Hold a candle for Gaza this week

candle in cupped hands — Dhivakaran S/Pexels

Recent news reports suggest a ceasefire deal has been reached in Gaza. As we await more information about this potential ceasefire, we’re grappling with many mixed emotions.

Members of Mennonite Action have been calling for a ceasefire for the past 15 months of the Israeli military’s unrelenting assault on the people of Gaza. We are eager to mark any small progress toward ending Israel’s massacre of the Palestinian people, which has killed thousands of Gazans through bombardment, starvation, and forced displacement.

We feel joy that a new day is possible, when all can live free from fear, and when people in Israel and Palestine can reunite with their loved ones who have been held as hostages and political prisoners. We feel hope that after 15 months of genocide, something new may arise.

At the same time, we recognize that reaching a tenuous ceasefire is not enough. A ceasefire does not guarantee an end to the genocide. An end to the genocide does not signal an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza. And an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza does not necessarily ensure lasting liberation and freedom for Palestinians.

No matter what happens this week, we continue to hold a candle for Gaza. We continue to take action for Gaza. We pray for a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo. And we pray for a new world: a future where all of God’s children are free, where all occupation and genocide ceases, and where our faith is not represented by right-wing expressions of Christian nationalism.

Over the past year our movement has taken collective action together many times. This week, as we await an uncertain future, we ask you to do so again.

Do something for Gaza this week — to remind those in Gaza and one another that we continue to hold a light for justice and liberation in Palestine, and that we will continue doing so no matter what.

Each of our individual actions adds up to something bigger when we join together as a movement. On Mennonite Action’s next mass call on January 23, we will share more about all of the small and big things members of our movement did for Gaza this week.

While we await more news, we will pray. We will rejoice. We will grieve. We will act.

We will be steadfast in our commitment to keep standing up against the atrocities that the Israeli government is committing against the Palestinian people, aided and funded by our own taxpayer dollars. We will continue standing in solidarity with people in Gaza and with all oppressed people everywhere.

We hold a candle for Gaza, and the shadow of war will not overcome this spark of light.

Mennonite Action’s full statement appeared January 15 on its website.

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