A Prayerful Response to the Violence in Israel and Palestine

November 2023

Fourth Presbyterian Church has a long tradition of being an interfaith partner and having an interest in global affairs as part of our theological commitment to participate in God’s mission toward a more peaceful, just, and flourishing world. Our perspective as a congregation on the subject of Israel and Palestine, and the present tragedy of violence and war between Israel and Hamas, is shaped by these commitments and our relationships to partner institutions and leaders, including Christians in the ecumenical community and Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims in the Holy Land, as well as with Jewish and Muslim communities in the US and Chicago with ties to the region and its peoples.

We are connected to and care about people who are suffering and dying in Israel and Palestine, and their families, friends, and communities here in Chicago. We know through these relationships that what occurs across the seas reverberates in our own backyard. We grieve the death of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in a gruesome act of Islamophobia just outside Chicago. We grieve for Judith and Natalie Raanan who were taken as hostages by Hamas and yet are grateful for their release.

As the Session of Fourth Presbyterian Church, we know the roots of the current conflict are complex, and we ourselves have diverse views on the policies that might bring peace, security, and justice. But we do know that we can as a community make some commitments to live as faithfully as we can in this painful time. We invite you to join us in praying, learning, and connecting.

Pray.

We know the power of prayer as a faith community. Prayer can prepare our minds and hearts and hands to think and live in ways that safeguard the well-being and dignity of our neighbors near and far.

Therefore, we commit to engage in a season of prayer for Israel and Palestine and for our local and denominational partners and for friends and neighbors with ties to this Holy Land of Israel and Palestine.

In doing so, we join ourselves with many who seek peace and justice in the midst of this current war and the broader conflict from which it stems.

• We pray for an end to the violence, for the safe return of hostages, for the protection of civilians, and for the arrival of sufficient humanitarian aid for impacted communities.
  
• We pray for the rebuilding of towns and lives that have been broken in these hostilities and for the building of more enduring political resolutions and amity between Israelis, Palestinians, and their ethnic and religious kindred throughout the world.

Learn.

We commit to deepen our understanding of the history and current realities of the broader conflict in the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This includes

• Learning about the history and current realities of antisemitism and Islamophobia and how these realities manifest in the United States, MENA, and globally.
  
• Examining the competing narratives of the conflict in Israel and Palestine and the relationship of the neighboring countries to the conflict.
• Studying our Presbyterian Church (USA) denominational statements with an eye for how we may slip into stereotypes or biases, so that we can address and affirm the full humanity of all involved in the regional conflict.
• Exploring how our scriptures and confessions have contributed to antisemitism and Islamophobia throughout history and considering how to counter past harm with current healing.

Connect.

We commit to our ongoing relationships here in Chicago with Muslims and Jews and specifically with the multiple communities impacted by the war and by the struggle for sovereignty and peaceful coexistence in Israel, Palestine, and MENA.

• We commit to reach out personally to our friends and neighbors with compassion and interest to understand what they are experiencing at this time.
• We affirm our relationship with our neighbor Chicago Sinai Congregation and commit to shared learning and ongoing relationship building.
• We affirm our covenant with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) and dialogues that flow from that.
• We affirm our participation in the Presbytery of Chicago dialogue with the Jewish Federation of Chicago.
• We commit to reaching out to and building relationships with Chicago Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
• We commit to our continuing relationship with the Niagara Foundation, a Turkish Muslim organization with whom we have shared educational events and Iftar meals. We commit to learning about their experience here in the US and their homelands, where we recognize that war has also destroyed lives, families, and communities.

Our interfaith relationships are a vital expression of our faith. We are called to recognize, affirm, and celebrate the image of God in all people, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to welcome the stranger in our midst. This becomes much more difficult when global and political violence, such as we are facing now, reverberates across the seas and tears at our communities here in Chicago. Especially at this time, when local communities are experiencing trauma and grief, we affirm our faith in God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, and we commit to the hard and transformative work of enacted love.

Affirmed by the Session of Fourth Presbyterian Church on November 17, 2023

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