Minister’s Column
In the news this week is a series of university student protests against Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. This prompted me to look up the statement on the conflict from the Unitarian Universalist Association, and to reflect on war and protest in general.
The students are demanding an end to the military operation, and also a divestment from Israeli businesses on the part of the university. For me this recalls the (much milder) protest in the late 1980’s when I was in college: we were calling on our university to divest from South Africa in protest of the apartheid government. And it recalls an earlier generation of (much stronger) protests: the quintessential campus protests of the late 1960’s against the Vietnam war. The death of students on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University remains an infamous moment from that era—and its anniversary is this week. I just listened to an NPR story comparing the protests then and now, pointing out that today’s protests so far are much less disruptive. Still, today I hear that some students are being arrested or expelled in the protests.
Turning to the UUA, their website contains this statement from February, attributed to the leadership of the Association:
What should be clear to all of us…is that the Israeli government’s forced displacement, punishment, and intentional inflicting of suffering and death upon children and civilians in Gaza is a moral catastrophe that our faith demands we condemn and resist. In that spirit, the Unitarian Universalist Association reiterates our condemnation of the Israeli military’s ongoing violence against Gaza and joins again with the growing chorus of voices across the globe urging immediate and total ceasefire, the provision of massive emergency humanitarian aid, and the safe return of all hostages and prisoners.
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…we offer our prayers to all those working to mitigate harm and stop the atrocities, from journalists and doctors and humanitarian workers on the ground, to Israeli citizens and Jews across the diaspora faithfully engaging and courageously protesting the right-wing Netanyahu regime, to global multi-faith and secular movements advocating for ceasefire. We urge Unitarian Universalists to listen deeply, especially to the voices of Palestinians whose lives and communities have been the vast majority of casualties of this war, and to think critically about the ways the United States is complicit in enabling this disaster to continue.
PRAYER:
May all peace-loving gods hear this prayer.
May this prayer touch the instinct for peace within every human heart.
The voice of civilians in Gaza says, Enough! No more rockets and guns.
May life-giving services be restored to the people of Gaza.
May the wounds of war be healed.
May the world move one inch closer today—one heartbeat closer in every human heart—to the day when war and violence will cease.
To this end may we dare to hope. May we lift our voices in protest of war and in support of peace.
May it be so.
Rev. Andrew Frantz
April 30, 2024