Call Your Congress Members to Urge Peace in the Middle East!

Emails are great, but it is even more powerful when you follow-up with phone calls. These are easy and quick, and very impactful! (If you feel a bit awkward on the phone, don't worry about it! These are super short calls and the staffers want to know what you think, not how polished you sound!)

Here is a suggested script from MVPJ, but remember to make it personal if you can. (You might add that you come from a particular faith community, OR that as a (parent, sister, brother, etc.) you can't imagine the suffering of family members whose loved ones are held or live in fear, OR you have visited the area, OR you have spiritual or other roots or connections to the region, etc.)

See below for phone numbers for U.S. Senators and Representatives in our area.

Hi, My name is ___________ from (city)_____________.

I am calling to urge Senator _________/Representative ___________ to publicly call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, including the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians unfairly incarcerated in Israel. 

Right now there is an extremely urgent need for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, and a ceasefire is necessary to get supplies in. I also hope the Senator/Representative will support restoring U.S. funding for UNRWA, the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees. 

Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, security, freedom and dignity.

Please encourage Senator _________/Representative ___________ to urge the Administration to use all of its influence to acheive a ceasefire and negotiated solution, for the well-being of all the people in the region. 

Thank you.

(If you don't see them, click "read more" for phone numbers for your calls.)

Hear Sally Abed and Alon-Lee Green from
Standing Together
the largest Jewish-Arab grassroots movement in Israel
Wednesday, March 13, 12:30pm
Congregation Etz Chayim
4161 Alma St., Palo Alto

Standing Together has become an essential voice during this difficult moment. Sally and Alon-Lee will share personal stories about the work they have done and the support system they have created through their thousands of members to maintain a group of dedicated Jews and Arabs who are devoted to creating a society capable of achieving peace, equality, and social justice for all. At a time when hope feels hard to come by, their work for a better future is a true inspiration.

REGISTER HERE. BYO brown bag lunch. Desserts provided.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Standing Together from there website. 
Their motto is:
Where there is struggle, there is hope.

"Religion, Race & the 'Heathen'"
Wednesday, February 26, 7pm
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado, Palo Alto

Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum from Stanford Dept of Religious Studies will speak about how the figure of the 'heathen' in need of salvation underlies American conceptions of race.

No charge for admission. Donations appreciated.

Use this Eventbrite page to register.

Wheelchair accessible.

February 26, 7 p.m. 
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto

MLK Community Sing
Monday, Jan 20, 11:30am
with Deborah Levoy
Mitchell Park Multi-Purpose Bowl Area
600 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto

Grief and Hope: Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian Families for Peace
Tuesday, Oct 24, 7:30pm
Congregation Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto
In-person Only

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - CLICK HERE

Bereaved mothers, Laila Al-Sheikh and Robi Damelin, from The Parents Circle-Families Forum will share their stories of loss and their extraordinary choice for reconciliation rather than revenge. Learn how they are working on the ground not only for peace but for the future of Israel's democracy and Palestinian freedom.

The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict. Their highest goal is to work toward the day when no new family must join the circle of the bereaved.

It has always been central to the Parents Circle’s work that grief can lead us to hope, as well as to determination to find a way to stop the killing and the dying.

Now more than ever, it is more important to stay committed to our values, and to affirm hope and possibility even in the midst of powerful grief.

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - CLICK HERE

Vigil with Bereaved
Israelis and Palestinians
Sunday, Oct 15
8am (PDT) Online

The American Friends of Combatants for Peace (CfP) shared via email some profound word and experiences of the bi-national (Israeli and Palestinian) Zoom support group this week:

Jamil, CfP’s Palestinian General Coordinator, began the conversation. He looked around the Zoom room at his Israeli friends and shared that it was hard to find the words to express his sorrow, shock, and grief about what Hamas had done.

“I can’t believe this. I am seeing these images, and I don’t want to believe they are real. I cannot hold back my tears. You are my friends, my family.” Other Palestinian activists echoed words of care to Israeli members:

“I am with you. I’m going to stay with you.” 

“I wish I could see you and hold you.”

At the start of the conversation, it was hard not to speak from “sides” about the pain, needs, and remorse for the violence coming from each society. After some time, Yonatan, CfP’s Israeli Executive Director, reflected, “We are talking as if we belong to the extreme parts of our communities, but we belong to each other. We chose each other. We are not our societies; we are humans.”

Youth Community Service
National Day of Service
In Honor of 9/11
Service Days Sunday 9/10 & Monday 9/11
Registration is Open!

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice is delighted to partner again this year with YCS (Youth Community Service) on their 9/11 National Day of Service. Service site projects and at home activities for all ages and abilities. Click here to register. Most opportunities are on Sunday, 9/10. However, the Monday, 9/11 service opportunity is our own Multifaith Peace Picnic and Prayers!

Join with people around the world on August 6 for this
NUCLEAR PRAYER DAY

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Since then, the potential for nuclear catastrophe has grown to an unimaginable scale. United Religions Initiative (URI), the Parliament of the World's Religions and other organizations are hosting a world-wide NUCLEAR PRAYER DAY, inviting you, your congregation, and all religions and walks of life to pray on this day. 

There is one live-stream event featuring Bishop William E. Swing and others with prayers, reflections and actions steps for a world free of nuclear weapons. Two Zoom events are planned with space for discussion, reflection and community. Local gatherings are being hosted around the globe. Click here to visit the URI site with more information.

Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (a part of URI) has composed a multifaith prayer that you can use - individually, in small groups, and as a communities of worship.

“The Beginning and the End are in your hands, O Creator of the Universe.
And in our hands you have placed the fate of this planet.

We, who are tested by having both creative and destructive power in our free will, turn to you in sober fear and in intoxicating hope.

We ask for your guidance and to share in your imagination in our deliberations about the use of nuclear force.

Help us to lift the fog of atomic darkness that hovers so pervasively over our Earth, Your Earth, so that soon all eyes may see life magnified by your pure light.

Bless all of us who wait today for your Presence and who dedicate ourselves to achieve your intended peace and rightful equilibrium on Earth.

In the Name of all that is holy and all that is hoped. Amen.”

When a former Secretary of State, a former Secretary of Defense, several United States Ambassadors, a famous physicist, and a few friends pray each month for the elimination of nuclear weapons, it raises lots of questions. What do they know that everyone needs to know? Why are they praying? What is their prayer?  Click here to watch a short video in response to these questions, and to hear the words of this most urgent prayer!