Please join PIN HERE
We met as concerned Episcopalians in Chicago the weekend of October 15, 2010 to establish a network dedicated to a more robust Episcopal Church witness for justice and peace for our Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters .
We are responding to:
- the promise made in our baptismal covenant to “ … strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being”;
- the call of Palestinian Civil Society for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights (July, 2005);
- and the prayerful call of Palestinian Christians expressed in the Kairos Palestine Document (December, 2009).
We believe the Episcopal Church can and should play a vital role in seeking justice and peace for Palestinians and Israelis. We believe that without justice, there will be no lasting peace which both people deserve.
We invite all Episcopalians who will commit to active engagement in education, support and advocacy in response to our baptismal covenant and to the call of our Palestinian brothers and sisters to join the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine/Israel Network (EPF/PIN).
As examples of education, we will encourage Episcopalians to take “witness” trips to Israel/Palestine, to study and discuss the Kairos Palestine Document and the Presbyterian publication, Steadfast Hope.
As examples of support, we will encourage support for the Palestinian community, their congregations and institutions, secular and faith-based organizations supporting life on the West Bank and in Gaza.
As examples of advocacy, we will encourage active engagement in some level of boycott of Israeli products and divestment from companies which support and benefit from the Israeli occupation. We will introduce appropriate resolutions at diocesan and general conventions supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions, support the non-violent resistance of the Palestinian people to the occupation and encourage partnerships with other denominational, interfaith and secular advocacy initiatives seeking justice and peace through non-violent means.
We hope you will join us. You can join PIN HERE. If you have questions about the Network, please feel free to contact any of the signatories below.
Ms. Betsy Barlow, Board Member, Friends of Sabeel, North America, American for Middle East Understanding (AMEU), and Israeli Committee against House Demolitions –USA (ICAHD-USA); St. Timothy’s Church, Richland; Diocese of Western Michigan
The Rev. Ann Coburn, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley; Diocese of California
Ms. Bo Fauth, Co-chair, Friends of Sabeel North America in New England; Christ Church Cambridge; Diocese of Massachusetts
The Rev. Dr. Cotton Fite, Priest Associate, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Evanston, Illinois; Diocese of Chicago
The Rev.Dr. Ted Gaiser, Chair, Israel/Palestine Task Force; Diocese of Massachusetts
The Rev. Kerith Harding, Member of the National Executive Committee of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and the Assistant Rector of Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport; Diocese of Connecticut
Donna Hicks, Co-convener, Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) Israel/Palestine Action Group; Diocese of North Carolina
The Very Rev. Ross Jones, Dean, St. George’s College, Jerusalem, retired; Diocese of Western North Carolina
Ms. Gwin Jones, Cathedral of All Souls, Asheville; Diocese of Western North Carolina
Dr. Edward S. LaMonte, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham; Diocese of Alabama
The Rev. Dr. Ruth Bradbury LaMonte, Priest Associate, St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel, Magnolia Springs, Alabama; Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Ms. Ann Hume Loikow, St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.; Diocese of Washington
Ms. Grace Saïd, Board Member, Friends of Sabeel, North America and Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace (WIAMEP); Diocese of Washington
Mr. Newland Smith, Librarian Emeritus, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois; Diocese of Chicago
The Rt. Rev. Cabell Tennis, Bishop of Delaware, retired; Assisting Bishop, Diocese of Olympia, Washington
Ms. Maurine Tobin, Long term volunteer and editor for Sabeel, Jerusalem; St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church, Diocese of Maine
The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Tobin, Rector, Christ Church Cambridge, Massachusetts, retired; Diocese of Maine
The Rev. Dr. Richard Toll, Chair, Friends of Sabeel North America, Portland; Diocese of Oregon
Mr. Thomas Trueblood, Episcopal Church of the Advocate, Chapel Hill; Diocese of North Carolina
