Peace and Justice

News from Gaza

News is sparse and our friends there are once again forced to move. For Rana, this is the seventh move in less than a year. Her hopes of leaving for Egypt were dashed when the IDF closed the border when she was days away from a place on the exit list. This meant she did not see her father (who was medically evacuated last October) before his death. Her sister in law in Cairo reports that she is hanging on but very depressed.
 

Bahzad has once again had to relocate his family's tent. Although the money for his evacuation is in place he does not yet have the relevant paper work and, as with Rana, the border is closed. He has been trying to grow some vegetables but with the constant moves, this is difficult.

The memorial book for Maisara, the doctor who was murdered in a bombing raid last November, is now published. I will bring my copy to church on Sunday if anyone wants to see it. . You may spot a picture of them all enjoying a day rambling through Ecclesall woods in much happier times. Meanwhile extensive IDF raids in the West Bank have led to more deaths, along with increasing settler violence. 

Please continue to pray for the people of Gaza and for the West Bank.

Friends of The Holy Land Our Christian brothers and sisters in the holy land are really suffering. They desperately need our prayers and support. To read the launch edition of their new magazine Giving Hope, please see here.
This is a new-look update with lots of information about what is happening in the UK and in the Holy Land.

Important update about asylum seekers in Sheffield and South Yorkshire

As you will all be aware from the media, the backlog of asylum seekers
awaiting process of their claims has grown significantly over the last 2
years. As asylum seekers are entitled to accommodation while their claims
are processed, this has resulted in a crisis of accommodation. This never
results in anything other than very basic accommodation, sometimes in
disused army camps, and sometimes in hotels. While the accommodation is
basic, the food provided is both poor quality and far from culturally
appropriate.

Concerns are particularly focussed on families.
Currently more than 300 children are living in hotels in Sheffield
alone. Some of these families are living at the Kenwood hotel.
To complicate matters, families are accommodated for one week only.
Every Friday, they are informed of where they will go for the following
week – elsewhere in Sheffield, to Chesterfield or even Doncaster. That
makes continuity of support for already traumatised children very difficult.
 

In the hotels, there is nowhere for families to cook or relax or for children
to play. When they move, they often wait up to 8 hours for a taxi to be
arranged for them. Once they have moved it is more difficult for them to
contact advice or health support through City of Sanctuary in Sheffield.
 

Friends, this is a crisis on our doorstep, and I hope that in some way,
members at SAPL may be able to offer some support to families.
We are currently looking, with City of Sanctuary Sheffield, to see whether
we can support families to use the kitchen at Shirley House once a week to
prepare and cook a nutritious and appropriate meal for their families. We
will need volunteer support to obtain food from local suppliers, to support
the cooking and to help with children while meals are prepared.
 

We also hope to identify volunteers who may be able to assist in driving
families to new destinations on Fridays. It will be essential that volunteer
drivers check their car insurance before they do this. They may also, of
course, need to be DBS checked.
 

We hope also to be able to provide some basic activity packs for children,
although the numbers and ages of children will vary from week to week.
This plan is at an early stage but hopefully we may be able to have progress
very soon. If you feel that you might be able to offer time for any of these
tasks, please can you sign the sheet in church.
Anne Hollows

End the ‘scandal’ of the need for food banks

A Diocese of Sheffield motion, passed at General Synod last week (Monday 8 July), noted the ‘major contribution’ to social welfare being made by churches and others in the provision of food banks, but said some organisations providing emergency food aid were being driven to ‘breaking point’ by demand.  The wording of the Sheffield Diocesan Synod motion on food banks and inadequacies in social security is as follows:

That this Synod, mindful that the fourth Mark of Mission of the Anglican Communion is to “transform unjust structures of society”:

1. note the major contribution to social welfare being made by the churches and others in the provision of food banks

2. note with concern that levels of dependence on food banks have been increasing and that inflation is making the situation even worse

3. note further that 2/3 of those who use food banks have disabilities or long-term health conditions who find it nearly impossible to navigate the benefits system and be supported adequately, and so applaud the incredible ministry and example of these churches and others who tirelessly run food banks, whilst lamenting and acknowledging the incredible personal and financial cost to this, which is driving some organisations to breaking point.

4. believe that this dependence reflects serious inadequacies in the social security system

5. note that the Trussell Trust has said: ‘we stand on the edge of a precipice with a clear decision to make: either we accept food banks as a ‘new normal’ or we work to create a more dignified, compassionate and humane society where everyone has enough money for essentials’

6. welcome the Chancellor’s intervention to help the least well-off households with their energy bills but note this will not remove the problem of increased dependency on foodbanks

7. call on the House of Bishops to urgently engage with HM Government, in particular the Secretary of State, to press it to review the adequacy of current social security provision and consider the feasibility of introducing an Essentials Guarantee.

8. Believing that all children are a gift from God and bear the image of Christ, urge the House of Bishops and in particular the Lords Spiritual, to use every opportunity available to them to engage with the new Government and strongly encourage them to do everything possible to bring about an immediate end to the two child benefit limit, which disadvantages families and forces large numbers of children into the use of food banks or to otherwise go hungry.

The General Synod voted 274 in favour; against 1 and 0 abstentions.

Born into displacement: Palestinian children’s struggle for rights on World Refugee Day

A blog written for World Refugee Day by Caitlin Procter and two colleagues at the European University Institute in Florence. To read, see here.
 

The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope
Many of you will be aware of the writing and speaking of Rev Munther Isaac from Bethlehem. His new book was published on Sunday 16th June and is available in paperback and Kindle. 
Christians have lived in Palestine since the earliest days of the Jesus movement. The Palestinian church predates Islam. Yet Palestinian Christians find themselves marginalized and ostracized. In the heated tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the voices of Palestinian Christians are often unheard and ignored.
This book provides an opportunity to hear the realities of life on the ground from a leading Palestinian pastor and theologian. Munther Isaac gives the perspective of Palestinian Christians on the other side of the separation wall surrounding most Palestinian West Bank cities today. 
Isaac laments the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people but holds out hope for a just peace and ways to befriend and love his Jewish and Muslim neighbours. In contrast to the dominant religious and nationalistic ideologies and agendas for the region, he offers a theology of the land and a vision for a shared land that belongs to God, where there are no second-class citizens of any kind.
'This book is my invitation to you,' Isaac writes, 'to step into the other side of the wall and
listen to our stories and perspective. It is my humble request to you to allow me to share how Palestinians experience God, read the Bible, and have been touched and liberated by Jesus - a fellow Bethlehemite who has challenged us to see others as neighbors and love them as ourselves. . . . This book paints a picture of our story of faith, lament, and hope. And I invite you to join and listen, on our side of the wall.'

Anne Hollows

City of Sanctuary is looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join their Board of Trustees, and also for the Treasurer position.  As a trustee, you will play a key role in guiding and supporting the organization as they work towards creating a city that is safe and welcoming for people seeking sanctuary. All details of these posts can be found on the Sheffield City of Sanctuary website. 

Safeguarding people who are LGBT+ within the Methodist Church

This webinar, held on 24th January 2023, is now available to watch here.

You can read the the answers to the questions or comments posed in the Q&A function during the webinar, along with links to some helpful organisations, here.

Churches respond to risk to benefit levels  The Methodist Church in Britain, the United Reformed Church and the Baptist Union of Great Britain respond to the proposal to limit the uprating of benefits, risking a real terms cut to benefit levels:

The social security system should prevent families from being pushed into hardship, yet foodbanks are facing rapidly rising demand and almost half of claimants receiving Universal Credit report skipping meals to make ends meet. The value of benefits has declined for the last decade and already an average family of four relying on Universal Credit will be £1,400 worse off this winter than last – despite the interventions already put in place. Against this background it would be outrageous to erode benefits further.

For months we have called on government to provide targeted support to the lowest income households, who are at the sharp end of rising costs. Without that additional help huge numbers of families – particularly families with children – will face impossible choices to make ends meet. The proposal to link benefits to wages rather than prices would mean the largest real terms cut in benefits ever at a time when low-income families are already facing increased hardship. Such a decision would lack both compassion and morality.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus declared “I have come to bring good news to the poor”. We cannot stay quiet when vital support to the communities we are part of is threatened. We call on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to uprate benefits in line with prices and to provide targeted support to those families who are at the sharpest end of the cost of living crisis.

Signed by

Revd Fiona Bennett, Moderator of General Assembly, United Reformed Church

Revd Graham Thompson, President of the Methodist Conference, The Methodist Church in Britain

Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain

Missing people in Ukraine  Some of you will remember the Nexus article by Bel Trew about the rebuilding of a church in Beirut. Bel has spent much of the last 8 months in Ukraine and the first item in this broadcast is about her work on missing people in Ukraine. 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001d57b?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Anne Hollows