gaza

Last month, FCNL General Secretary Bridget Moix traveled to South Africa for a global gathering of Quakers from more than 50 countries.

It was an opportunity to forge connections, affirm our collective humanity, and discuss how to work in solidarity to tackle our shared challenges.

This week, we were alarmed as Israel expanded its war in Gaza into the occupied West Bank, launching a major attack in the territory on Monday.

The operation is the largest in the West Bank in more than two decades. Israeli forces have killed at least 18 Palestinians and wounded more than 30 others, and it is ongoing.

As the UN gears up to launch a massive polio vaccination drive, Hassan el-Tayyab — the legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a nonprofit — said the inability to deliver basic necessities could compound the health crisis. “A 10-month-old baby in Gaza is now paralysed in one leg: This is the first polio case in Gaza in 25 years. This is a massive threat,” el-Tayyab told Al Jazeera.

FCNL’s Hassan El-Tayyab speaks with Al Jazeera on August 28, 2024, about a pending agreement with the Houthis to recover an oil tanker, avoiding ecological catastrophe. El-Tayyab also speaks of the urgency for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to relieve the humanitarian crisis and de-escalate tensions across the region.

Three months after President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire proposal to end the Gaza war and free the hostages, negotiations have stalled without a deal.

With election day quickly approaching, the voices of ordinary voters matter even more as we decide who is going to represent us in Congress in 2025.

Earlier this week we urged our network to engage with candidates for office and got a great response. It was exciting to see your passion for this work. Candidates can impact our communities, and you can influence their priorities.

This week, we mourned and honored the more than 100,000 people who were killed in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years ago.

As we reflected on this solemn anniversary, we joined partners and friends around the globe to recommit to the urgent work of ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again.

Traveling throughout the Middle East in January, FCNL’s Bridget Moix and Hassan El-Tayyab saw firsthand how the regional violence sparked by the Isarel-Gaza war was getting worse daily. Reflecting on their experience, they warned that these escalations would “continue until there is a ceasefire.”

The months that have passed since then have proven their words true and exacted an enormous human toll. Today, the region is closer to the brink of a major war than ever.

On Wednesday, Congress convened a special joint session to hear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu sought to rally even greater U.S. military support for a war that continues to inflict unprecedented suffering on the people of Gaza.

Meanwhile, outside the offices of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker group, a cadre of interfaith demonstrators gathered holding signs that read “ceasefire now” and “no more arms to Israel.”