Mideast subgroup plans next steps for Palestine solidarity

The PfL Mideast Subgroup, along with other members of the Working Group, met in New York on March 14-16 to evaluate the Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Visit to Palestine-Israel and plan the next steps that need to be taken based on the recommendations of the Amman Conference on Justice for Palestine.

Evaluation of Palestine visit

The subgroup reviewed and affirmed the preliminary assessment undertaken by a caucus of the Continuation Committee held immediately after the Amman Conference. Among the points raised at the CC caucus in Amman:

Many participants considered the activity as a powerful “life-changing” experience.
Although local participation of groups from non-Christian faith traditions was lacking, the activity represents a significant step in the development of PfL as an interfaith movement because of the interfaith composition of the international delegation.
The participants found the presentations in the Palestine public forum and the Amman Conference enlightening, especially the discourse on the role of the empire in the Palestinian question and the discussion on how religion is both a tool for subjugation and for dividing people on one hand and as a liberative and unifying force on the other.

Taking the discussion further, the subgroup focused on the following important questions:

Interfaith dimension of the program – How far has the event enhanced the interfaith character of PfL? Was the interfaith nature of the Palestine mission overrated?
Ownership by the local partners – Did having multiple partners, instead of a single partner, mean no group actually owned the initiative? Did the local partners see the activity as a mere event to organise for the international delegation? Did this lack of ownership weaken PfL’s initiative strategically?
Attention given to the religious dimension – Did the discussion and encounters focus too much on the unjust social situation and the humanitarian crisis? Was the centrality of religion adequately dealt with?
Uniqueness of the PfL event – What set it apart from the many other visits/delegations to Palestine? What is PfL’s special niche/contribution?
Openness and alliance building – Was PfL delegation too restrictive in its engagement with Jews who did not take a principled position on the occupation? How far should PfL open dialogue and solidarity engagement without abandoning its principles?

The following consensus emerged:

The Palestine mission was the first PfL initiative with significant participation from non-Christian faith communities, with at least 10 members of the delegation representing Muslim, Jewish and Hindu traditions.
The PfL initiative has helped catalyse and strengthen the coalition of Palestinian groups and helped sharpen their analysis of the Palestine-Israeli conflict in the context of US empire building. In the analysis that came out of the conference, there is emphasis on the religious dimension of the conflict (i.e. the imperialising as well as liberating role of religion).
The uniqueness of PfL’s initiative lies in its emphasis on South-South solidarity and its interfaith delegation composed of organic intellectuals and people working on the ground, not representatives of churches and institutions.
Taking a more nuanced position and greater openness in alliance-building is not a problem for PfL. However in the Palestine project, there was a need to defer to local partners who refused to sit on the same table with Jews who did not take a principled stand against the occupation.

Action plan for continuing engagement in Palestine solidarity

Taking into account the recommendations of the workshops at the Amman conference as well as the specific tasks outlined in the Pledge of Commitment, the Mideast subgroup agreed on the following action plan to carry forward PfL’s project on Palestine solidarity:

Mobilise active participation in various campaigns to end the occupation, including the May-June 2008 campaign initiated by the WCC through the International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel (ICAPPI) to mark the 60th anniversary of Naqba (60 years of dispossession of the Palestinians and the establishment of the state of Israel). There is need also to step up the campaign for Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) and to mobilise PfL’s partners in the South to join said campaign.
Build on the central theme of the Naqba—60 years of land dispossession and ethnic cleansing—(which applies not only to Palestine but to other contexts as well) to generate greater awareness on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and support for the Palestinian struggle.
Organise discussions on the issues raised at the Amman conference (including those articulated in the Pledge of Commitment) through on-line communications as well as face-to-face encounters.
Mobilise PfL partners in three countries in the South for focused engagement in Palestine solidarity: South Africa (lifting up the common experience of apartheid), South Korea (highlighting the common issue of division and partition; also there is a strong Christian Zionist presence) and Indonesia or Malaysia (where there are predominantly Muslim populations). Other countries that may be considered are the Philippines (where some work has begun), India and Pakistan. David Wildman (in consultation with Chris Ferguson) will produce a concept paper to be shared with potential country partners.
Move towards subregional and regional expressions of interfaith solidarity with Palestine.
Utilise the Pledge of Commitment—which shows the clear intersection between Zionism (as an expansionist, colonialist project), occupation, empire and religion; breaking new ground as it made a compelling articulation of imperialised religion and the role of religion in empire building—as a tool for solidarity and movement building. It should be shared widely beyond the mission participants.
Translate the Pledge of Commitment into various languages, including Arabic, Spanish, French and Korean.
Disseminate the Pledge of Commitment to councils of churches, ecumenical organisations, churches, seminaries, faith-based groups and interfaith organisations, with explicit request for feedbacks and concrete action. Also cited as groups that should be mobilised are the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT), World Forum on Theology and Liberation (WFTL), Circle of Concerned Women and World Conference on Religion and Peace.
Tap websites for wider circulation of the Pledge of Commitment. Farid Esack will ask Junaid Ahmad, a student in the US who joined the mission, to take care of this and to monitor the results.
Expand the PfL Mideast Subgroup to include Palestinians and PfL network members based in the South. PfL shall invite Rifat Kassis (who will also be requested to suggest a Palestinian Muslim woman) and Na’eem Jeenah who heads a Palestinian solidarity group in South Africa to be part of the subgroup.

Mideast subgroup to lead planning for 2008 PfL assembly

The meeting also worked on the details of the original plan (endorsed at the CC caucus in Amman) to convene the Second People’s Forum on Peace for Life in the context of the Palestinian struggle and broader Middle East issues—a key premise in the concept paper for the peace and solidarity mission to Palestine.

As such, the combined group agreed to extend the responsibility of the Mideast Subgroup to cover the planning for the Second People’s Forum. (See “2nd PfL People’s Forum set for March ‘09 in Colombia” for other details on the plan.)

Present in the meeting were Farid Esack (Co-moderator), Chris Ferguson, Gabriel Habib and David Wildman from the Mideast subgroup; John Jones and Eunice Santana (Moderator) from the Working Group (Farid and Gaby are also members of the WG); Chung Hyun Kyung (Union Theological Seminary, New York) and Elizabeth Tapia (Drew University, New Jersey) as guest participants; and Carmencita Karagdag (Coordinator) as ex officio member of both committees.

This report is based on the minutes of the combined meetings prepared by Carmencita Karagdag and Eunice Santana.