Unitarian Universalist Resolutions and Statements About Palestine
In 1982, the UUA General Assembly passed a General Resolution which in part called for, “Continued Opposition to the creation and maintenance of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and continued commitment to the United Nations Resolution 242 under which Israel should withdraw from lands conquered in 1967 . . .” See: https://www.uua.org/action/statements/united-states-policy-relation-israeli-palestinian-arab-conflict . Also in 1982, the UUA Board of Trustees passed a Business Resolution affirming ” … its opposition to anti-Semitism in all its forms and recognizes, along with much of the Jewish community, that criticism of the policies of the government of Israel should not be equated with or confused with anti-Semitism.” https://www.uua.org/action/statements/justice-middle-east .
In 1984, The UUA became a founding member of the coalition, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) in 1984. CMEP works for justice and peace for all people in the Middle East and has advanced several joint statements and petitions. https://cmep.org/
In 2002, the UUA General Assembly passed an Action of Immediate Witness which called for: “Freedom from occupation and equal rights for all, including the right to exist in peace and security; Opposition to Israeli settlements, land confiscations, house demolitions, and other violations of international law; Opposition to all attacks on civilians, whether by suicide bombers, F-16 or helicopter gunships or any other means;” See http://www.uua.org/statements/toward-peace-and-justice-middle-east.
In 2016, the UUA Investment Committee, and the UUA Socially Responsible Investing Committee adopted a Human Rights in Conflict Zones Investment Screen that included human rights in Palestine/Israel. As a result, they sold the UU Common Endowment Fund (UUCEF) shares in four corporations that profit from human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hewlett Packard Inc., Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar. https://uucef.org/2016/04/sric-announces-new-human-rights-screen/
In 2019, the UUA adopted an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) with the title “Support our First Amendment Rights to Boycott in Support of Palestinian Rights.” The AIW declared Unitarian Universalist opposition to the many federal, state and local laws that have been passed or introduced in recent years that are aimed at criminalizing or intimidating supporters of Palestinian human rights for advocating boycott and divestment as a means of placing pressure on corporations complicit in Israeli oppression of Palestinians. https://www.uua.org/action/statements/support-our-first-amendment-right-boycott-behalf-palestinian-rights
In 2020, the UUA General Assembly adopted a Business Resolution entitled “Embodying Human Rights in Our Investment Decisions.” The resolution called on the UUA investment committees that manage the UU Common Endowment Fund to: 1) enhance their use of human rights criteria in their socially responsible investment decisions; and 2) to develop formal means of communication between the investment committees and UU social justice groups. The context setting Whereas section of the resolution included the following: “WHEREAS, the human rights of groups in many countries of the world also continue to be systematically violated. Such groups include but are not limited to … Palestinians who have suffered for decades from expulsion, land seizure, and denial of fundamental rights based on their ethnicity;….” https://uucef.org/2020/09/uua-adopts-business-resolution-on-human-rights-investing/
In 2021, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) declared that US Military aid to Israel must be withheld until Israel obeys international law and stops violating the human rights of Palestinians. https://www.uusc.org/uusc-calls-on-the-u-s-government-to-withhold-military-aid-to-israel/
In 2024, thousands of UUA delegates voted overwhelmingly—74% to 26%— for a resolution in solidarity with Palestinians calling for a stop to indiscriminate violence in Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, for an end to US military aid to Israel, and for Unitarian Universalist congregations to join the Apartheid Free Communities. Notably, this is the first time in history the General Assembly, representing over 1,000 congregations, has explicitly supported an end to US military support for Israel and raised concerns about Zionism. More on this can be found here
Note: Notable advocacy by UU leaders and congregations are not included on this list. For example, in 2019, UUA president, Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, was one of 22 faith community leaders in the U.S. signing a letter to Congress urging members to support the "Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act" (H.R. 2407). tinyurl.com/FaithLeaders2019. In 2002, a petition was signed by 240 Unitarian Universalist ministers calling for consideration of the Arab Peace Initiative, a proposal that included a call for Israel to end the occupation and return to the 1967 borders.
