“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Palestine Israel Network Alberta
Alberta PIN is a regional working group that supports the ongoing work of a just peace in Palestine-Israel identified in the 2016 resolution of Mennonite Church Canada. We meet monthly to strategize on how to support the voices of our Palestinian Christian partners on the ground through activities such as monthly letter-writing, joining learning webinars and virtual learning tours, and developing local initiatives. The MC Alberta chapter of the PIN connects, develops actions, and shares resources with the other regional PIN chapters of MC Canada.
Our MC Alberta PIN working group is open to anyone in support of the MC Canada resolution. Close PIN partners include MCC Canada, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, and Bethlehem Bible College. By collaborating closely with people on the ground, we are grounded in and guided by the current reality and struggle experienced by our brothers and sisters in Palestine.
Contact: Suzanne Gross at suzannegross@netscape.net.
Letter from our moderator, Brenda Tiessen-Wiens
and our Executive Minister, Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, to our Prime Minister.
Dear Prime Minister:
As leaders in what are often called the historic peace churches, we are deeply concerned about the current situation in Israel-Palestine. As citizens of Canada we come with several requests of our government and our elected representatives. We wholeheartedly reject the violence that has occurred since October 7th in Israel and Gaza. We feel the pain of Israelis and Palestinians. We seek to uplift the shared humanity of all. We recognize the ongoing trauma on all sides. We grieve with all those who have lost loved ones and whose safety and security has been harmed. We pray for peace to come to the Holy Land shared among the three great Abrahamic faiths. READ FULL LETTER HERE.
March for ceasefire in Gaza in Edmonton, Sunday Oct. 29
(Updated) MC Canada PIN statement on Gaza
Mennonite Church Canada Palestine-Israel Network
Statement on the events of October 7, 2023, and following
Updated November 1, 2023
In the wake of the brutal attack by Hamas militants on Israeli citizens and the resulting overwhelming Israeli military assault on the people of Gaza, we lament the loss of all lives, both Israeli and Palestinian. We condemn all violence—whether committed by Hamas militants or Israeli soldiers. We lament the hatred, the dehumanization, the militarization, and the growing humanitarian catastrophe that we witness unfolding. At the same time, we lament that the current situation has helped stoke attitudes and actions of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab racism around the world and in our local communities in Canada. .
We are shocked, but not entirely surprised, that Hamas chose this moment to launch a devastating attack inside Israel. Gaza has been under an oppressive blockade by Israel for 16 years. Despite years of steadfast nonviolent resistance on the part of Palestinian citizens and Israeli Jewish peace advocates, Israel and the international community have mostly ignored the longstanding humanitarian crisis in Gaza, even though they have had ample opportunity to address it through the application of international law.
Israeli provocations this year have helped precipitate the current crisis through accelerated settler violence in the occupied West Bank, recent and repeated settler invasions of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque compound, and expanding settlements in the West Bank. These have only compounded the effects of Israel's military occupation. At the hands of the Israeli government, Palestinians have endured decades of dispossession of homes and land, flagrant disregard for international law and human rights, refusal of the Right of Return of Refugees of 1948 and 1967 (UN Resolution #194), and strategies of apartheid.
A just peace will only be achieved when all people – including the Palestinians – are free from oppression. This requires that Israel end its occupation and its repressive policies toward Palestinians. In order to have peace, we must work for justice for all.
As Anabaptist-Mennonite Christians whose faith compels us to uphold the dignity and value of human lives regardless of ethnicity and creed, and who are committed to nonviolent paths to peace, we call on our Canadian government to support international efforts to:
- bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza;
- address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza;
- stop increased settler violence toward Palestinians in the West Bank;
- secure the release of all hostages taken by Hamas; and
- end the Israeli occupation and blockade of Palestinian territories in compliance with international law.
Note: This statement comes from the regional chairs of the Network’s regional working groups, not necessarily from denominational leadership bodies.
Prayer of lament and intercession for Palestine and Israel
God of love and justice, our hearts are perplexed, paralyzed and broken at the recent carnage in Palestine and Israel. We lament the loss of life and the suffering of so many innocent people on both sides. We are shocked at the inhumanity of soldiers and militants, especially when they act in the name of God.
We lament that our prayers for peace seem to go unanswered. We wish you would intervene. We cling to your promise of a different world, but we see so few signs of its fulfillment. Why?
In our feeble faith, we declare your desire for life and for peace.
Holy Spirit, strengthen our resolve to advocate for peace, justice, equality, and compassion for all. Don’t let us turn our face away.
Comfort all who are overwhelmed with loss—loss of life, loss of homes, loss of safety and security.
God of the vulnerable and the oppressed, neutralize the power of tyrants in their thirst for domination and control. Renew the strength and resolve of leaders committed to nonviolent resistance and change.
Remember the Christian communities in the land where Jesus walked ad where the church was born. May their witness to your love remain bright among their Muslim and Jewish neighbours. May they recognize your hand in their lives, even amidst the suffering.
God of all nations, guide our own government in responding in ways that support the legitimate rights of all, especially those who are most vulnerable, those who continue to suffer after decades of occupation, dispossession, and denial of basic human rights.
May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Yours is the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever.
Amen
An open letter and petition from Munther Isaac. Click image for the link.
“Learn to do right; seek justice; defend the oppressed” (Isa 1:17). 