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Dear Friend of Kairos W. MI, John Kleinheksel here, on behalf of the Kairos West Michigan(KWM) Board. Many of you have been with me/us from the earliest days when in 2003 Sharon and I moved back to my home town of Holland, MI. I value a long relationship with many of you personally and I write to share my enthusiasm for KWM today.   In 2009, I heard the cry for help from our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters. Their Kairos Palestine document (inspired by Kairos S. Africa) led me to Mark Braverman who rallied ecumenical and evangelical Christians in composing a Kairos USA response to that cry. He told me about Mike Spath from Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP). Mike and I met in June, 2014. He challenged me: “What do you want to do?” In May, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had wrongfully destroyed about 1,500 fruit trees at Daoud Nasser’s Tent of Nations farm near Bethlehem. I was incensed. Mike knew a guy who could bring pictures and a message from the Nasser farm. I was eager to rally local people of faith to address the injustices and work for peace.   At a July 14, 2014 meeting in the Holland Public Library, we officially launched Kairos West Michigan. Since then KWM has been bringing education, advocacy and action plans to west Michigan, extending to Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and the Tri-Cities in Grand Haven.   In fact, on October 8 of this year, 47 people jammed a theater @ Sperry Movie House and then the very next day another 47 (at our expense), gathered to view and discuss Josh Vis’ documentary, THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. This is a powerful exposé of the oppressive structures imposed by the Israeli Occupation on the indigenous Arab people. Then, on October 28, KWM welcomed the South African cleric, the Rev. Edwin Arrison in person, asking if there was any hope the Israeli Apartheid regime will give way to a truer, pluralistic democracy, as happened in South Africa. On our behalf, I want to thank you for following us so faithfully through the years and contributing to our operational needs.   We know you have many worthy causes to support financially; we at KWM hope that this year you will help us build on this legacy going forward. (We are a 501(c) non-profit organization whose financial records are available upon request.).   We aspire to be your source of information, advocacy, inspiration and action in Israel/Palestine. Thank you for your thoughtful and generous gifts to KWM. Faithfully yours, John Kleinheksel, Founder, KWM

Palestinian Christians release “A Dossier on Israeli Apartheid”

Palestinian Christians join international human rights organizations and a growing number of church bodies in naming Israel as an apartheid state.

Repeated cries from Palestinian Christians naming Israel’s apartheid have largely gone unanswered. Last Friday, they and their allies around the globe spoke again, adding their voice to those of international human rights organizations and a growing number of church bodies that are naming Israel as an apartheid state.

During last Friday’s release of A Dossier on Israeli Apartheid: A Pressing Call to Churches Around the World, Palestinian Latin Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah said, “Israel needs true friends who tell Israel the truth. Those who say to Israel, ‘Everything you do, wrong or right, is right,’ are not Israel’s true friends.” Patriarch Sabbah said, “True friends tell you, ‘Do not do wrong to yourself by doing wrong to others, namely to the Palestinian people.’”

Read more here.

 

Arab citizens have a right to full citizenship in Israel

The affirmation of Katanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice is a most recent application of the lofty goal of full citizenship rights and responsibilities as declared in our U.S. Declaration of Independence.

For much of U.S. history, equal citizenship was a distant dream for African-American persons. Here’s our Declaration of July 4, 1776:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

From the beginning of our history, Africans were NOT treated as “equal” in regards to citizenship rights and responsibilities. They were bought and sold as property, as slaves.

May 14, 1948, is the day Israel declared its independence as a sovereign State.

Here is her Declaration of Independence:

ACCORDINGLY, WE, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly today, the day of the termination of the British mandate for Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations,

HEREBY PROCLAIM the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called ISRAEL.

WE HEREBY DECLARE that as from the termination of the Mandate at midnight, this night of the 14th and 15th May, 1948, and until the setting up of the duly elected bodies of the State in accordance with a Constitution, to be drawn up by a Constituent Assembly not later than the first day of October, 1948, the present National Council shall act as the provisional administration, shall constitute the Provisional Government of the State of Israel.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The key concept is highlighted in bold print. From the beginning, Israel has treated the indigenous people of Palestine as unwanted holdovers from the Ottoman empire. When as many as 20 percent of the Arabs refused to leave in 1948, they were given second-class citizenship rights. From the beginning, the State of Israel has NOT promoted the “development of the country for the benefit of ALL its inhabitants … uphold(ing) the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex” (Declaration text).

Kairos West Michigan joins with countless organizations, calling for Israel to extend full citizenship rights to that 20 percent of her Arab citizens.

We are happy when the U.S. more fully complies with her standards. We call upon our friends the Israelis, to do likewise.

John Kleinheksel,

Kairos West Michigan

Join us now via recorded zoom session for a discussion with Rich Forer on Rabbi Michael Lerner’s views on healing the trauma felt by both Israelis and Palestinians.

• Video link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jbweOMdoTA-WHtpauc0X0Zdj_oS2Ut7g/view?usp=sharing
• Audio Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bURUf-Gyof_wZBneBuJ1ItuTsW8AoUpO/view?usp=sharing

Please see this link for an MLK Day-related address on Israel-Palestine.

 

 

Kairos West Michigan invites you to take action: Stand against apartheid.

 

Continue reading “Write That Letter!”

Today (Feb. 1), London-based Amnesty International became the third international NGO within the last six weeks to declare Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as apartheid. “…territorial fragmentation; segregation and control; dispossession of land and property; and denial of economic and social rights…amounts to apartheid.”

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group in Jerusalem itself declared on Jan. 12, “A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is Apartheid.”

On Dec. 14 the New York-based Human Rights Watch wrote, “the particularly severe repression against Palestinians living in the OPT, amounts to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”

14 million people live in Israel-Palestine today. About half are Jewish; the other half Palestinian. Is it in Israel’s self-interest to deny human rights to half of the people living under its control? Is this sustainable, or just, or righteous? Why should we care? $4 billion of our tax dollars goes to support this important ally and friend of ours. Write our leaders, especially President Biden, asking them to demand of our friends the same respect for human rights we cherish at home.

“Justice can only be effective when each of the following… is present: mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace. Justice without mercy leads to further injustice. It is impossible to achieve justice without addressing truth. And where is the virtue of justice if it does not bring peace?” Salim Munayer

Bart Den Boer

Kairos West Michigan

Choose a link below to access KWM’s January 20 webinar, “Mission Hebron,” featuring Cody O’Rourke from Good Shepherd Collective, Tom Arendshorst, former Hebron Christian Peacemaker Team member, and John Kleinheksel, KWM founder.

Full Video:

Audio

Friends:

You can find Bruce Fisk’s November 14 presentation, “Seeking The Path”  at this link.

PHILADELPHIA (October 22, 2021) On October 19, the Israeli Ministry of Defense issued a military order declaring key Palestinian human rights organizations “terrorist organizations.” The named organizations include Defense for Children International – Palestine, Al-Haq, Addameer, Bisan, the Union of Agricultural Working Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees. The declaration effectively outlaws these groups.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) – a Quaker organization that has been working with Palestinians and Israelis since 1948 – condemns this action against human rights defenders and Palestinian civil society and calls for its immediate reversal.

“The Israeli government has targeted these organizations for decades because of their human rights activism. They have arrested and detained staff, raided organizations offices, and made similar accusations to these organizations’ donors,” said Michael Merryman-Lotze, Middle East program director for AFSC. “This is an outrageous and dangerous escalation of Israel’s attacks on civil society.  The U.S. government must immediately condemn this move, demand its immediate reversal, and insist on protections for civil society and human rights defenders.”

US Demands Israel Explain Its Terrorist Designation of Palestinian NGO’s

Take action: Tell Congress to oppose the order and calls for its immediate reversal!