Quakers call for ceasefire
‘Further military action will not bring peace. We know this as Quakers who are committed to peace and as students of history.’
Britain Yearly Meeting has joined American Friends Service Committee, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the Quaker United Nations Office, in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In a statement, the organisations said that they ‘mourn all lives lost and lament with everyone who is suffering’ and ‘grieve for those in Israel and Palestine who have lost precious lives’.
The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October killed over 1,300 Israelis, and civilian hostages were taken by Hamas into Gaza. Since then, as of 22 October, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says over 4,300 Palestinians have been killed.
‘Violence such as this is never justifiable’, said the statement ‘and we insist that a ceasefire must be realized along with the return of all hostages.’
The Quaker organisations said that the many faith traditions in the region share a religious obligation to feed the hungry, care for the sick and wounded, and protect the most vulnerable from violence. ‘The moral authority of the international community will be evaluated based on its response to the needs of communities in peril.’
The statement also called on ‘Israeli and international leaders to firmly disavow dehumanizing anti-Palestinian rhetoric and approaches that deepen painful divisions and politicize the current crisis’.
‘Further military action will not bring peace. We know this as Quakers who are committed to peace and as students of history.’
Quakers were also present at demonstrations in London this weekend calling for a ceasefire. According to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 250,000 MPs, trade union leaders and civil campaigners gathered in the pouring rain to witness for peace.
Quakers also joined with organisations from other faiths to call for peace. The Northern Friends Peace Board joined representatives of thirteen organisations and over 700 church members and leaders to sign an open letter to the foreign secretary about the escalating violence in Israel and Gaza. The letter, created by members of the Network of Christian Peace Organisations, calls on James Cleverly to promote ‘de-escalation and dialogue’ in Palestine and Israel. It recognises the huge ongoing human suffering and urges lasting ‘non military’ solutions to peace in the region to be pursued.
The letter – also signed by Britain Yearly Meeting – recognised that the conflict has and will increase antisemitic and Islamophobic acts in the UK and the signatories commit themselves to doing what they can to de-escalate the tensions.
Charlotte Marshall, director of Sabeel-Kairos, who co-wrote the letter, said: ‘The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is intensifying daily. Innocent men, women and children in both Palestine and Israel are paying the price of years of unresolved oppression and political indifference to the situation in Palestine. The UK government must act now to demand international law is upheld and civilians are protected. Beyond that, should it wish to remain a credible voice in the region, it must pursue justice and equality for all in the Holy Land, helping to lay the foundations for a true and lasting peace.’
John Cooper, from Fellowship of Reconciliation, who helped organise the letter, said: ‘As more blood is spilled in the Middle East it’s important for us to act as people of hope. Our hope starts by recognising and lamenting the increased violence in this sacred region. It then moves to action, urging people in positions of political power to use their influence not simply to stop this new fighting but to lay foundations for lasting peace.’
The other signatures are from Pax Christi, the Methodist Peace Fellowship, the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Ekklesia, Community of Christ, Church and Peace, the Iona Community, Cymdeithas y Cymod, Christian CND, and the Tertiary Order of St Francis (Justice and Peace Committee).
Quakers around the country also took action locally for peace. Friends from Coventry and Rugby Meetings joined 170 people in a circle of friendship in Coventry Cathedral ‘to witness the distress and sadness about the war in and around Gaza’. The hour included silence and readings by more than five different faiths, as well as several words sung by a choir of eight, and a procession to light candles for peace.
David Fish, from Rugby Meeting, told the Friend: ‘People hugged each other. People were in tears.’
Coventry Quaker Ann Farr, chair of Pax Christi England and Wales, read a form of the following prayer of Francis, the pope: ‘Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”. With war everything is lost. Instil in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of love, You created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace. Enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.’
