Palestine

SURJ SB Statement on Palestine

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SURJ SB stands with the people of Palestine in calling for a ceasefire, now and forever, and an end to Israel’s oppressive occupation of historic Palestine. SURJ SB stands against the oppressive actions of Israel that have harmed Palestinian people for decades, and their recent escalation of genocidal efforts to destroy the Palestinian people as a whole. There is never a moral, ethical, or reasonable justification for killing fellow human beings.

SURJ SB is horrified by the mass murders of human beings in Palestine that have occurred since October 7, as well as the displacement of millions of Palestinians from their homes which has led to widespread starvation and dehydration, rampant disease, and utter deprivation. These are unjustifiable actions against a civilian population (an unusually high proportion of those killed being children) which are clearly motivated by a vengeful desire for the extermination of an entire culture.

SURJ SB stands against racism and any Us vs Them perspective which is used to divide people and justify violence against fellow human beings. Furthermore, SURJ SB holds an anti-war stance, recognizing that conflicts should not be resolved by violence. We know that the recognition of our humanity and our universally shared values can only be followed by a commitment to resolving conflicts without inflicting harm.

In our efforts to show up for justice in this conflict we are obliged to learn more about its history. Therefore, it is imperative that we come to “understand how far-right movements weaponize anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab bigotry, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism to push a Christian nationalist worldview. Attacks against Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and Jews are not just isolated incidents perpetrated by racist individuals. They are motivated by a Christian nationalist ideology that seeks a White, Christian society without Muslims, Arabs, or Jews.”1 Thus, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bigotry are both manifestations of similar or even the same hateful ideologies, and have no place in our world.

SURJ SB recognizes that criticism of Israel and Zionism is not inherently antisemitic. To imply that it is ignores the long history of anti-Zionist Jews standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We also know that the terrible, unjust persecution of Jews for millennia around the globe has created a climate of fear and distrust that is tangled up with misunderstandings that have led to an incorrect conflation of Judaism and Zionism and a misguided support for the settler nation, Israel. This can be a difficult world view to come to terms with, as we know from our own path of learning on the matter.

As always, when exposure to new perspectives about the world leads to defensiveness, it is essential that we sit back in contemplation, working toward an understanding of what we are feeling and why, and then seek to gain more knowledge about the issues, especially through conversation with others who have engaged in that struggle. This is the effort we must make as we walk an anti-racist path.

SURJ SB also protests the funding by the US government of Israel's genocidal regime and concerted efforts of elected officials in our country, while claiming to be protecting Jews, to remove our right to protest Israel’s actions. Governmental support of Zionism is at best a flawed attempt to protect Jews, and we all, Jews included, are harmed by proposals which would remove our civil rights to protest injustice.

Witnessing the horrific apartheid terrorism which the Israeli government is inflicting upon Palestinians with the aid of our own government, we have a moral responsibility to voice our opposition and to take action.