Letter of the Day: Toward justice, healing and peace

Editor, Index-Tribune We, the undersigned Sonoma residents, are members of Friends of Sabeel-North America (FOSNA), a non-violent advocacy organization for the “voice of the Palestinian Christians” and one of the many organizations committed to justice and peace in Palestine.|

Editor, Index-Tribune

We, the undersigned Sonoma residents, are members of Friends of Sabeel-North America (FOSNA), a non-violent advocacy organization for the “voice of the Palestinian Christians” and one of the many organizations committed to justice and peace in Palestine.

We join with other conscientious citizens in grieving the recent massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. We are moved to share this message from FOSNA with friends and neighbors of Sonoma Valley:

Our hearts go out to the church members and families of the nine victims of the cowardly, racist assault on a prayer meeting at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. Among those killed at the prayer meeting last week was the church’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a well-known advocate for racial justice in Charleston and throughout South Carolina. Emanuel Church, a strong presence for racial reconciliation throughout its history, was established in 1816 when African-Americans were not welcomed in Charleston’s white congregations.

We condemn this horrible attack, exposing once again a fundamental “sin” of our culture and American way of life. For too long, we have simply tolerated the racism against our African-?American sisters and brothers. We pledge to increase our awareness, raise the level of our solidarity actions, and strive to look within ourselves for answers to the racism we witness and are inadvertently party to.

We also note, with sadness, the torching of the famous Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee by Zionist extremists. This is a terrible coincidence that merits our deepest attention and reflection. It mirrors the reciprocal solidarity among the black and Palestinian struggles. Many of us have visited this beautiful church where tradition says Jesus took a few loaves of bread and fish and blessed them, and they were multiplied to feed a crowd numbering several thousand.

We urge friends and supporters to reflect on our responsibilities as we struggle to unmask the racism here at home and in Israel/Palestine and to challenge the white supremacist infrastructure so evidently connecting the United States and Israel. May God give us courage and steadfastness to stay the course on the journey toward justice, healing and peace.

Janet Klecker, Rich Hacker, Jim McFadden, ?JoAnn Consiglieri, Fran Dayan, ?Richard Ridenour, Kathy Aanestad

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