Meeting for Sufferings: Israel and Palestine
‘Please be very gentle… We do not make peace by using words we can’t undo.’
In the afternoon of Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) on 1 June, Friends spent time holding Israel and Palestine in the light. Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is frequently asked to make, or agree to, statements on the conflict, so this was an opportunity to reflect prayerfully on the situation. Stephanie Hunt, from the Middle East team in Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QSPW), spoke to a report on Quaker work in the region, particularly EAPPI (the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel). ‘We thought it would be helpful to have this space … given the number of questions we’ve had from Friends,’ she said. QPSW Central Committee (CC) recently reviewed EAPPI work and renewed its commitment. Meanwhile, Quaker Committee on Christian and Interfaith Relations had also considered the Society’s approach to peace in the Middle East, and a minute had been sent from Young Friends General Meeting.
After offering an overview of EAPPI and the four strands of its work – protective presence; monitoring of human rights violations; standing in solidarity with local peace and human rights groups; and advocacy – Stephanie Hunt made the point that EAs don’t currently work in Gaza, as it is not possible to get permits from Israeli authorities.
The foundation of ‘principled impartiality’ has ‘really helped us to be heard by different groups’, she stressed. One of the reasons BYM is involved in EAPPI is because ‘we know no other churches in Britain and Ireland will take it on’. Friends were also invited to the region by the Israeli peace community, who are still part of the work.
‘We believe [the work] has a positive impact,’ said Stephanie, reading out testimonies to support this. The UN has called EAPPI ‘their eyes and ears on the ground’, she added.
Friends heard how EAPPI has faced ‘huge operational challenges’ since the Hamas attack on 7 October last year. ‘We were initially busy managing the security of EAs in the West Bank when the violence erupted, and then [with] their eventual recall to Jerusalem and evacuation home,’ her report outlined. ‘We provided round-the-clock support to EAs via WhatsApp, phone and email during this time.’ In January, a team of six EAs entered Palestine for the first time since 7 October, to re-open the Jerusalem placement. In April, a second, larger team arrived, with the hope that additional placements may be reopened. Meanwhile, the team has been training future EAs. A form of ‘digital accompaniment’ was also initiated after 7 October, enabling verified reports from Palestinian communities to be used in advocacy in the UK and Ireland.
The report was then put before the room, with Robert Card, clerk to MfS, saying it was an ‘emotional and contentious topic’, where the ‘language can be difficult’. He reminded Friends to be ‘sensitive, both in what you say and how you receive what is said’.
Friends thanked QPSW staff for their work, with one former EA from 2005 assuring the room how ‘professional and efficient’ the programme is. One Quaker asked how to get involved with EAPPI, while another enquired about the security of EAs going into the West Bank: ‘The impression I get is that the settler movement [there] is well armed.’ Highlighting a question in the MfS papers, one Friend asked for clarity on the Society’s stance on using language like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’. ‘We need to be clear as a Society how we sit with that. This has put us out of step with other groups we work with,’ he said.
Stephanie Hunt answered the questions, saying she would be happy to put together ‘concrete actions’ for Friends to share. Regarding the security of EAs, she said ‘we won’t send them out unless we can assure their safety’, although it was difficult to be 100 per cent sure. There are strong safety protocols that are constantly reassessed, she went on, as well as a security officer. EAs do not go where settler groups are active, she added – it is known where they are, with partner organisations and the security officer giving daily, sometimes hourly, advice. This was why EAs are now in only three out of seven locations, she said, although they hope that will increase. Language is ‘a tricky one’, said Stephanie, and something the team is questioned on, by partner groups and Friends. ‘We do need further discernment.’
In ministry, one Friend said that they had ‘heard the power that comes from the willingness to simply stay present with the messiness’. While there is ‘massive value in naming genocide and apartheid for what it is, there is ‘tremendous power in staying simply present with what is, as facts’.
‘Part of our discipline is to know what we mean by certain words,’ offered another Quaker, suggesting discernment on this, as well as on the language’s impact. We need words to recognise the destruction of Rafah, suggested another Quaker.
Robert Card drafted a minute, asking QPSW to reflect on language. There’s ‘an elephant in the room’, offered one Friend, as the specific words were not mentioned, to which Robert said he’d insert ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’. There were also differing opinions on whether to include a reference to Hamas’s attack on 7 October, with one Quaker saying that, without it, Friends could appear ‘one-sided’; another asked to exclude it, describing it as a ‘repugnant trope’.
This is ‘extremely difficult discernment’, reflected another Friend, adding: ‘I’m really struggling with the word “genocide”.’ It is ‘a very particular word and needs to be handled with extreme caution… Few races in the world have suffered genocide,’ she said, but the Jewish people have. ‘Please be very gentle… We do not make peace by using words we can’t undo.’
Robert Card said he would keep ‘genocide’ in, as the minute didn’t say it was being committed. The final minute was eventually passed asking ‘QPSWCC to reflect further on [the language] in the hope that we might return to it… what do we specifically mean by… ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’, and what is the likely impact of using them… In a situation where hope seems absent, we pray for miracles.’
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