Since the horrifying Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israeli civilians and the nearly non-stop following bombings at unprecedented levels, FOR-USA has been all-hands-on-deck 24/7 for a ceasefire. 2023-2024 Walter Wink and June Keener Wink Fellow, Rabbi May Ye, has been in the streets — and often in handcuffs — constantly, and FOR Executive Director Ariel Gold and FOR Senior Advisor Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler have published numerous calls for an end to madness in the Middle East. Among them were Rev. Hagler’s “When will Biden stand up for the people of Palestine?” in the influential Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, and a widely circulated piece by Ariel about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s manipulative use of the story of Amalek from the Hebrew Bible as a way to sell the war with Gaza to right-wing Jews in Israel and right-wing Evangelicals in the U.S.
Ariel appeared multiple times on Al Jazeera English, Egyptian television, and WBAI Pacifica radio in New York City. Throughout October, Rev. Hagler, aided by our radio partner WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C., convened meetings in the Black community, offering education on Palestine, the conflict in Gaza, and connections to Black community struggles.
FOR’s 2023-2024 Wink Fellow, Rabbi May Ye, was among 500 Jews and allies who filled the rotunda of the U.S. House of Representatives in mid-October, where they prayed, sang, and chanted “CEASEFIRE NOW!” Refusing to leave without an end to the genocide being funded by the U.S. and carried out by Israel, one by one they were put in handcuffs and taken to jail. “Calling for our lawmakers to treat all human life as sacred — the core tenet of Judaism — is what prayer in action looks like. I am so grateful to Rabbi May Ye and the hundreds of others who put their bodies and freedom on the line yesterday — this is what our Fellowship was created to support,” Ariel said afterwards.
FOR has assembled an impressive list of pro-ceasefire statements from activists around the world, fielded petitions, and participated in marches. In November, numerous groups and individuals, including political leaders from around the country, gathered at the White House to engage in a hunger strike. Rev. Graylan Hagler spoke to the group, offering material and spiritual aid. Rev. Hagler was also part of a gathering of Muslims in a school in Silver Spring, Maryland to weep over the loss of family members. One person testified to the entire loss of four generations. This sacred gathering brought forth how deep and serious is the violation of humanity that is taking place.
In the New Jersey/New York City metro area, where Ariel and FOR Director of Operations Susan H. Smith live, the two partnered with Jewish Voice for Peace chapters to organize local protests to push members of Congress to join the call for a ceasefire. Given the violence unfolding around the world, FOR’s year-end message contained both a poem and a prayer. The poem is from Palestinian poet and writer Refaat Alareer, who was killed in Gaza on December 7th. The prayer is compiled from scriptural/liturgical language in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources on the peace of the angels. It was read by FOR’s interfaith staff, board members and their families. You can watch the video here.
We encourage FOR members to please send us accounts of your own actions so that we can put together an inclusive list of grassroots initiatives.