Minute Concerning the Israeli-Gaza War of 2023-2024

Valley Friends Meeting offers a Minute Concerning the Israeli-Gaza War of 2023-2024 and what you can do to help end the war.

Palestinian boy
Palestinian boy. Image by hosny salah from Pixabay

Valley Friends Meeting
Minute Concerning the Israeli-Gaza War of 2023-2024

We, the members of Valley Friends Meeting, upon prayerful reflection, state that we:

  • grieve and deplore the history of violence in Israel and Palestine that prevent the security, development, and peace of both peoples;
  • press the United States Government to re-evaluate its policies of supplying armaments to any country or group to require that civilians and all those not taking part in the fighting must not be attacked and must be spared and protected.
  • urge the United States Government to continue substantial humanitarian aid to the refugee camps and other Palestinians in Gaza;
  • entreat top political officials of Israel and Palestine to meet their moral obligations to their respective citizenry and negotiate a just and permanent peace treaty that will benefit both sides, give hope for the future, and reduce instability in the region;
  • advocate the use of neutral third party mediators to assist in negotiations; encourage both the Israelis and Palestinians to recognize that compromises will be necessary to share the land for the good of both peoples;
  • exhort the parties to forego relating past events and look to the future for opportunities to show the world that intractable conflict can be changed for the good;
  • request the support of the global community to encourage negotiations and assist wherever possible to help both sides fulfill the resulting treaty obligations in a peaceful manner; and
  • support the work of the American Friends Service Committee in the West Bank and Gaza to help Palestinians meet their basic human needs and bring true peace to both peoples.

We offer our services in any fair and nonviolent way we can to help fulfill these petitions, and we continue to hold both peoples in the Light for peace and justice for them and their posterity.

Minute Approved this 19th day of May, 2024, in Dayton, Virginia, USA

WHAT WE CAN DO toward ending the genocide in GAZA

Educate ourselves: (see book list below)

  1. Use FCNL.org and AFSC.org websites (subscribe to their emails)
  2. IfAmericansKnew.org has been analyzing US media coverage of Israel-Palestine, for over 20 years, excellent resources about the history of the conflict and also up-to-date news and printed resources.
  3. Support/join protesters  (example: Menno Action; student groups)
  4. Write letters to local newspapers (ex. Daily News Record), legislators, to Pres. Biden. (FCNL.org, gives advice)
  5. Divest of and urge others to divest of companies which build weapons (see AFSC.org list below). Ex. Protest the building of Northrup Grummond in Waynesboro, VA
  6. Request lobby visits/ join our Shenandoah Valley Advocacy Team
BOOKS

Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for the Curious, Confused and Conflicted (2021) by Daniel Sokatch.

Journey to Jerusalem (1981) by Grace Halsell

My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by  Ari Shavit

Palestine Peace Not Apartheid (2006) by Jimmy Carter (recommended by Nadia and Bob)

Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict 1881-2000 by Benny Morris’ (a very good, even-handed history)

Sinking into the Honey Trap: The Case of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. (2023) by Daniel Bar-Tal

Theft of a Nation (1982) by William Baker

The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (recommended by Nadia and Bob)

We Are Not One: A History of America’s Fight Over Israel (2022) By Eric Alterman. .

We Belong To the Land (2001) by Elias Chacour (recommended by Nadia and Bob)

Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?: Redefinition and the Myth of the “Collective Jew” (2022) By Antony Lerman.

Any of Albert Einstein’s writings or speeches on Zionism—he was for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, but not a Jewish state—would also be at the top of my list – Bob Bersson

Weapons Manufacturers: These are all explicitly complicit in the war on Gaza

*BAE Systems PLC (LSE: BA.)
*Boeing Co (NYSE: BA)
*Colt CZ Group SE (PSE: CZG)
*Elbit Systems Ltd (TASE & NASDAQ: ESLT)
*General Dynamics Corp (NYSE: GD)
*General Electric Co (NYSE: GE)
*L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE: LHX)
*Leonardo SpA (MIL: LDO)
*Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE: LMT)
*Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE: NOC)
*RENK Group AG (XMUN: R3NK)
*Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE: RR.)
*RTX Corp (NYSE: RTX)
*Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT) *thyssenkrupp AG (ETR: TKA)

https://afsc.org/divest