Quaker Sumud

11/14 Sumud: Ethnic Cleansing & The Nakba

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by

Alex
in

Dear Sumud Friends, welcome to our second Sumud session on the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, or the “Nakba” (catastrophe) of 1948. This is the period when 750,000 indigenous Palestinian people were forced from their homes or fled the violence of Zionist forces. 

Please post below any reflections or questions you have before the session as you’re reading Chapter 2 of Khalidi or reviewing the materials in the toolkit, which includes several documentaries/movies. Consider whether you’d like to post below anonymously or first name only. See you on Thursday!

Comments

4 responses to “11/14 Sumud: Ethnic Cleansing & The Nakba”

  1. April D. Avatar
    April D.

    Hi Alex, I had dropped this question in the chat last week. I am wondering about this connection between the Christian Right and the Second Coming prophesy and Israel / Palestine. I have heard several people make reference to this but do not understand the basic premise. Please explain if we have time. Thanks so much.

    Reply
  2. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    Thanks so much for this question, April! And sorry I missed it in the chat last week. We’ll discuss this week the so-called “miracle” of Israel’s birth as told by Zionist and western historiography, and we can tie in the issue of evangelical readings of supposedly end times scripture. In the meantime, I recommend checking out this Guardian article that talks about some of the theological beliefs and brings in the last year of war and mass atrocity: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/30/us-evangelical-christians-israel-hamas-war

    Reply
  3. Steve Chase Avatar
    Steve Chase

    I appreciate the focus on the testimony of equality because this has long been a challenge for Friends.

    For example, today’s Religious Society of Friends is rightly proud that our Quaker ancestors opposed slavery before any other Christian denomination. We are also rightly impressed that many of these Friends became organizers and activists in the broader abolition movement. This history reminds us that, at our very best, Quaker faith is committed to respecting “that of God” in everyone and working for peace, justice, and equality.

    Yet, as noted by Quaker historians Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye, it also took Quakers in the American colonies over a hundred years of intense discernment and contentious debate before they finally spoke in one voice against the sin of slavery. Even then, many Quakers in local meetings hesitated to participate in the broader anti-slavery movement. Only ten percent of US Quakers boycotted slave-made plantation goods, and several of the most active Quaker abolitionists were often marginalized, or even removed from membership, by their home meetings. For a long time, some local meetings even refused to admit African Americans as members.

    My question is can we build a deeper faithfulness and stronger unity than this as we work for a just peace in Israel/Palestine? Classes like this one suggests that this is possible.

    Reply
  4. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    I really appreciate this comparative history, Steve. I find it both inspiring and sobering. I tend to remember and idolize the Quakers who stood up to grave injustices like slavery, living out their belief in Equality, of that of God in every person. And yet as you say, doing so came at great cost to many of them, and it took Friends as a religious community far too long to arrive at positions more faithful to their testimonies. It feels that Friends are waking up to the reality of Apartheid in Israel/Palestine. While I feel inspired and optimistic, I also know that there is so much further we have to go to end U.S. complicity in the settler-colonialism and systematic violence against Palestinians. I hope we can remain steadfast.

    Reply

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