News and Blog

We are changing our name!

UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is changing our name to UUs for Justice in Palestine (UUJP).

On September 27, we hosted an online event to share our 2026-2029 Strategic Plan.  It was a beautiful evening filled with music, poetry, celebration, and love.

Here is a copy of the presentation we shared that evening, that reviews our accomplishments over the last three years, and the details of our plans for the next three years.  

One of the most significant things coming out of our strategic planning process is a decision to change our name. UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is changing our name to UUs for Justice in Palestine (UUJP).

The decision was made through a unanimous vote by the board on August 11th, 2026.

As part of our 2026-2029 Strategic Planning process, the organization held five listening sessions (12/25-2/26), and UUA staff were consulted, to solicit feedback about our work, areas for improvement, and where we should be headed.  Each listening session targeted specific key contributors to our work:

  • Chapter Leaders and Local Advocates
  • Legislative Action Committee
  • Advisory Board Members
  • UU Social Justice Partner Organizations
  • Faith Based Palestine Solidarity Partners

In each of the listening sessions we asked a range of questions, including one about changing our name.  The response that we got was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic about this shift.

Written by
October 19, 2026

  • We are changing our name!

    UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is changing our name to UUs for Justice in Palestine (UUJP).

    On September 27, we hosted an online event to share our 2026-2029 Strategic Plan.  It was a beautiful evening filled with music, poetry, celebration, and love.

    Here is a copy of the presentation we shared that evening, that reviews our accomplishments over the last three years, and the details of our plans for the next three years.  

    One of the most significant things coming out of our strategic planning process is a decision to change our name. UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is changing our name to UUs for Justice in Palestine (UUJP).

    The decision was made through a unanimous vote by the board on August 11th, 2026.

    As part of our 2026-2029 Strategic Planning process, the organization held five listening sessions (12/25-2/26), and UUA staff were consulted, to solicit feedback about our work, areas for improvement, and where we should be headed.  Each listening session targeted specific key contributors to our work:

    • Chapter Leaders and Local Advocates
    • Legislative Action Committee
    • Advisory Board Members
    • UU Social Justice Partner Organizations
    • Faith Based Palestine Solidarity Partners

    In each of the listening sessions we asked a range of questions, including one about changing our name.  The response that we got was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic about this shift.

    Written by
    October 19, 2026

  • Sign on: UU Support for Mohsen Mahdawi

     

    Mohsen Mahdawi grew up in Al-Far’a, a refugee camp near Jenin, Palestine, where his childhood was marked by the trauma of living under Israeli occupation. At twenty-four, he arrived in the United States and experienced freedom and safety for the first time.

    That experience was cut short in April 2025 when Mahdawi walked into a Vermont immigration office expecting to complete his U.S. citizenship process. Instead, he was handcuffed and detained. The arrest, widely seen as retaliation for his pro-Palestinian activism, sparked national solidarity.

    When speaking about Mohsen, Rev. Karen G. Johnston, the Senior Minister at First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington said "Mohsen has been a Unitarian Universalist nearly as long as he has been a Vermonter; he is often heard naming both as part of his wide family whom he embraces and who embraces him. As UUs, we are enriched by Mohsen's spiritual depth, his moral courage, and his authentic commitment to Love at the Center and the possibility of universal healing through justice." 

    Mohsen was released from ICE custody, shortly after his arrest, when an immigration judge dismissed his case because she found that the government had not supported its charge with the proper documentation. The government appealed to the Bureau of Immigration appeals, which quickly reinstated the government’s case against him and sent the case back to court. 

    Now he is facing a new deportation threat after a three-judge federal appeals panel has overturned the lower court’s ruling that ordered his release from ICE custody. The new ruling could allow the Trump administration to rearrest him.

    Mohsen continues to fight his case and contends that his detention is unlawful because the Trump Administration is seeking to expel him for Constitutionally protected free speech.

    Under the advice of his legal team, we have created an opportunity for UUs to sign on and show their support for Mohsen as he continues to fight against his deportation. 

    You can sign on here, and please share with other members of your congregation!

    Mohsen’s spiritual practices of Unitarian Universalism and Buddhism inform and are informed by his championing of human rights through active organizing, peace building, and policy reform.

    Learn more about Mohsen Mahdawi at his webpage, and sign up for his newsletter.

    Written by
    August 24, 2026

  • UUJME Events at UUA GA 2026

    UUJME is honored to present two programs during the 2026 UUA General Assembly. Both are available to registered attendees, and can be attended virtually through the Whova conference app. We hope to see many people viewing the on-demand resource, and live in attendance for the Thursday program. Program descriptions are below the event images. 

    On-Demand Video - Palestine 101 and Intro to Palestine 201 webinar

    Live program - UU Witness Delegation: Meeting the Palestine Solidarity Moment - Thursday, June 18, at 7 pm Eastern/4 pm Pacific

    We also are providing two images to show your solidarity with Palestinians, a Zoom background and a profile picture, with a watermelon chalice design and the saying "until all are free, none are free - UUs for a free Palestine." To get the correct sized images, access them here:

    green background with olive tree behind images of four speakers

    We are honored to be producing this LIVE program at #UUAGA 2026! UUA General Assembly EduCenter Program:
    UU Witness Delegation: Meeting the Palestine Solidarity Moment
    Open to GA registrants via the Whova platform EduCenter space - titles are in alphabetical order, and this one stars with "UU Witness." Navigate in the app to Events > EduCenter on desktop; direct EduCenter tile on mobile devices. Enter the event, and look for the Zoom link section. There is also a short recorded video from the trip under the Live event link that you can view anytime during the coming 8 to 10 days. A booklet of trip experiences will be available in the event space soon.
    Thursday, June 18, 2026
    7-8:30 pm Eastern/4-5:30 pm Pacific
    In January 2026, the first delegation to Palestine of UU seminarians and religious professionals took place. Thirteen people participated in a UUs for Justice in the Middle East and Friends of Sabeel supported witness trip, hosted by Palestinian Christian ecumenical liberation theology center Sabeel.
    In this live program, trip leader Rev. Meagan Henry, Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, and seminarian India Wood will share their experiences with attention to UU values. Moderator is UUJME President Dana Fisher Ashrawi.
    Green rectangle with question marks behind speaker images
    Check out our video recording in the EduCenter section of the Whova conference app! We have a a 50-minute presentation on Palestine 101 and overview of our new curriculum, Palestine 201, officially titled "Broadening the Lens on Palestine: a UU Course for Deeper Learning, Connection, and Action."
    Titles in EduCenter are in alphabetical order - ours starts with Palestine 101. UUJME has been providing teach-ins for more than two years in response to the UUA GA 2024 Action of Immediate Witness, "Solidarity with Palestinians." In April we launched "Palestine 201" - Broadening the Lens on Palestine. UUJME Vice President Rev. DL Helfer and President Dana Fisher Ashrawi presented.
    Navigate in the Whova app to Events > EduCenter on desktop; direct EduCenter tile on mobile devices.

     

    Written by
    June 14, 2026

  • Nakba Commemoration

    Friday, May 15, 2026, marks the 78th Anniversary of the Nakba.

    We are asking UU congregations across the United States to bear witness by recognizing Nakba Day during service on May 10th or 17th.

    “The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Before the Nakba, Palestine was a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. However, the conflict between Arabs and Jews intensified in the 1930s with the increase of Jewish immigration, driven by persecution in Europe, and with the Zionist movement aiming to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.” Between 700,000 and 800,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed or fled from their cities and villages during the Nakba. Hundreds of towns and villages were destroyed by Israeli forces. Displaced Palestinians were never allowed to return.

    The General Assembly of the United Nations first recognized Nakba Day in 2023. In 2024, the UUA General Assembly affirmed our “Solidarity with Palestinians” in an Action of Immediate Witness. Forced removal is a war crime, a denial of human rights. Today, as our US tax dollars support the continued killing and forced removal of Palestinians in Palestine—and their oppression by apartheid laws and systems in Israel and the occupied territories—UUs affirm the values of Pluralism, Interdependence, Generosity, Equity, Transformation, and Justice. We are bound by love to bring these values into the world, and make them a reality. 

    You can find a version of the statement above that can be read from the pulpit during service, an appeal letter for your Minister or Worship Committee, and a flier to hand out after service on the Resource page of our website under "Worship Resources."

    If you are planning an event to commemorate the Nakba, or incorporating into a service, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected]

    Written by
    May 07, 2026

  • No To War in Iran

    UUJME is part of the global movement for solidarity with Palestinians, and our mission calls on us to support our allies in broader global justice and anti-oppression movements. As such we condemn the United States-Israel military attacks on Iran, attacks which have generated a war spreading across the region. We mourn the deaths resulting from this illegal attack, lifting up the more than 150 Iranian children and their teachers killed in bombing of a school in the first 24 hours, and support the people of Iran’s right to freedom and self-determination. 

    We recall the connection of this attack to a long history of U.S. actions against the people of Iran, including the U.S. (and U.K) - orchestrated wrecking of Iran’s secular democracy in 1953, the imposition of life-destroying economic sanctions beginning in 1979, and trashing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018.

    We support a world liberated from militarism, coercive control, state violence, and the abuses of imperialism. This will take an increasingly connected global movement that is clear about forming the necessary broad coalition that spans many philosophical differences and upholds international law as exemplified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Please join us in the discipline of praying with your body without ceasing. Attend protest rallies. Organize people in your congregation to support the Purge Palantir campaign. Mobilize other UUs to call Congress to stop state and federal tax money from supplying weapons for attacking Palestine and Iran, and also to stop funding ICE and DHS. Ask your congregation to join the growing numbers of UU groups pledging to be Apartheid-Free, because helping to dismantle Israel’s systemic violence is one key to ending expanded neocolonialism and apartheid in the region. 

    We hope to see you on the front lines of social change and moral revolution inside and outside of your congregations, partnering broadly as you help to bend the arc of the universe toward justice.

    Read and share the UUA and UUSC statements about the attack on Iran.

     

    Written by
    March 04, 2026