In August, the Biden Administration approved a series of arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion. Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) led by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Peter Welch (VT), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Brian Schatz (HI) would block the sale of many offensive weapons that, have been used in strikes that have killed thousands of civilians, including aid workers and journalists, in Gaza over the last year.
FCNL co-led a sign-on letter with CIVIC, joined by over 100 other organizations to Senators urging them to “cosponsor and vote in favor of the four joint resolutions of disapproval introduced by Senators Sanders, Welch, and Merkley regarding several specific major arms sales to the government of Israel.”
Members and attenders of the Boulder Colorado Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) deeply mourn the loss of all lives, homes, and communities of people who are victims of the current wars in the Middle East.
This week, FCNL’s Amelia Kegan joined “Nuns on the Bus and Friends” bus tour to mobilize people around the nation to vote for our future and support an inclusive democracy.
The nonpartisan voter education tour was organized by NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice. “We need everyone, building community, to help build this vision of the country where every person is free to fulfill their potential and truly flourish,” Amelia said.
On the one-year anniversary of the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, we took some time this week to reflect and mourn the lives lost and forever changed that day, and in all the days since. As we hold everyone impacted by this horrible violence in the Light, we know that war is not the answer.
We are holding everyone threatened by the escalating violence in Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza in the light. This is a frightening and volatile moment that demands restraint, reflection, and humanity.
This is a frightening and volatile moment — and one that demands restraint, reflection, and humanity. War is never the answer. And more war won’t benefit anyone. It will only make all sides less, not more secure, and inflict a terrible human toll.
As members of Campus Friends Meeting in Wilmington, Ohio, we carry with us the legacy of generations of peace activists at Campus Meeting and Wilmington College. We hold up our belief that all people have the Inner Light, that of God and the universe in all living beings, and stand opposed to acts of state violence that undermine our shared humanity.
They marched to the Capitol in the rain. Many held signs. Some pushed loved ones in wheelchairs. Others carried photos of those they’ve lost. All of them carried pain caused by radiation exposure.
Gaza isn’t starving. It’s being starved. Over two million Palestinian civilians face one of the world’s worst human-made humanitarian crises, with famine and disease spreading due to a lack of aid access. Amidst this catastrophe, the Biden administration and Congress halted all U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the largest aid operation in Gaza, until March 2025.
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