One of PIN’s three working groups (the others being Education and Communications with Allies and Friends) is Local Organizing in Parishes and Dioceses.  Our members are based in the Dioceses of Washington, Vermont, Connecticut, Central New York, and Rochester.  As the name suggests, Local Organizing’s mission is to engage, initiate, facilitate, and disseminate the broad spectrum of ways in which Episcopalians can and are advocating for Palestine at the local level.  Whereas the Communication work group’s focus is largely outside of our Church, Local Organizing seeks to address and to grow an audience within the Church, with a view toward expanding awareness of the struggle for Palestinian self-determination, grounding our work in the Gospel mandate, educating our Church on existing Episcopal Church policy on Palestine – Israel, expanding that policy through resolutions presented to diocesan conventions, spreading the word on examples of creative advocacy, and getting tools for education and activism into the hands of Episcopalians around the country.

As has been true since our formation in 2019, an emphasis for Local Organizing in 2021 continued to be the creation and dissemination of diocesan resolutions on matters relevant to Palestine advocacy.  Our experience tells us that organizing around these resolutions serves several purposes: they provide a focus for gathering people within and among parishes around a specific, well-defined goal and thus may facilitate EPF chapter creation; the content of the resolutions brings Palestine to the attention of bishops, clergy, diocesan deputies, and laity; and resolutions passed at the diocesan level may be forwarded to the Church’s General Convention, where they have the opportunity to inform and expand official policy of the Episcopal Church.  

Dioceses that played a pioneering role in this effort were those of Chicago and Vermont, which, even before Local Organizing was formed, had passed resolutions on Christian Zionism, the right to boycott in support of Palestinian human rights, and application of the Leahy Law to Israel.  Local Organizing served as a network through which these initial successful resolutions were propagated to other PIN activists, thereby enabling the initial resolutions to serve as models.  The importance of this cannot be overstated.  By offering examples and demonstrating the feasibility of negotiating diocesan rules and procedures, others were inspired to act.  For example, using Vermont’s 2018 resolution on the right to boycott as a model, the Diocese of Rochester passed a similar resolution in 2019.  Chicago and Vermont continue to lead and inspire, with resolutions passed at their fall 2021 conventions naming as apartheid Zionist policies in occupied Palestine.  In these instances, Local Organizing worked “from the bottom up” to disseminate local initiatives.

We worked from “top down”, as well, informing local PIN activists of the language necessary to ensure that resolutions would be forwarded to the General Convention Office.  As Local Organizing and PIN generally gained more experience with diocesan resolutions, we were better able to assist activists in dioceses that had no or very limited experience in crafting and submitting resolutions.  In consultation with Local Organizing, members of the Bishop’s Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land in the Diocese of Olympia were successful in passing a resolution calling for equal rights for all people in the Holy Land at their fall, 2021 convention.  At the time of this writing, resolutions on apartheid, Christian Zionism, and the Right to Boycott have been submitted to the late January convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

A critical tool for Local Organizing’s communication among Episcopalians interested in working toward a just peace in Palestine is our monthly electronic newsletter, PIN Bulletin for Local Organizers, the 30th edition of which was published in December 2021.  In addition to telling the stories of successful local advocacy throughout the PIN network, the Bulletin publicizes actions and opportunities launched by other denominations, informs readers of online High Holy Day services streaming from Palestine, reports on initiatives of the Episcopal Church that have been determined by acts of the General Convention, and draws attention to resources available at the PIN website, where all issues of the Bulletin are archived.

As PIN turns its attention to General Convention 2022, the Bulletin will keep readers informed on our plans for an effective witness, including gathering support for resolutions.  In the immediate near future, our focus is on organizing testimony in support of the diocesan resolutions, which will be heard by legislative committees during online hearings beginning in late February.  Closely coupled with this is an effort to reach out to and engage Convention deputies and bishops on the urgent matters addressed in the various resolutions.