Presbyterian Church Votes in Solidarity with Palestine
By: Udochi Esomonu/Arab America Contributing Writer
For the past two centuries, the Presbyterian Church (USA), which represents about 1.5 million Americans, has played an active role in the events in the Middle East. In the recent years, its role has pertained specifically to that of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that continues to plague the world today. The Presbyterian Church has stood in solidarity with the Palestinians, working to condemn the continuous inhumane actions of the nation of Israel.
The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church, founded with the intentions to bring about a peaceful environment in Israel and Palestine, has made efforts to do so through promoting education, advocacy, and solidarity. The network specifically hopes to maintain and promote the presence of the Church in Palestine, focusing on strengthening the current environment, bringing global awareness to the reality of the conflict, and to spread the message of peace.
Arab America spoke with Fahed AbuAkel, a Presbyterian Reverend from Atlanta. He spoke on the history of the Presbyterian Church and its efforts regarding the Palestinian issue.
“The Presbyterian Church of the Middle East started in Lebanon in 1823, then it spread to Syria, and eventually spread to Egypt. Due to its presence in Egypt, the population has grown to contain one million Presbyterians in Egypt. Historically, Presbyterians have put great emphasis on evangelism, medical work, education, justice, and peacemaking. In education, the Church focuses on engaging in colleges, universities, and seminaries. In the healthcare field, they focus on engaging with clinics and hospitals all over the Middle East. For the first time in 2002, I was elected to the highest position of the General Assembly–The Moderator of the 214th General Assembly–which brought great attention to the Presbyterian Church of the Middle East as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more than ever before.
The Church’s growing involvement in the sharing of the Palestinian experience came through their dedication to providing trips for people to travel to and to stay in Israel and Palestine and to see the lives of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation for their own eyes. People witness the everyday challenges of Palestinians: they see that they need permits to go to the hospital, to go to universities, and to do the most basic things. The injustice of the Israeli military occupation of Palestine is so strong that people visiting the land can actively see it.”
This past week, during the 223rd General Assembly, held in St.Louis, Missouri, the Presbyterian Church’s Israel Palestine Mission Network, alongside the support of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and other organizations who stand in solidarity with Palestine voted in favor of a variety of initiatives that condemned the continuous Israeli occupation of Palestine, proved the support of Palestinian churches, and officially referred to the actions of the state of Israel as acts of an apartheid.
The passing of such initiatives proves the continuous support that the Presbyterian Church has for bringing to light the lives and experiences of Palestinians, who, at the hand of Israel, have been stripped of their basic human rights.
Arab America also had the chance to speak with Rev Jeff Deyoe, the chair of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Israel Palestine Mission Network, and was able to ask him a few questions regarding the initiatives that were recently passed:
1. What is the significance of these initiatives by the Presbyterian church?
Since 2004, the Presbyterian Church has officially made important steps toward its support of Palestine. In 2014, we divested from U.S. companies that profited from non-peaceful pursuits in occupied Palestine. This issue has been a topic of conversation in the assembly as a whole and it is through shifting the engagement of corporate businesses that would begin the official lifting of the voices of Palestinians. Many, throughout the years, continuously voted to maintain corporate engagement with businesses who reaped financial profit from the situation at hand. We continued to fight for Palestinian justice, not just for those in Gaza and in the West Bank, but also for Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, who were deemed as second-class citizens. These initiatives passed were a direct result of our support for Palestinians and our dedication to standing up for the rights of Palestinians.
2. How difficult was it to achieve votes on such initiatives?
We supported eight essential initiatives and successfully passed them all for the first time in the history of our network. It was very powerful and meaningful. The outstanding thing was that these votes didn’t pass by small margins; they passed by large margins
3. Would these initiatives serve as an example or influence on future initiatives by other church groups?
We hope so. We are in cooperation with a number of different Christian organizations, but also with Interfaith groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine
4. What is the next step for the Presbyterian church regarding future Palestinian initiatives?
Our hope is to eventually reach out more to the regional denominational groups. The regional groups do the same work as us, but on a regionally-based level, and we want to ensure that they are empowered and supported in their efforts. We want to continue to focus on the intersectionality aspect of our overall mission. As the regional groups are on the front line of our mission and our efforts, we want to make sure that we are empowering them in new and improved ways.