image source:  My/Clay Banks

#2 in the Series:  the 10 Commandments and Palestine

For some time, many United Church of Canada folks have been calling for the leadership of the Church to speak up about the heinous war the State of Israel is waging on Palestinians as both  revenge for October 7th and as an opportunity to fulfill the 76+ years political-Zionist Plan D goal to have sovereignty over all of Palestine and eliminating Palestinian residents. 

I am happy to report that the UCC General Secretary has issued a strong letter encouraging, among other ideas, that Canada suspend diplomatic relations with the State of  Israel.   The letter is a major step forward in calling not on for a ceasefire and humanitarian responses, but also a call to begin diplomatic negotiations triggered by the International Court of Justice's clear condemnation of the State of Israel's illegality.     

Publishing the link to the letter and also to the home page of the UCC is my aim to spread the word and spark local action and advocacy in light of Palestinian suffering.    All who seek justice and peace  are called to contribute to ending this heinous war.   Well over 40,000 Palestinians have already been murdered, with famine killing others, polio breaking out because of unhygienic conditions created by Israeli bombardment of infrastructure, and where as many as 186,000 could be killed by the time the genocide stops according to a report in the Lancet publication.  That number and the term "genocide" are clear violations of the Divine Commandment:   You shall not kill and breach International laws.  Such killing prowess cannot but destroy faith and lay waste to any ethical and peaceable values for both the shooter and those shot, the living and those who grieve the dead.

This colonizing war presents the western world and its Christian churches with foundational challenges and the risk of ethical nihilism.  The 76-year war must be stopped so that justice for Palestinians, including their United Nations' promised  "right of return" and the restoration of self-determination so that Israel's apartheid settler colonialism may be reversed. 

 All people who reside in Palestine "from the sea to river" must learn to learn to live without fear, hate, and the threat of war, and learn the ways of peaceful co-existence as people with diverse gifts to share.   It is what God intend for the entire human family and people of faith can no longer fail to answer God's call crying from the rubble.   The letter follows:

Michael Blair, General Secretary of the General Council of the United Church of Canada, letter of

Aug 13, 2024 to

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada

House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2

[email protected] [email protected]

RE: Canada should suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, given Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law.

follow this link for the full text: https://united-church.ca/news/dear-prime-minister-quiet-diplomacy-isnt-working  and other UCC documents on Palestine.

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Naomi Klein, professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada

As further insight from a Jewish moral point of view, I commend to you Naomi Klein's thoughtful and courageous speech delivered at an emergency seder held on New York streets.   It reflects on political Zionist agenda and its destructive consequences for faith and humans.   It was published in the Guardian and may be summarized in this quote:  "Zionism is a false idol that has taken the idea of the promised land and turned it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate."

Follow this link to read her Tanakh/biblically aware insightful piece:    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/24/zionism-seder-protest-new-york-gaza-israel

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.....More to come in this series on the Ten Commandments and Palestine