news stories Tagged “Taskforce for Palestine Israel”

Commentary: Peace movement revived in Israel

July 25, 2024 / By Rev. Dr. Gary E. Doupe / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The following commentary was written by the Rev. Dr. Gary E. Doupe on behalf of the UNY Task Force for Palestine-Israel. The views expressed in this article are of the task force, not of Bishop Burgos Núñez or any Upper New York staff member.  Hope is the thing with feathers. That perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words. And …more

Commentary: The woman at Rafah

June 11, 2024 / By Noelle Stevens / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The following commentary is by Noelle Stevens, a wife, mother, and palliative care physician in northern New York. The views expressed in this reflection are her own, not of Bishop Burgos Núñez or any Upper New York staff member or team. On February 6, 1993, during a visit to Gaza with the Near East Council of Churches, Noelle Stevens captured a photograph of a woman in Rafah …more

Commentary: Peace with Justice resources

February 12, 2024 / By Rev. Gary Doupe, Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine-Israel / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The Rev. Gary Doupe is a member of the Upper New York Task Force for Peace with Justice in Palestine-Israel. He wrote the following article to inform pastors and members of Upper New York congregations about materials recently placed on our task force web site, hoping to encourage and facilitate local church discussion programs on the crucial issues relating to peace in the Holy Land.    Images of …more

Commentary: Where is he?

December 7, 2023 / By Dianne Roe / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Dianne Roe is a member of First United Methodist Church of Corning and wrote the following reflection on behalf of the Upper New York Task Force for Peace with Justice in Palestine-Israel which is part of Social Holiness. Dianne drew the sketch below from an Instagram photo sent out from Gaza during the bombing in 2014. She reflects on this as she processes the present catastrophe, which at …more

What is the Doctrine of Discovery: an anti-Christian theology of “chosenness”

April 17, 2023 / By UNY Taskforce for Palestine-Israel

The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera," issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The Bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered," claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers and declared that "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared …more

My occupied life

February 6, 2023 / By Heather Ann

Editor's Note: On January 31, we published an article about the relationship that Dianne Roe, Upper New York Taskforce for Palestine-Israel member, developed with a Palestinian family Click here to read that article. Below, the mother of the family, an American, writes about her life in Al-Ezariya, Palestine.  My name is Heather Ann; I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. I am 36 years old, and I graduated …more

UNY Taskforce for Palestine-Israel update

January 31, 2023 / By Dianne Roe, UNY Taskforce for Palestine-Israel

Sabri and Heather Al Awawda hosted me (Corning First UMC member Dianne Roe) for five weeks in the fall of 2022 in their home in Al Eizariya( Bethany). I first met Shefa, Sabri’s Grandmother, in 1990 while on a Holy Land trip with Bishop Forrest Stith and laity and clergy from the NY West Area. Sabri became like a grandson to me after he moved here and married Heather, …more