UUJME Statement on the Detention of Palestinian Mahmoud Khalil by ICE/DHS

All Out to Free Mahmoud Khalil and Stop Project Esther - Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East

Opposing genocide is not a crime! 

Halt ICE Kidnappings and Deportations!

Sign the letters demanding Mahmoud’s release!

Donate to his support fund!

Stop Project Esther!

March 13, 2025

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The Trump administration has caused the arrest and detention of recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder, targeted because of his prominence as a spokesperson for the encampment at Columbia University where students and professors were protesting the US-funded Israeli war on Palestinians in Gaza. This arrest is blatantly unconstitutional and straight from well-worn authoritarian playbooks. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must immediately release Mahmoud. Columbia University – and all college administrations – must start protecting their students from the reach of the Trump regime, and elected officials must take all action in their power to ensure that Mahmoud is released and students are protected. Mahmoud was not shown a warrant, and his wife, a U.S. Citizen who is eight months pregnant, was intimidated and harassed.

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From Muslims for Just Futures:

“...Columbia University, which recently published a new protocol on its plans to cooperate with ICE, has targeted Khalil for his Palestinian identity and outspoken activism on multiple occasions over the last 17 months. He served as a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last spring and has frequently appeared in media interviews and press conferences. Columbia’s continued acquiescence to federal agencies and outside partisan institutions has made this situation possible. Like many other Arab and Muslim students, Khalil has been the target of various zionist harassment campaigns, fueled by doxing websites like Canary Mission. This racist targeting serves to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others. Add your name to demand the immediate release of Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil from DHS detention and a reversal to Columbia University's protocol permitting ICE on campus without a warrant.”

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Take action now: Movement partners are asking that people quickly send letters to multiple decision makers at Columbia and Barnard as well as DHS, ICE, and other officials using this single-link petition which has garnered more than three million signatures. Additional action links and a fundraising link are listed at the end of this statement.

Details: Columbia University enabled the presence of DHS agents on their campus and in university housing to detain Mahmoud as he arrived home after a Ramadan iftar dinner on Saturday, March 8, with his spouse. He was taken away by plainclothes agents in an unmarked vehicle, with no clear information as to his destination. This is an act of disappearing a person and is highly alarming. Later it was learned that he was swiftly transported from New Jersey to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, more than a thousand miles away. Detention facility officials denied him the right to speak privately with his attorneys.

This is a serious first amendment rights violation which must be named as part of the rush into fascism that we are experiencing in the United States. In the lead-up to this abduction, Mahmoud was the target of a smear campaign and was doxxed and received death threats. After Mahmoud contacted university officials for support, none was given.

The Trump administration is platforming and empowering antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Muslim racism, xenophobia, and white nationalism. Nobody is fooled by their claims that they are deporting students in order to fight antisemitism. Deporting students, silencing political speech and dissent, and punishing anti-war student activists endangers all of us. We will not allow our communities to be divided. We must raise our voices and take action to reverse this tide. 

At a March 12 hearing, Federal Judge Jesse Furman ordered that Mahmoud remain in detention in Louisiana awaiting a trial and that he not be deported unless and until there is an order from his court. The detention facility was ordered to permit private consultation with his attorneys.

We will aim to provide an update soon with any further recommended actions and encourage you to subscribe to news and alerts from the Council on Islamic American Affairs (CAIR) and Palestine Legal. 

Palestinians are not strangers to deportation and displacement. In the book by UUA General Assembly 2007 Ware Lecturer Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years War on Palestine, the exile of Palestinian leaders in the 1930s by the British occupying power is documented. The more massive project of displacing Palestinians from their homes–during the creation of the State of Israel and to this day–is also documented, and by now very well known to many. The modern example of mass displacement has been the genocidal war on Gaza in which nearly 2 million Palestinians have been displaced. 

The deportation campaign initiated by the Trump administration uses Executive Orders and directives based on the Orwellian Project Esther which seeks to repress people speaking out for Palestinian rights and lives. Such a project endangers the freedom and safety of all campus anti-war protestors, including Jewish anti-war protestors, targeting international students first and threatening the non-profit status of many groups that speak out for Palestinian rights. Read this article by the CEO of the U.S. Jewish group Bend the Arc about how such campaigns constitute “smokescreen antisemitism” and threaten the safety of Jews rather than protecting them. It is shameful that this campaign was enabled by the administration and some professors of an institution of higher education. Rabbi Brant Rosen has penned a powerful blog post titled "First, they came for Mahmoud Khalil," echoing the famous words of Martin Niemoller about what happened to people under the Nazi regime in Germany.

This case is a test balloon. The justice-loving community must go all-out to demand the freedom of Mahmoud Khalil and push back against the dangerous Project Esther. His freedom is imperative to ensure the preservation of his rights and safety and that of all activists on issues targeted by the Trump administration and its enablers.

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Relevant Resources

2024 Action of Immediate Witness: Solidarity with Palestinians, passed by 74% of delegates to the UUA General Assembly. Contains examples of ways to be in solidarity.

2024 Statement in Solidarity with Student Protests for Gaza initiated by MPower Change about the urgent need to protect free speech on campuses, with 12 Unitarian Universalist signatory organizations.

2023 UUJME webinar - IHRA: An Anti-Free-Speech Definition of Antisemitism and How to Oppose It. This definition is being used in Project Esther and other venues to criminalize dissent around speech and activism for Palestinian rights and lives. The Jewish scholarly author of this definition has emphatically rejected its use for codes on campus free speech. 

2018 Action of Immediate Witness: End Family Separation and Detention of Asylum Seekers and Abolish ICE passed by delegates to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly. The cruelty is ongoing.

Know Your Rights cards in multiple languages, informing you on what you should and should not say when approached by ICE.

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Take Action:

To repeat: With two easy-to-use petitions, send letters to multiple decision makers at Columbia and Barnard as well as DHS, ICE, and other officials with these two petitions. 

Note: If you are not a U.S. citizen, for your security and safety please do not provide your real name in the "First Name" and "Last Name" fields of petitions.

Demand the Immediate Release of Palestinian Student Activist Mahmoud Khalil from DHS detention
Campaign by Deportation Defense

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-the-immediate-release-of-columbia-student-pro-palestine-advocate-mahmoud-khalil-from-dhs-detention

Release Mahmoud Khalil & Protect All Student Activists
Campaign by Palestinian-led Adalah Justice Project

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/release-mahmoud-khalil-protect-all-student-activists?source=mc_MahmoudKhalil_2025_03_10

Contact Congress
Campaign by Jewish Voice for Peace

Call Congress

Email Congress 

Donate to the Support Fund

Friends have organized a fundraiser to support Mahmoud and his wife and unborn child.

Donate at this link: https://chuffed.org/project/justice-for-mahmoud-khalil

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Sign up for our emails to make sure you are notified of the latest statements, action alerts, and learning spaces: https://www.uujme.org/join

Sign up for our educational webinars and monthly advocacy gatherings on the UUJME Calendar.

I've been invited to join a Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) delegation to Palestine, April 1-8. This delegation is made up of leaders from advocacy organizations that focus on issues adjacent to Palestinian liberation, such as immigration, LGBTQIA+, housing, peacemaking, antiracism, environmentalism, and reproductive justice. We will meet with organizational leaders so that we may learn from, listen to, and relay the stories of the Palestinian people to our own communities when we return home.The goals of the delegation are: 

• Being with and encouraging the people who are under attack
• Exposing human rights violations
• Strengthening and encouraging U.S. advocacy for a just peace

The complicity of the United States in the ongoing forced displacement, illegal detainment, military occupation, and indiscriminate killing of Palestinians is clearer now than it ever has been. As we witness the continued violence of Israeli occupation, many have awakened to the realities of the ongoing Israeli project to destroy Palestinian culture, identity, society, and population. I believe we must continue sharing information and lifting up the moral imperative for Palestinian liberation. Therefore, I am putting my beliefs into action and going in person as a witness to the West Bank. 

I am embarking on this journey with a learner's mind. I know very well that I don’t know everything there is to know about the history of this crisis and the current situation on the ground, which is why I will go and learn from human rights organizations and faith-based organizations within Palestinian communities. I invite you to support this learning immersion journey through donations of any size. My participation is self-funded through my own personal contributions and my professional expenses, but additional funds raised through this platform will be donated to Sabeel for other delegates who do not have the funds to participate. 

If you choose to donate, you do NOT need to donate additional funds to the zeffy platform. Just select zero when it comes to that field on the form (www.zeffy.com/en-US/fundraising/meagan-henry). I will share real-time experiences via social media (Instagram and Facebook) and I will be available to continue to share what I witness and learn upon my return. You can find me on Instagram (@revmeaganbelden) and Facebook (@meaganhenry). May we be mutual partners in the pursuit of freedom. 

In solidarity, Rev. Meagan

By this time, we know this Administration’s playbook. It looks haphazard, and perhaps some of it is, but much of it is calculated to drive us to despair and numbness, to focus our attention on the fear invoked by the Executive Orders and dramatic statements, to draw the eye away from what’s really happening. Underneath all the intended layoffs of federal workers, for example, is the truth in plain sight – Musk and other Administration Republicans are making themselves unthinkably wealthy by raiding public coffers. 

I know personally that this approach to distraction and fear is effective. As we well know, it’s the playbook of authoritarian regimes. A fate from which we as a country now recognize we are not exempt. 

Neither, however, are we powerless. 

In a call this week, a lawyer reminded us that the Executive Orders are no more than a wish at this point. Our current laws and protections still (largely) exist and can be fought for and defended. 

As I listen to Trump’s claim that he’ll move Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt and make Gaza instead “a luxury paradise,” I recognize that same distraction strategy. It’s not that he’s not serious in his intentions, as this would be consistent with his imperialist core. Instead, it’s the recognition that his bluster and bluffing is meant to distract us, again, from the very real dangers he is creating.

The same playbook Netanyahu has used for years. The lies that Israel was in danger and must defend itself against the Palestinians was never true. This claim is a gas lighting of the actual truth, that the deeply oppressed Palestinians fought back in the way they knew and know how against their captors.

It was this same justification that was underpinning Netanyahu’s absolutely leveling of Gaza, a genocide funded by this country and continuing to this day.  The false belief that the destruction of another – the Palestinians, immigrants, transgender individuals – is necessary to the success of society. This has never been true, but this “othering” provides wildly powerful cover for the very worst of human right abuses.

Which is where we find ourselves now. Fighting parallel wars, in the US, in Palestine, in much of the world, as humanity continues to try to hold back a rising tide of authoritarianism.

For it is all intertwined – our fight for our Palestinian siblings is tied up with the safety of our immigrant, transgender, and otherwise vilified cohabitants on this shared earth. When we can dehumanize one group, we don’t stop there. We find ever more groups to dehumanize, until there is nothing left but the “preferred” individuals. We know this horror all too well. 

What, then, do we do as Unitarian Universalists?  

This is the time, beloveds, to be brave in a way most of us never have before. When we were fighting safely from a far distance, with great intent and effort, but still essentially safe. That time is over. 

This administration threatens to deport students who protested the genocide in Gaza, to jail those who use “anti-Semitic” language (which is just code for speaking out against Israel’s actions), to separate us in ways that make us afraid of naming our own truths. 

Yet the Palestinians themselves teach us otherwise. For three-quarters of a century, they have fought for their home, for each other, for mutual care and the strength of love, against brutal conditions and captors.  

We are only just beginning that same fight for our homeland – and for theirs. And if we do it now, not stunned into inaction, we have some hope of saving our country before it descends into a truly authoritarian regime. The time to act is now. 

So, what do we do? 
One answer is to reach out to your local UUJME chapter. If you don’t easily find one, reach out to UUJME directly for help in getting involved UUs in many locations are drawing the connections between the multiple oppressions we face here and that the Palestinians face there, and moving people into meaningful action in community, accountable to the request of the Palestinian liberation movement. 

And this list gives great, finite, suggestions, for those just feeling stuck, not knowing where to begin. 

If you do nothing else, call your representatives every day, and remind them of their power to halt government gone astray. They have powers that they are not yet using. 

Keep the faith, friends. This is a fight we can win.

Rev. DL Helfer

We condemn efforts by the Trump Administration to perpetuate dire conditions for Palestinians.

Unitarian Universalists affirm the guiding power of Love and the values of Justice and Equity, as well as a belief in the dignity of all humans, democratic rights, and compassion in human relations. Our religion has a long and proud history of supporting the United Nations and its efforts toward global justice. UUJME takes inspiration from the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Nearly three-fourths of delegates to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in 2024 supported a resolution to take action in solidarity with Palestinians.

One of President Trump’s recent Executive Orders mandates withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and extends President Biden’s ban on United States funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main organization providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. This action continues a devastating impact on the UNRWA budget, restricting the amount of life-saving food and healthcare, as well as education, for millions of Palestinian refugees. The need for UNRWA is greater than it has ever been, after 15 months of genocidal attacks on Gaza, and an escalation of attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Trump Administration is promoting outrageous designs to continue denying aid to Palestinians while continuing to supply weapons to Israel, and proposing a massive expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.

UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide support to the 750,000 Palestinians violently displaced from their homes and lands between 1946-1948 during the formation of the State of Israel. The protracted nature of the situation means that refugee status is retained across generations. The State of Israel’s army attacked numerous UNRWA schools and aid sites during a 15-month assault on Gaza and blocked UNRWA trucks carrying food and other aid during the war with full U.S. support. The Israeli parliament has just activated a ban on UNRWA operations in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, which is an illegal measure for a member state of the United Nations.  Despite Israel’s attempt at cancellation, “the UN Relief Works Agency continues to operate on the ground in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, carrying out its life-saving humanitarian assistance at this critical moment,” as reported on February 4.

Support the campaigns of the UNRWA USA National Committee:

• Spread awareness. 

  • Distribute the #HandsOffUNRWA flyer in your congregation and other circles.

  • Speak up on social media using the sample posts in the flyer to repost the Hands Off UNRWA graphics on Instagram.

• Advocate. Contact your U.S. representatives using the UNRWA USA advocacy portal to urge them to restore US government funding.

• Donate to UNRWA (tax deductible) at https://donateunrwa.org/int/en/general.

• Stay informed. Check the UNRWA Situation Reports page and follow UNRWA USA on social media: @unrwausa

Our work and the work of UNRWA will continue until there is a just solution. 

A beautiful red wildflower grows abundantly across historic Palestine in the spring and early summer. It is called Hannoun (passionate) and shakik (brother) in Arabic, the Palestinian poppy in English, and its Latin name is anemone coronaria. 

To make this craft, which echoes colors for Christmas and the Palestinian flag, gather the following supplies:

• Sheets of red, green, and black construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors

Cut out two green leaves and six red petals for each flower. Bend the petals slightly. Cut out a black circle and use scissors to make the edge of the circle fringed by making cuts close together all the way around the edge. Fold the fringe slightly upward.

Glue the petals together at the base. Glue the black center on top of the petals. Glue a leaf to the back side of a petal on opposite sides of the flower. 

Place your flower in the center of your dining table.

Or make this a group activity at your congregation and use the flowers to decorate the sanctuary or the refreshment and fellowship hall.

Read more at The Kobio Project. "There is...irony here. The Imperial British symbol of remembrance, the red poppy, is also a national symbol of Palestine, a nation whose obliteration was initiated in one of the closing acts of said imperium."

Post a photo of your poppy/poppies on social media with any or all of these suggested hashtags: #uupalestinepoppy #uupalestineaction #uujme #uuchristians #uusofinstagram #advent #palestine #indigenouschristians #palestinianchristians 

Consider tagging Palestinian Christian group Friends of Sabeel and ally Christians for a Free Palestine.

@fosnalive @christiansforafreepalestine

Photo credit: Emile Ashrawi

“Jesus in The Rubble”

Make a Creche Kit to Remember the Children in Gaza

In the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, city and church leaders canceled all Christmas festivities in December 2023 to mourn the more than 20,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza (at that time). A Christmas sermon, “Christ in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament,” delivered by Reverend Munther Isaac at the landmark Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, received international attention for a nativity scene depicting the figure of baby Jesus in a keffiyeh, surrounded by rubble. “If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza,” preached Isaac, who condemned using theology to justify Israel’s killing of innocent civilians. “If we, as Christians, are not outraged by the genocide, by the weaponization of the Bible to justify it, there is something wrong with our Christian witness, and we are compromising the credibility of our gospel message.” A link to a video of the sermon and an interview with Rev. Isaac can be found at the Democracy Now website, the show of December 26, 2026.

In our places of worship, we can remember the children in Gaza with a small, portable creche of “Jesus in the Rubble” made with simple materials. Wrap a baby doll in cloth or paper printed with a keffiyeh pattern. Darken the skin a bit if the doll is pink. Some Styrofoam painted grey and cardboard packaging materials can serve as the “rubble.” The lid of a box for shipping reams of paper can serve as the base for the scene. The whole box functions as a kit for transporting and storing the creche. It can quickly be “rebuilt” each time you set it up; there’s no need to glue all the parts in place.

At your place of worship, you could set up the creche alongside literature of your choice on the topic of peace and justice in Palestine. A backdrop/poster at the back of the scene reads:

Jesus in the Rubble

At the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem,
Rev. Munther Issac explains why the Christmas manger
 is on a pile of rubble. A liturgy of lament.

Friends of SABEEL North America

www.fosna.org/preach-palestine-blog/born-under-the-rubble

This creche is not terrifying in any obvious way. Children in your congregation may look at it, read the backdrop, and ask questions. For thinking adults, however, this simple artwork might be a reminder of the ongoing violence in Gaza, which has been described as a “war on children” (as nearly half of the Palestinians in Gaza are children), a “holocaust,” and a “probable genocide” by the International Court of Justice. Who would have thought that nations of world would enable the violence to continue unabated for more than a year, with no cessation in sight. The statistics of the killed, the maimed, and the orphaned are there for anyone who cares to read them. But children are not numbers. And words fail us. Could a simple work of art rekindle some viewer’s empathy, and inspire them to action?

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Materials for making the creche shown below.

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Steven Sellers Lapham is a board member of UUJME and volunteer for Voices From the Holy Land Online Film Salon

Concert of Traditional Palestinian Music: 
A Fundraiser for Gaza Aid

Wednesday December 18, 2024 - 4 pm PT/7 pm ET

First Parish of Watertown, MA and Livestream

$35 in-person, $25 livestream

35 Church St, Watertown, MA 02472

Ticketing information is here.

Download a flyer with QR code to print and share at your congregation here.

This concert celebrates the traditional music of Palestine, featuring a takht or chamber ensemble. All funds raised will support humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza by Anera, a nonprofit organization with no political or religious affiliations. The concert will also be livestreamed, and the video will remain available for seven days.

Featuring a takht (traditional chamber ensemble)
Lina Malshy, violin & artistic director • Jamal Sinno, qanun
Ghaleb Daouk, nay • Basem Batbota, percussion • Alejandro Castellano, oud
Georges Chedid, accordion • Alyssa Lawson, cello • Patrick Tabet, vocals

This ticketing platform allows fundraising with no fees whatsoever, so please be encouraged to add a donation to your ticket purchase!

Let's pull out the stops to support this important fundraiser for Palestinians in Gaza who are facing military attacks, cold, and famine.

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East

2024 Annual Letter to Supporters

I am sending care to you during this time of turbulence in the nation and the world. As UUJME continues our mission to educate and mobilize Unitarian Universalists into greater awareness and advocacy for peace based on justice in Palestine and Israel, we need your support more than ever.

With the election of a Republican administration, there are growing concerns about the implications for multiple justice agendas. As this letter goes to the printer, a bill will be discussed in Congress that would give unilateral ability to strip non-profit status from any group. Main targets are Palestine solidarity groups and religious organizations involved in solidarity. If passed, such power can be used to target groups working for all kinds of rights that a fascist administration wants to deny.

The one-year mark has passed since the brutal response from the Israeli military after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7. And this tragedy did not begin on October 7.

During more than 400 days of genocide at the time of writing, I have felt deep grief for the worsening catastrophe, and I have felt inspiration from people’s responses. As our U.S. government continues to defy the will of the majority of people demanding a ceasefire, it is gratifying to see many UUs among people calling for a ceasefire, opposing repression of activism for Palestinian rights, and supporting an arms embargo along with boycott and divestment. One UU congregation and one UU social justice committee have become the first local UU signatories of the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge. More than 40 congregations held Empty Cups for Gaza rituals. These last two milestones are because of the presence and work of UUJME.

Despite and also because of the state of emergency around Palestinian rights, UUJME has achieved some historic accomplishments that I am proud to share with you.

UUJME Major Accomplishments since November 2023

• Received our first-ever grants from the Unitarian Universalist Funding Program.

A double grant of $29,200 was received in May 2024 for organizer hiring and educational programming. Title: Empowering UUs to Engage on Palestine and Israel.

• Hired two part-time organizers – for the first time in our history.

India Wood, a Jewish UU activist and seminary student, was hired as our first part-time organizer. Jolly Hollamon, former organizer for the UU Justice Ministry of California, was hired as our second part-time organizer. They have amplified our abilities.

• Passed an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW): Solidarity with Palestinians at the 2024 UUA General Assembly with a coalition of UU groups: 74% of delegates said Yes. See https://www.uua.org/action/statements/solidarity-palestinians.
• Co-sponsored UU Vigils for Gaza initiated by Diverse Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM). View the recordings at https://www.youtube.com/@druumm.
• Produced multiple webinars – more than 1,000 RSVPs.
  Visit our Calendar page via https:/www.uujme.org.

  • Three webinars in support of the AIW, with multiple co-sponsors: Conflict Resolution in Congregations, Countering Antisemitism, and Multifaith Solidarity.

  • Five Palestine/Israel 101 teach-ins. Co-sponsors include DRUUMM, Black Lives of UU, UU College of Social Justice, Church of the Larger Fellowship, and UU Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE).

  • Webinars about protest safety, antisemitism, and anti-Palestinian racism.

• Organized UUs to attend the Interfaith Action for Palestine in DC in July.
• Published resources for the first time on the UUA Worship Web: Empty Cups for Gaza Ritual and Jewish liturgical resources.
• Sent an email with a flyer about Palestine/Israel resources to more than 900 UU congregations.
• Co-sponsored an Apartheid-Free training during the UUA’s Mosaic gathering.
• Initiated the first of regular sharing meetings with UUA senior leadership.
• Welcomed Rev. DL Helfer to the UUJME Board.

DL, the main AIW proposer, is a long-time solidarity activist and a Jewish UU.

• Welcomed Rachel Rott to the UUJME Advisory Council.

Rachel, who was instrumental in passing the AIW, provides communications advice.

Other Accomplishments

• Edited a three-tier resource document to match congregations with activities.
• Approved four new UUJME Chapters.

Chapters were launched in Michigan, Louisiana, New York, and California.

• Provided ongoing support for chapters, local advocates, chapter inquiries, and other groups.
• Coordinated federal, state, and local legislative and policy advocacy.
• Supported UU groups to explore signing the Apartheid-Free pledge.
• Produced a UU for Ceasefire T-shirt.
• Maintained an Actions and Information Google document.

See https://bit.ly/UUJME-Action-Info-Doc.

• Published more than 15 blog posts. See News and Events via https://www.uujme.org.
• Added more than 500 subscribers to our email list.
• Signed on to six solidarity statements and campaigns.

 UUJME Goals

• Raise $7,500 above our usual year-end donations to sustain organizers’ pay and webinar speaker honoraria. There is a possibility that the UU Funding Program grants may be renewed; the chance of renewal is boosted if we receive higher donations as the funding managers want to see that UUJME can sustain the programs.
• Continue to collaborate with UU faith leaders and activists on action alerts to UUs.
• Mail a union printed postcard to all UU congregations about resources.
• Donate to Gaza relief efforts and Palestine solidarity groups.
• Continue supporting UU rituals, actions for ceasefire and arms embargo, and additional Apartheid-Free Congregations.
• Continue Palestine solidarity work with UU groups and others.
• Continue enacting the priorities in our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.

  • Organizing, political education, and UU relationship priorities strengthen UU engagement in the movement for Palestinian rights.

  • Internal Structures committee volunteers are analyzing and recommending important processes and policies.

• Continued collaboration with Palestinian and ally groups.
• A strong UUJME presence and coalition at 2025 UUA General Assembly.
  The General Assembly is a powerful opportunity to reach more UUs with our message. We want to ensure a strong UUJME booth. We plan to submit a proposal for a live workshop about the Apartheid-Free Pledge.

Your Support: An Investment in Transformation and Global Justice

Your support is an investment in the mission of inspiring more UUs to collective engagement for Palestinian liberation and a just peace for all people in the region. Thanks for all you are doing to bend the arc of the universe towards justice.

With immense gratitude,

Dana Fisher Ashrawi, President of UUJME

Ways to Donate

Your generous donation will help us to sustain our plans for organizing and programs.
Thanks very much for your support. UUJME is a 501c3 organization.

1. Send a check: Please make the check out to “UUJME” and mail to:
   UUJME, P.O. Box 380355, Cambridge, MA 02238-0355.
2. Donate online: Please go to our website https://www.uujme.org/donation. You can use your credit or debit card to make a one-time donation or a monthly recurring donation. Monthly donations ensure income throughout the year and allow us to predict how much money we will have at some future time. We have Stripe as our current donation processor. If you have been using PayPal, your donation will still process, but we encourage you to donate via our website so we can move all online donations to our new payment processor.
3. Make a bequest: The UUA department of Planned Giving can help with bequests to UUJME. Contact our Treasurer for information about various ways of making a bequest at [email protected]. Please let us know if you make a bequest so we can thank you.
4. Access matching funds from your employer. UUJME is registered with the matching funds site Benevity. Supply the name UUJMECORP and Unique Identifier number 261404531 when requesting matching charitable funds.
5. Share the collection plate. Ask professional and lay leaders in your congregation how to arrange for a sharing of plate collections made for UUJME.

Donation purpose designation. You may designate some, or all, of your donation for a specific purpose such as Organizers or Education or in honor of or in memory of an individual or organization. If donating by check, please include a designation note in the envelope. If donating online, make a note in the box for Donation Purpose or notify [email protected].

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Contact Information Form

If you cannot donate at this time, the information requested below is very helpful to us. Please provide this information online at https://www.uujme.org/join or print and mail to:
UUJME, P.O. Box 380355, Cambridge, MA 02238-0355

Name(s):

Address:

Phone: (______) _______-____________   Email: _________________________________________________________________

Congregation/Fellowship:

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Donation Note:

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With the news of the election results comes the knowledge that the upcoming presidency will have catastrophic impacts for not only people in the United States, but for people all over the world. We care about all these impacts, and especially for UUJME's circle of concern: Palestine/Israel and the wider region. The incoming Trump administration has pledged unyielding support for Israel’s siege against Palestinians and has suggested the idea of striking nuclear sites in Iran. 

As for what policies a Harris administration might have carried out, we know that the Harris/Walz campaign doubled down on refusing to discuss ending military aid to Israel and stopping the slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon. With either election outcome, we would have work to do. With either outcome, we would expect increased repression of protest movements for Palestinian rights. With this outcome, we anticipate broader repression and sooner, along with expanded repression.

And it is not just the Executive Branch that poses a challenge. The sway held by fascist Christian nationalism in the Congress, the Supreme Court, and state and local offices holds severe implications.

Struggles for justice are deeply connected. UUJME sides with all our beloveds who face increased threats. We side with those who have been journeying and will continue to journey forward toward a just peace in Palestine and Israel and the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region - an envisioned outcome that is deeply linked to the well-being of all people and the planet. This journey also demands action against the silencing of voices for solidarity with Palestinians and others in the SWANA region. 

In these upcoming weeks and months, as we face years of uncertainty and potentially violent rhetoric and policy, may we commit strongly in our congregations and organizing communities to build people power and find our bravery now more than ever to demand change and justice for all. It becomes critically important to combine the efforts of social justice movements and guide them to travel in the same direction.  

Let the steadfastness of the Palestinian people inspire you, like the beautiful red Palestine anemone growing amidst rocks in the image above. Let the principled commitment of Jewish and other faiths' solidarity activists serve as a template. Let love for justice fuel your cultivation of hope and courage. Remember that solidarity is love. We hope that Unitarian Universalist congregations and groups will join us in an ever more inclusive collective effort to engage in working for justice in Palestine and Israel, to side with love for all, pushing toward liberation for all.

There is a genocide to stop, apartheid to dismantle, military industrial complex greed and harm to be ended, and domestic human rights to be defended. And it will require involving many more people. Know that there are abundant resources and beautiful human beings that can be the springboard for sustaining movement energy and defending humanity.

And know that it is okay if all you can do right now is breathe and cry. There are abundant people to hold your pain and side with you. Please seek the care that you need at this difficult time.

The UUA and UU groups are offering different processing spaces. UUJME is also here to support you. Reach out at [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].

Resources:

DRUUMM is an organization for BIPOC UUs and UU adjacent people; they have a caucus for people of SWANA heritage. Find out how to join at https://druumm.org/membership/.

UUA's Side with Love is holding a virtual vigil Nov. 6, at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET. UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt will be speaking. Learn more and register.

The UUA has resources for learning about community resilience and mutual aid: https://www.uua.org/safe/community-resilience