9 solidarity actions you can take right now for Palestine and Israel
Stephanie Hunt shares nine ways to keep on speaking up and acting for peace.
1. Tell your MP to act now
Urging our MPs to speak out in Parliament and speak up for peace remains one of the most effective ways we can bring about policy change.
You can write to your MP at any time, sharing the latest Quaker statement on the situation, a news story you've seen that's moved you, or an eyewitness story from one of our Ecumenical Accompaniers. You can find your MP's contact details here. The more they hear from you, the more likely they are to act.
We also produce regular urgent actions so you can send an automatic email directly to your MP's inbox asking them to act. They take two minutes to fill out and you'll be joining Friends across the country as we hold our MPs to account and encourage them to raise their voice.
2. Check if your money is supporting the violence
Our book of discipline, Quaker faith & practice, advises us that: "thought should be given, not only to security and the rate of interest, but to the conditions under which the income is produced and the effect which the investment may have on the welfare of all, through social or environmental impact, at home or elsewhere".(Quaker faith & practice 20.56).
Quakers in Britain decided in 2018 not to invest any centrally-held funds in companies profiting from the occupation. We also supported the legal challenge against the previous government's attempts to ban local councils from making ethical investment decisions, including on Palestine and Israel.
It's up to all of us to ensure our money isn't being used to support the violence in Palestine and Israel. Have you checked your local meeting's investments? Are you using financial services that are involved in the arms trade? Is your local council investing in companies profiting from the violence? If you're connected to another faith group, are their investments supporting the violence?
Check out these current campaigns and take action where you can:
- Boycott Barclays Bank – Palestine Solidarity Campaign. You can read what Quakers have said about Barclays Bank here: Honour your heritage by ending investment in arms to Israel, Quakers urge Barclays Bank | Quakers in Britain
- Email your local councillors and ask them to take action for Palestine
- Investing for Peace campaign calling on British churches to divest from companies profiting from the occupation
3. Help improve understanding
The attacks by Hamas and Israel's military violence since did not happen in a vacuum. Learning what led to these events and what is happening now is an ongoing journey for all of us.
Can you help those around you to understand the context better?
The EAPPI UK & Ireland blogsite has a wealth of resources from eyewitness stories of Palestinians and Israelis to information about the history and local groups working for peace. Can you share these resources with those around you? Can you put on a film night in your local community space, café, or home for friends, family, or others? Can you invite one of our Ecumenical Accompaniers to share their witness from the West Bank with your local group, school, or in your workplace?
4. Donate
We are all watching a humanitarian crisis on a scale rarely seen in modern times unfolding before our eyes. If you or your Meeting can, donate to support those agencies still able to access Gazans in need. The Disasters Emergency Committee – made up of many of our trusted partners – has issued an urgent appeal.
5. Support Friends in the region
There are two Quaker schools in the region – Ramallah Friends School in the occupied West Bank and Brummana High School in Lebanon. They're doing an incredible job supporting their students and doing their best to bring some normality to everyday life in these most abnormal of times.
Are there ways you can support them? Can you and your meeting hold them in the Light? Share their news? Donate?
David Gray, the principal of Brummana High School, recently wrote this message for British Friends. You can read about Ramallah Friends School and how they're responding to the current crisis and donate to help keep the schools going.
Donate to Ramallah Friends School
Donate to Brummana High School
6. Show public solidarity for peace
Attending public events such as protests and vigils shows those on the receiving end of violence that they are not being forgotten about. And it shows our leaders that we will keep on turning up and speaking out until policy is changed.
There are a regular protests and vigils – small and large – being planned around the country calling for an end to the violence in Palestine and Israel. We've produced this advice (PDF) for Friends who would like to attend a protest or vigil but have felt hesitant.
If you would like to join a WhatsApp group for Friends wishing to attending protests and events together, please email qpsw@quaker.org.uk.
Friends wishing to organise their own vigil can find advice on the Quakers in Britain website (PDF) on how to do so.
7. Build peace in your community
How can you work with others, reach out to others, and share your resources to help build a more peaceful community around you in these times?
Meeting houses can provide a much-needed space for discussion, reflection, and sanctuary during times of crisis. Some meeting houses near protest routes have opened their doors to provide a quiet and safe space for those who need it. Others have hired out their rooms to groups wishing to plan events or discuss what's happening in Palestine and Israel, or to those needing respite from the pain they are experiencing.
We've received an increased number of questions from meeting houses over the last year as Friends try to make informed and often quick decisions about who to hire their rooms out to. Here we share some of the key principles we use to guide our room lettings (PDF) in relation to Palestine and Israel, and which might be helpful for you as you make your own decisions.
8. Reach out to your neighbours
The escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel has resulted in an upsurge of antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks in the UK, and it is distressing to see and hear of these reports. Please call out hateful and oppressive speech when you encounter it and, where you can, extend care and support for your Muslim and Jewish neighbours. You can read more about the interfaith work Quakers across Britain are engaging in and, if you'd like to get involved, you can email faithrelations@quaker.org.uk.
We also know that the violence in Palestine and Israel is stretching community relations across the country. We hear when Friends and partners say they are struggling. Our Peacebuilding in Britain team at BYM is here to talk through any challenges or ideas Friends may have. Please reach out to peacebuildinginbritain@quaker.org.uk to speak to us and to learn about online spaces Friends can join to find community on this.
9. Keep on calling for the violence to stop!
Until it stops, we won't stop. We are unwavering in our belief that a ceasefire – where all parties lay down their weapons immediately and permanently – and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine is the only way to stop more Palestinians and Israelis from being killed and to build a more peaceful future.
It might seem obvious but this fundamental call is needed now more than ever. And we can all do something to keep it at the forefront of people's minds: keep reading, keep sharing, keep talking to your friends, family and colleagues, keep organising in your community, and keep raising your voice for peace.
