Photo: Dome of the Rock mosque, Jerusalem. Photos by Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti.

FROM REV. MANISH – UUJME DELEGATION UPDATE - January 13, 2026

I love being here, and it is hard being here. This is what I can say about Jerusalem. Jerusalem poignantly reminds me of my ancestral hometown of Lucknow, India: there is profound beauty and potential around every corner and the city’s lived reality is fraught.  

Lucknow, as the once Islamic cultural capital of India, is a pluralistic intersection of language, cuisine, poetry, architecture, music and more. The food, language, and art has historically been a syncretic mix of Hindu and Muslim cultural traditions, one that I have always found deeply beautiful and inspiring. Muslims and Hindus have lived side-by-side for centuries in Lucknow and at their best learned from one another and thrived together.  

Yet, this is not the whole story. With the rise of Hindutva (muscular and militaristic Hindu nationalism) throughout India, local government in Lucknow is controlled by Hindu nationalist politicians and local Muslims have to live under the political radar and with the reality of fear.  Politically, Muslims are reminded at every turn that their well-being and livelihoods are precarious; they should not cause a fuss and should be grateful for whatever their current second-class citizen status brings them. It’s awful and deeply disappointing to one who loves the beauty of Lucknow’s pluralistic and syncretic traditions.

India has been much on my mind as I navigate the streets of Jerusalem, experiencing a similar pluralistic beauty and also, unfortunately, the failed realization of pluralism’s potential.  It is heart achingly disappointing, most especially as one realizes that the right seeds – the right ingredients – are all there.

In a single day this week, our delegation visited the third holiest site in all of Islam, the Al Aqsa Mosque; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest sites in all of Christianity; and, the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism. All of this within easy walking distance of one another. These sites hold immense physical beauty – Al Aqsa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are hands down the most physically beautiful mosque and church I have ever visited, and the Western Wall holds its own unadorned yet powerful beauty.  

That physical beauty is complemented by the beauty of the people visiting these sites who are devoutly engaged in prayer and reflection – individuals bringing their hopes and dreams to these unique places of pilgrimage. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all deeply engaged in profound spiritual reflection, mere steps from one another. My pluralistic heart immediately recognized the cultural and spiritual potential in this. How powerful it would be to share these longings of the heart with one another – to bridge difference and find commonality through our similar and parallel human yearnings! It should be possible to do this, and yet the lived reality here is something else.

The government of Israel severely restricts when and how Muslims can visit Al Aqsa. As foreign guests we were able to visit the mosque on our day of choosing, but it was a mosque that was relatively empty due to the stringent regulation of Muslim pilgrims to this site. Outside and beyond the mosque, heavily armed Israeli army and IDF forces permeate Old Jerusalem, reminding all that they are being monitored and that anything untoward would be met with violence. In the Jewish Quarter, near the Western Wall, we saw signs and merchandise uplifting Donald Trump’s muscular and militaristic politics – celebrating him and the MAGA movement. I learned that similarly minded muscular and militaristic Jews hold prophetic anticipation of the future construction of the Third Temple of Jerusalem; yet, realizing this vision by necessity would require the razing of Al Aqsa Mosque in order to build the Third Temple on that same site.

A local Jesuit priest who grew up in apartheid South Africa described the lived energies of Jerusalem as “dark” (heavy, fraught); an environment in which the kind of pluralistic inter-religious engagement that I cherish is virtually absent, he shared.

Still, I believe. I know in my heart that we can find commonality and that our differences can be a source of beauty and strength. I know this because I have experienced it. It is possible, even today, to hold a higher and deeper vision of our shared humanity – one that refutes and transmutes the fear and hatred-based nationalisms and fundamentalisms that would have us lunging at one another’s throats. We can do better.

Beauty and possibility remain our pluralistic calling.

May we hold that prophetic vision together.

With much love, Rev. Manish   

Photo: Inside view of Dome of the Rock. 

Photo: Columns inside Dome of the Rock mosque. 

Photo: Another view inside Dome of the Rock. 

FROM REV. MANISH – UUJME DELEGATION UPDATE - January 11, 2026

I am writing from Jerusalem, deeply jetlagged and also processing what I have been encountering and learning on this journey.  The land crossing from Jordan into the West Bank and Israel was an experience that included traveling by foot and bus across the militarized border. It included multiple checks and re-checks by each government (the governments of Jordan and Israel). I have included some images of the crowds our delegation had to navigate as we began the border crossing by foot, carrying our luggage with us.

Photos: Militarized border crossing between Jordan and occupied West Bank.

I learned about the language of “apartheid” being applied to the circumstances of the Palestinian people from our Quaker siblings. In June 2025, UUAA signed onto the Quaker-led Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge as a part of the resolution we adopted in support of Palestinian human rights.  

While I could conceptually (theoretically) understand the reasoning of applying the term apartheid in the Palestinian context, I was not clear what this meant in terms of the day-to-day realities of the Palestinian people. I have only been in the region for two days, and apartheid is absolutely what the Palestinian people are experiencing – separate and unequal treatment (at every turn) by the government that dominates and militarily controls them. Palestinians drive with different colored license plates, and vehicles with Palestinian plates are subject to additional security checks and travel limitations.  Most Palestinians need permits to travel within and to/from the Palestinian lands – and the granting of these permits by the government of Israel, and the restrictions that the permits may include, can feel arbitrary and capricious to Palestinians. The restrictions on movement are experienced as control, as intentionally limiting freedom of movement, and with that the ability of the Palestinian people to communicate with one another, be in relationship with one another, and/or organize. Heavily armed IDF military personnel routinely roam the streets of Jerusalem, and from my perspective as a first-time visitor, appear more menacing than helpful or friendly.  Palestinians pay taxes to the government of Israel, on equal par with the rates that Israeli citizens pay, but at no turn receive similar government benefits or support. The government of Israel has even built a military wall around East Jerusalem, similar in style/feel to the border wall that exists along much of the US-Mexico border. This wall places the West Bank’s water supply under Israeli control and the government of Israel ensures that this water flows freely to Israeli settlements while charging Palestinian communities for access to their own water.

In sum, Palestinians live under Israeli military domination and are assumed to be a threat that must be controlled, managed, and subjugated. Apartheid (separate and unequal treatment) is the day-to-day lived reality of the Palestinian people.

Photo: Militarized separation wall in Jerusalem.

While apartheid is the day-to-day reality of the Palestinian people, we have already met with local activists and organizers who have described Israel’s settler policies in great detail. I had assumed, to a degree, that Israeli settlements were partially or maybe even primarily being built in the desert – i.e., built on land that was unoccupied or had no prior development. This is not the case. The government of Israel actively appropriates the land and property of Palestinian people, typically providing no “eminent domain” style compensation. Land and buildings can be appropriated on any number of technicalities and pretexts, including mere absence from the property.  

For example, if you fled your land or property because of war or conflict, the Israeli government can claim that you have abandoned that land/property and appropriate it for redistribution to Israeli settlers. We have heard from local community organizers who described this reality in despairing terms – if the government of Israel wants your land, they will have it. Often the best that Palestinians feel they can do is delay they appropriation of their land through court appeals, which they generally do not win. Activist after activist described this lived reality as one of population replacement – the intentional replacement of the Palestinian people with Jewish settlers, who are typically white, European and/or American immigrants to these lands. If the day-to-day lived reality of the Palestinian people is apartheid, the government of Israel’s goal – whether publicly stated or not, but demonstrated through the government’s actions – is ethnic cleansing and population replacement.

It is jarring to be encountering what I have described here so unambiguously and so early in this journey. Please continue to hold our delegation in your hearts and prayers, as we lend presence, witness, and love to those who are suffering these realities.

With much love, Rev. Manish

We continue to play whack-a-mole in resisting the infinite cruelties of U.S Imperialism.

From Minneapolis to Caracas to Gaza, it’s all connected. “The circle of impunity is widening,” says UUJME President Dana Ashrawi. “BIPOC and other targeted communities in the United States have always experienced state violence with zero to little consequence. The violence is expanding, and echoes the experience of Palestinians in the West Bank and the lack of accountability of the State of Israel and its global north enablers.”

U.S. imperialism is doing what it has always done, pillaging the wealth of other nations, harming those most at risk, and choosing profit over people. It is trying to create as many crises as possible for the people in the United States - and beyond -  its actions doing double duty as both cruel oppressions and ways to keep people busy and in despair. The  impacts are the most devastating in historically marginalized communities - trans people, LGBTQ people, immigrants, the Black, Indigenous, People of Color community, women, people with disabilities, and people in lands overseas where the resources and strategic locations are more valuable than the lives ended in service of profit. 

We mourn the killing of Renee Good, a trained observer of ICE activities, in Minneapolis. This murderous shooting by an ICE agent was less than a mile from where George Floyd was suffocated by the knee of a police officer in 2020. It occurred in the same state as the largest mass execution in U.S. history, in 1862 when 38 Dakota men were hanged. 

We mourn the loss of life and the torpedoing of international law in Caracas, Venezuela, as the tools of Empire were deployed to extract the president of Venezuela and his spouse claiming rights to control Venezuelan oil and the affairs of the country itself. 

We continue to mourn the loss of life in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and other sites around the region, where deprivation and death continue unabated, with Israel and the United States ever more brazen in their cruelties. The demand of Empire to impose its will for control of resources continues to take a deadly toll. In our country we see the rolling tide of fascist operations. But we also see the opposing tide of the people’s popular resistance.

This is the time to reach for each other – in congregations and beyond. Side with Love, to name but one UU organization, continues regular offerings to connect, refresh, and direct us back to the work of the world. Board member Rev. DL Helfer says, “I was taught long ago, and have always found it so, that when I am at my most despairing, being in service to others – whatever that looks like - shifts my perspective. So whether you are out marching or answering a defense line or feeding the unhoused, do that work. Every bit of each and every thing we do will help weave our work more strongly. As always, we are powerful when we act together.” 

We lift up all the statements issued by so many of our justice partners - including but not limited to  statements by the UUA, the UUSC, Side with Love, DRUUMM, Church of the Larger Fellowship, and beyond. We lift up UURISE, which passed an Action of Immediate Witness in 2018 calling to abolish ICE. We lift up those who are present to witness today, including  the UUJME sponsored delegation of seminarians and religious professionals witnessing Israel’s illegal settlements, apartheid, and brutal treatment of Palestinians right now. 

The harms continue, here and beyond. So too does our faith in action. Rest when you need, find courage, beloveds, and do not let the intentional overwhelm deter you. Love is, and always will be, stronger than hate. With collective action, a better world will be born.

A Diverse Coalition of Christian and Allied Organizations Speak Out in Solidiarity with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
2025-11-25

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
The Ninth Commandment | Deuteronomy 5:20

As a diverse coalition of Christian and allied organizations spanning multiple denominational, geographic, and social backgrounds, we find ourselves compelled to speak out in support of our friends, colleagues, and neighbors at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

In a brazen act of bearing false witness, Texas governor Greg Abbott designated CAIR a “terrorist organization,” accusing it of supporting “terrorism across the globe and subvert(ing) our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment” (source | source). In reality, this is politically motivated scapegoating and bigoted harassment by the governor.

We therefore demand that the governor’s office rescind its denunciation of CAIR, an organization whose mission is “to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims” (source). CAIR has responded to Governor Abbott’s accusations with a letter rejecting the governor’s claims and by filing a lawsuit against Abbott on November 20. Contrary to Governor Abbott’s claim, CAIR works diligently and courageously through the US legal system against violence, intimidation, and harassment of American citizens.

CAIR has made explicit statements against terrorism, especially against the terrorism being committed against Palestinians, both in the US and in the Middle East. Additionally, CAIR regularly issues statements condemning attacks and bigotry against people of other faiths, including Jews and Christians. A large number of Americans who oppose genocide and the terrorism being committed against Palestinians are Muslim, and government agencies continue to persecute American Muslim communities, including the harrassment and attempted deportation of students Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk. We support our Muslim neighbors who are detained without legal charges; we support CAIR in their work for holding violators of US laws, and our core values of truth, justice, and liberty, to account.

● As Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians, we proclaim the foundational theological truths that all have been created in the image of God with inherent dignity and worth (Genesis 1:26-27); that whatever we wish for ourselves, we must do for others (Matthew 7:12); and, that how we treat the vulnerable and marginalized is exactly the way we treat Jesus Christ himself (Matthew 25:40).

● As Quakers, we recognize the inner light of the divine within everyone and thus proclaim the equality and inherent dignity of all persons.

● As Unitarian Universalists, we uphold the fundamental value of love, and bear witness to the imperative of justice in society.

● Finally, as Americans, we hold it to be a self-evident truth that all are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

So, we speak out at this critical moment for the values of equality, freedom, and human rights and thereby stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors, to demand that the governor’s office rescind its baseless and inflammatory denunciation of CAIR.

Endorsed By

Christians for a Free Palestine (CFP)
CFP is an ecumenical, grassroots, nonviolent movement dedicated to mobilizing Christians across the U.S. to take action in solidarity with Palestinians. Collectively, CFP seeks to end the genocide in Gaza and ensure a long-lasting, just, and sustainable peace for Palestinians and
Israelis.

Episcopal Peace Fellowship—Palestine Justice Network (EPF PJN)
EPF PJN is committed to the principle of just peace in Palestine and Israel that includes full human rights, self-determination, and dignity for every Palestinian. EPF PJN is grounded in the Episcopal faith tradition and exists organizationally as a network within the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
As a Christian Voice for Palestine, FOSNA is an interdenominational Christian organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy Land through education, advocacy, and nonviolent action. FOSNA promotes the vision of Sabeel Jerusalem, an ecumenical liberation theology movement founded by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land.

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP)
ICMEP is a voice of conscience for peace, justice, human rights, and intercultural understanding. To achieve its mission ICMEP works to: break down stereotypes, provide critical analysis, promote nonviolence, and support Palestinians.

Kairos USA
Kairos USA is a movement of U.S. Christians who believe the time is right for decisive action to end the crisis in Israel and Palestine. They work to unify and mobilize American Christians – lay, academic and clergy – to take a prophetic stance for a just peace, heeding the call of Palestinian Christian sisters and brothers to stand with them in their struggle for freedom.

Nonviolence International (NVI)
NVI seeks a world of justice, peace, and environmental sanity where the worth and dignity of all people is fully realized and conflicts are resolved without resorting to violence. NVI advocates for active nonviolence and supports creative constructive nonviolent campaigns worldwide.

Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP)
PCAP is a non-sectarian, ecumenical alliance of Palestinian American Christians seeking to provide a clear voice and presence in faith-based communities in the United States. Its
inspiration stems from the Kairos Palestine document and from all faith-based communities working for peace through justice in Palestine and Israel.

Palestine Justice Network (PJN) of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., Bay Area
PJN PCUSA covenants to engage, consolidate, nourish, and channel the energy in the Presbyterian Church (USA) toward the goal of a just peace by facilitating education, promoting
partnerships, and coordinating advocacy.

Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
The Peace and Justice Committee works on the root causes of oppression and violence
seeking systemic change. We are involved in advocacy and education with a special focus on refugee work, gun violence, economic justice, the Middle East, immigration reform, anti-racism work, support for the Standing Rock reservation, and LGBTQ issues.

Quaker Palestine Israel Network (QPIN)
QPIN consists of members and attenders of Quaker meetings throughout the US and across the world who share best practices and resources, learn from each other, and build solidarity for human rights, equality and freedom in Israel-Palestine.

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME)
UUJME works to educate and mobilize individuals, congregations and denominational leaders to greater understanding and action for a just peace in Palestine/Israel, to recognize and counter inequality and injustice in Palestine/Israel, and to support allies in the global justice and anti-oppression movements.

United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
UMKR seeks, through nonviolent means and in partnership with Palestinian Christians, freedom, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis. UMKR's advocacy has several areas of focus: divestment and boycott, political action, responsible tourism, and education about the history and current conditions.

United Church of Christ Movement for Palestinian Solidarity (UCC MPS)
UCC MPS is a grassroots movement within the United Church of Christ, dedicated to advocating for a just peace in Palestine and Israel. It educates churches, supports Palestinian partners, and takes action guided by the UCC's General Synod resolutions and the Kairos Palestine Document.

UUJME Statement on the Ceasefire

It has been joyous to see clips of Palestinians in Gaza dancing in the street, with relief, with at least the hope, that Israeli bombs will stop raining down. That this “ceasefire” will hold.

And, Israel has already violated the terms of the ceasefire.

We know that this agreement was not written for the freedom or self-determination of the Palestinian people. The agreement is rife with imperialism; the post-governing body includes the US and Israel, but not Palestinians, at the table. The plan does not guarantee the end of genocide, as Trump has endorsed “finishing the job” if the agreement collapses. And Israel continues its annexation of the West Bank. Thousands are still imprisoned, and much more.

Perhaps most notably, there is no clear answer for the Palestinians – how can those left rebuild after this horror? Will they receive an adequate flow of medicine and food? How can they mourn the hundreds of thousands killed? How can they go on, let alone rebuild?

We are concerned that this US-brokered “plan” is little more than intent to “develop” Gaza in capitalist splendor, to “rebuild” it as Trump’s “Mediterranean Riviera,” or something akin. This plan holds nobody accountable for the genocide, the starvation, the destruction of a people and the entirety of their infrastructure. It does not change the essential subjugation of the Palestinians, their forced removal, imprisonment and killing, back to 1948. It does not recognize their right of return to ancestral villages.

Meanwhile, our hearts pray for the Palestinian people, hoping against hope that their dignity and freedom might be restored, that even this moment of joy might fill them with enough sustenance for continued survival.

The struggle continues. We have been and will be clear: our role is solidarity with Palestinians, now and going forward. We will follow the lead of our civil-society Palestinian partners, strive to end U.S. support for the violence against Palestinians, and move forward with the continued commitment to their freedom and self-determination.

In solidarity and resistance,

UUJME