifies its destruction of cultural heritage sites appears to be driving the Saudis’ air war against the precious physical evidence of Yemen’s ancient civilizations. There is no other explanation for why the Saudi-led offensive should have laid waste to these irreplaceable world archaeological treasures.
In fact, several sources have confirmed that Unesco and the State Department gave the coalition a list of specific sites to avoid. But far from rebuking its ally for ignoring this advice, the United States is providing logistical, intelligence and moral support for the Saudi air campaign.
Saudi Arabia is thus responsible not only for devastating a country of 25 million impoverished people, who are now suffering from famine, deteriorating sanitary conditions and a lack of medical supplies, but also for a strategy of demolishing significant world heritage sites. This Saudi cultural vandalism is hard to distinguish from the Islamic State’s.
The United States itself has a deplorable record of protecting irreplaceable archaeological treasures during its occupation of Iraq from 2003. It could start to atone for that cultural catastrophe by reining in the regional and ideological ambitions of its Saudi partners. Only the United States has the capacity to stop the Saudis before their bombs rob the world of even more of its precious heritage.
[Lamya Khalidi is an archaeologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research who has excavated mainly in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.]
From: Sang Kang
Subject: FW: Some Advice on Same-Sex Marriage for US Church Leaders From a Canadian
I write from the perspective of a pastor of an evangelical church in a country where same sex-marriage has been the law of the land for a decade.
The purpose of this post is not to take a position or define matters theologically (for there is so much debate around that). Rather, the purpose of this post is to think through how to respond as a church when the law of the land changes as fundamentally as it’s changing on same-sex marriage and many other issues.
http://careynieuwhof.com/2015/06/some-advice-on-same-sex-marriage-for-us-church-leaders-from-a-canadian/
From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: FW: A Flag Highjacked by Modern Segregationists | Spectator Alert | July 1, 2015
The "Confederate Flag" was not the flag of the Confederacy, and has more recent ascendancy in 1948 along with Strom Thurmond's "States' Rights and Segregation" platform for the US Presidency. – Andrew
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From: Southern Poverty Law Center, FIGHTING HATE // TEACHING TOLERANCE // SEEKING JUSTICE
Subject: SPLC battles hate group funding & domestic terrorism, stands up for marriage equality
PayPal suspends hate group’s account
after links to Charleston shooter surface
Photo: Beck Diefenbach/Reuters/Corbis
Share
After numerous SPLC requests to prevent at least 60 hate groups from using its services, PayPal has suspended the account of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens. The group was cited by Dylann Roof, the suspect in the Charleston church massacre, for making him “racially aware” prior to his act of terror. Sadly, it took this tragedy for PayPal to take action, but we hope this is only the beginning of change. READ MORE
From: Ilana Rossoff, Jewish Voice for Peace
Subject: Will you thank the UCC for standing for justice?
Have you heard the news? On Tuesday, the United Church of Christ voted to divest from companies that profit from Israel's occupation and boycott settlement products -- and everyone is talking about it. The vote has already been covered by the New York Times, Ha'aretz, U.S. News, and several other outlets. The UCC stands strong in their belief that justice must be pursued but they need to know that they have Jewish supporters behind them in case the backlash gets intense. We need to make sure UCC members know they're not alone in this. 6,000 JVP supporters like you have already signed our thank-you card -- will you add your name?
This is huge.
By an incredible 80% margin, the United Church of Christ just voted to divest from Israel’s nearly 50 year occupation of Palestine, and to boycott products made in settlements. This vote by the UCC, which represents almost one million Christians, sends a clear message: faith communities are standing up, speaking out, and taking action for peace and justice.
If you’d told me last year that over 80% of UCC delegates would vote to divest from the occupation, I’d have said that was impossible. But that’s what happened -- thanks to the courage of UCC leaders and the growing grassroots interfaith movement we’re building together.
We know the backlash will be fierce, and we can’t afford to be complacent. Our opponents will say that divestment harms interfaith relationships -- but we know that's not true. Supporting each other to align our values and actions is the very heart of what interfaith relationships should be. Let’s make our voices heard, and show that we support this historic decision of our brothers and sisters in the UCC.
Sign our thank you card to the UCC -- thank them for standing for justice.
I’m in absolute awe of the people I've met here in Cleveland: the UCC Palestine-Israel Network who organized their own communities for divestment, and the brave UCC delegates who debated how to best turn their belief that the occupation is unjust into concrete action that can support those living under it. Their moral clarity, and their commitment to turn their faith into action are like nothing I’d ever seen before.
The UCC Palestine Israel Network said it best: the days of “praying for peace and paying for occupation” are over. The time for action is now -- and taking action is exactly what the UCC did today.
Last year, we talked and prayed with our allies in the Presbyterian Church as they aligned their values with their investments by divesting from Israel. This week, we did the same, and now another major religious body has made it clear that they won’t profit from the persecution of Palestinians.
The UCC has taken a brave step forward for justice, and we need to have their back. They need to know that we’re standing with them -- sign our thank you card!
Some people say that progress is impossible. Some people say that the Israel lobby is too powerful. Today, we stood with the United Church of Christ, and we proved those people are wrong.
End of MPEN e-Newsletter
posted by lucas at 7:18 PM
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