Israel/Palestine

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.

As Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, it is our fundamental belief that there is light, or goodness, or that of God in everyone. Quakers are guided by our Peace Testimony, and the belief that nonviolent confrontation and mitigation of conflict can lead to reconciliation, and recognition of humanness in one another. The commitment to this peace testimony does not only take the form of passive resistance, as we condemn all war and uses of violence.

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.”

The moral urgency of a ceasefire is painfully clear. But it’s crucial that Congress also recognizes that ending the war is vital for our own national security. 

We are halfway through 2024, and global warming is continuing to break records, with scientists increasingly predicting that this year could surpass 2023 as the hottest year. One thing is abundantly clear: climate change is more than a potential threat—it is here.

From the earliest days of Quakerism, members of the Religious Society of Friends have connected with the divine spark in others and nurtured it, and have sought to avoid the violence of war, which engenders destruction, alienation, and the loss of countless lives. In our imperfect society, it is critical that we remain true to the foundations of our faith by seeking the good in ourselves and others, and working to make the world a just and peaceful place for everyone. War is not the answer.

As a Meeting we hold a variety of views and opinions on the current siege on Gaza, but as Quakers we are called to make a statement. Quakers approach conflicts through discernment and living into the question, and we also oppose mass killing and violence. This conflict is not something which we can wait to address; this is a present and dire moment that requires response.