Join JUST. … CAMPAIN’s weekly action for peace and truth in the Middle East

This new initiative is inspired by the Quaker American Friends Service Committee Action Hour which has been running every Friday for the past year.

AFSC’s work in Gaza goes back to 1948, when it oversaw refugee camps and laid the basis for what became the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). To learn more see: https://afsc.org/actionhour and https://gazaunlocked.org

What will we do?

• Meet on Mondays at 7.30 pm… for up to one hour

• Witness… a minute of silence remembering ONE event or person

• Learn… what’s going on - UPDATE

• Act…. ONE letter or petition to write or sign: 

• Share…what is happening in your area that counts as a small WIN

To join the effort, please sign up using this form, and we shall send you the Zoom link. We plan to start on Monday, November 18th

Why me?

If you are reading this, you are likely to be already aware and active – maybe on the national marches, maybe local vigils, maybe writing and posting online or attending webinars. You can find out about local actions through the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. But there is no equivalent here to the Friends Action Hour run by American Quakers to enable people to connect directly and share what they are achieving.

Why now?

More than one year on from October 7th,  there is devastation and a massive death toll in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, now spreading to Iran, Syria and Iraq. Our government is complicit in its support for Israeli military action, and total failure to speak out for international law and human rights.

We know from experience that this war affects us all. It is drawing in an increasing number of countries, accelerating the race to nuclear armament and undoubtedly creating a long-lasting legacy of anger and bitterness against the West which has enabled this slaughter.  As stated by Jonathan Cook, when Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah

it chose to open the gates of hell. We'll all pay the price.

We have failed to learn from our experience in Northern Ireland where we managed to negotiate a peace settlement with people of violence. And we fail to learn from our misadventures in Iraq and Libya; the latter unleashed a tide of violence that is ravishing parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The short-sightedness, amorality and indeed crass stupidity, of Western nations like the UK is being fed by mainstream media that misinforms the public and misrepresents people and events. For example, the film Official Secrets aptly dramatised distorted reporting that facilitated our 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the Centre for Media Monitoring highlighted systematic biases and distortions in reporting of Israel's war on Gaza. Social media tries to fill the gap but also has its downsides.

It is easy to feel helpless and despairing, but there are things we can do, particularly if we work in a coordinated fashion and focus on newsworthy topics of the day.

Like AFSC, we shall demand immediate ceasefire and peace. We shall also challenge inaccurate news stories and narratives that feed the spread of war.

CAMPAIN members’ WhatsApp groups are already a fertile source of ideas, and we shall pick at least one on which we can focus every week.

Who's leading?

Nicola Grove has been a Quaker for over 40 years, and is a member of Campain, PSC and Jewish Voice for Labour. Nicola will facilitate JUST … online, supported by other Campain members.

To join this effort, please sign up using this form, and Nicola will send you the Zoom link.

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Whilst the horrors we are witnessing serve to dry my tears as though in frozen repulsion, it is the little kindnesses that enable them to flow…Heather Stroud, CAMPAIN