John Lewis National Day of Commemoration and Action
Wednesday, July 17, 5:30-7pm
King Plaza, 250 Hamilton, Palo Alto

July 17, 2024 marks the 4th anniversary of the death of the late Congressman John Lewis. This year events across the nation will commemorate him and commit to action to carry on his life work to secure voting rights for all people.

Gather together at King Plaza in Palo Alto! Speakers include:

• Judge LaDoris Cordell (Retired)
• Alice Smith, National Voter Corps
• Nancy Goodban, Center for Common Ground
• Bob King, life time social justice activist discussing his family’s voting rights issues
• Kiyoshi Taylor, Afro Uprise
• Rabbi Heath Watenmaker, Congregation Beth Am

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the first atomic bomb was dropped by the US Air Force on the people of Hiroshima, Japan. On August 9th at 11:15 AM the second atomic bomb was dropped on the people of Nagasaki. The magnitude of death and destruction made clear that nuclear weapons must never be used again.

Yet, since then, the potential for nuclear catastrophe has grown to an unimaginable scale. This August 6th, on the 79th anniversary of that horrific tragedy, people around the world will be joining in prayer for a future free from the threat of nuclear weapons. You and/or your faith community are encouraged to join this global community of prayer! Prayers and prayer gatherings are invited throughout the days before and after August 6th. Click here for more information.

One possible prayer for a world free of nuclear weapons is offered by the sponsoring organization VOICES, part of the United Religions Initiative. Click here to download. This prayer is also available in many different languages here on the URI website. (Use the "Select a Language" option in the top right side of the webpage.) Feel free to use another such prayer, perhaps one of your or your group's own designs, and share this prayer when you drop your pin on this interactive map.

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the first atomic bomb was dropped by the US Air Force on the people of Hiroshima, Japan. On August 9th at 11:15 AM, the second atomic bomb was dropped on the people of Nagasaki.

The magnitude of death and destruction made clear that nuclear weapons must never be used again.

Yet, since then, the potential for nuclear catastrophe has grown to an unimaginable scale.

This August 6th, on the 79th anniversary of that horrific tragedy, people around the world will be joining in prayer for a future free from the threat of nuclear weapons. You and/or your faith community are encouraged to join this global community of prayer! Prayers and prayer gatherings are invited throughout the days on, before and after August 6th and 9th.

JOIN A LIVE Zoom EVENT at 9am PT on August 6th organized by VOICES for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

"Spiritual Power: Hope in Action for Nuclear Weapon Abolition"
Tuesday, August 6, 9am PT

This conversation-style event will be streamed globally, and will include people who have been directly affected, long-time leaders for nuclear weapon abolition, and young, inspiring activists. There will also be opportunity for dialogue among participants about where we find our strength for this work and what each of us can do to help. 

Here is the link (no registration required):  <https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88371822270> 
Zoom Meeting ID: 8837 1822 270

Click here to download and share a flyer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JOIN LOCAL Annual Hiroshima Commemoration at Livermore Lab now also live-streamed!
August 6, 8:30am at Livermore Nuclear Lab AND on Zoom

This year speakers include Norman Solomon, Patricia Ellsberg, Hideaki Ito (director of "Sllent Fallout"), Rev. Monica Cross (CA Poor People's Campaign), and Maylene Hughes (Back from the Brink). Music by Andrea Prichett.

The rally will be followed by traditional Japanese Bon Dance, inviting our ancestors to join us, then nonviolent witness and direct action for those who so choose.

CLICK HERE for more information and links for Zoom and livestream.

This year's Livermore Action is part of the National Back from the Brink Campaign, bringing communities together to prevent the growing threat that nuclear weapons pose to our health, environment and all we hold dear.

One possible prayer for a world free of nuclear weapons is offered by the sponsoring organization VOICES for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, a part of the United Religions Initiative. Click here to download. This prayer is also available in many different languages here on the URI website. (Use the "Select a Language" option in the top left side of the webpage.)

Many other possible prayers are included on this website, and you are invited to write your own, too.

The Nuclear Prayer Day is hosted by VOICES for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

MVPJ is a cosponsor of the Nuclear Prayer Day 2024. If you would like to invite others to a gathering opportunity, no matter how small, to pray for a future free of the threat of nuclear weapon, please let us know and we are happy to publicize it. Email info@multifaithpeace.org

Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony
Sunday, May 12, 10:30am (PST)
Live-streamed

The lives of everyone connected to Israel and Palestine will never be the same since October 7th 2023. With tens of thousands of lives cut short, families torn apart, children traumatized, now more than ever we need to continue to show up for one another to mourn and remember. And, as we do every year, call for an end to the violence and demand a political solution that brings freedom, justice and safety for all. With all eyes of the international community on Israel and Palestine, now more than ever, we need to unite around our sorrow and stay strong in building hope that another way is not only possible but imperative.

This year will be the 19th annual Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony organized by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum. It is the only one of its kind and it is the largest Israeli-Palestinian jointly organized peace event. Last year over 15,000 people were in attendance physically and around 200,000 virtually from all around the world. The event is held every year on “Yom HaZikaron” (Israeli Memorial Day), a national day of mourning for Israelis. Our ceremony is radically different from the typical ceremonies that promote a narrative that war and death are inevitable and necessary. Instead, the joint memorial event is a unique opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to grieve together and stand united in demanding an end to the bloodshed. In mourning together, we seek not to equate experiences, but rather transform despair into hope and build compassion around our shared humanity. We remind ourselves and the world that occupation, oppression, and conflict are not inevitable.

The Joint Memorial Day Ceremony is the sister event to the Joint Palestinian-Israeli Nakba Remembrance Ceremony on May 15. Combatants for Peace (CfP), organizer of both events, share, "The two ceremonies aim to liberate us from the mental cage of the current situation.... We aim to present this reality of bereavement and depossession not as a natural and inevitable fact, but as a result of human choices. Seeing these choices for what they are and then choosing differently will allow us to break out of the present and shape a better future."

This year, we will center the ceremony around the stories of children, whose only crime was being born Palestinian or Israeli. What will be the future of the next generation? How can we bring hope amidst so much tragedy?

The event will be live-streamed in Israel/Palestine and around the world.

CLICK HERE for event webpage and to register.

Joint Palestinian-Israeli Nakba Remembrance Ceremony
Wednesday, May 15, 10am (PDT)
Virtual Screening

The Joint Palestinian-Israeli Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) Remembrance Ceremony commemorates the displacement and erasure of hundreds of Palestinian communities, which started in 1948 and continues to the present. Together we recall the pain of the Palestinian community in the year 1948 when more than 700,000 Palestinians became refugees. Families were expelled from their homes, their villages and cities destroyed.

The Nakba Ceremony is the sister event to the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony held on May 12. Combatants for Peace (CfP), organizer of both events, believes that peace and reconciliation involve a sincere and honest reckoning with this history that did not end in 1948 but continues until this day.

"The two ceremonies aim to liberate us from the mental cage of the current situation.... We aim to present this reality of bereavement and dispossession not as a natural and inevitable fact, but as a result of human choices. Seeing these choices for what they are and then choosing differently will allow us to break out of the present and shape a better future."

Acknowledging and honoring the Palestinian experience and history is the only path to healing our collective trauma and forging a peaceful future with true equality, freedom and dignity for all -- and just like the Joint Memorial Ceremony -- we do it together, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals.

_{CLICK HERE for more information and to register for the virtual screening.}

Our May 11, 2024 Peaceful Presence was hosted by the Palo Alto Friends Meeting.

All the contributions were very moving, heart-felt and spoken from deep places of love, especially in the midst of war. Here are links to music and videos and a text of a prayer that we can share.

We began and ended with musical excerpts from Karl Jenkins' "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace." 

Eric Sabelman, a Friend (Quaker) shared a poem/prayer he had written in 2004. See "read more" for the words.

Other contributions were offered by Amy Ellberg (Jewish), Samina Sundas and Tehmina Zeb (Muslim) and Donna Baranski-Walker (Quaker).

Samina included this short video of an ABC News story about Dr. Mohammad Subeh, a Palestinian American medical doctor from the south bay who traveled to Gaza recently on a medical mission.

We also watch this video of interview clips of children from the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank, created in March during a visit there by Quakers from the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

With gratitude to all of those who planned and contributed, let us pray and act for peace.

Share the Joy of Ramadan with Us!
Interfaith Iftar Dinner
Sunday, March 17, 6:00pm - 8pm
First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton, Palo Alto

Ramadan happens in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is when the holy book of the Muslims, the Qur'an, was revealed. During Ramandan, Muslims fast without food or water between sunrise to sunset. The mean for breaking that fast is called the Iftar.

American Muslim Voice Foundation cordially invites the community to join them in this annual Interfaith Iftar. It will be an informative evening about the month of Ramadan and why Muslims around the globe fast during this month. You will also enjoy a delicious complimentary dinner.

Please use this Eventbrite link to reserve a spot! Kindly RSVP by March 10 to help in planning!

Call Your Congress Members to Urge Peace in the Middle East!

Emails are great, but it is even more powerful when you follow-up with phone calls. These are easy and quick, and very impactful! (If you feel a bit awkward on the phone, don't worry about it! These are super short calls and the staffers want to know what you think, not how polished you sound!)

Here is a suggested script from MVPJ, but remember to make it personal if you can. (You might add that you come from a particular faith community, OR that as a (parent, sister, brother, etc.) you can't imagine the suffering of family members whose loved ones are held or live in fear, OR you have visited the area, OR you have spiritual or other roots or connections to the region, etc.)

See below for phone numbers for U.S. Senators and Representatives in our area.

Hi, My name is ___________ from (city)_____________.

I am calling to urge Senator _________/Representative ___________ to publicly call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, including the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians unfairly incarcerated in Israel. 

Right now there is an extremely urgent need for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, and a ceasefire is necessary to get supplies in. I also hope the Senator/Representative will support restoring U.S. funding for UNRWA, the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees. 

Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace, security, freedom and dignity.

Please encourage Senator _________/Representative ___________ to urge the Administration to use all of its influence to acheive a ceasefire and negotiated solution, for the well-being of all the people in the region. 

Thank you.

(If you don't see them, click "read more" for phone numbers for your calls.)

Hear Sally Abed and Alon-Lee Green from
Standing Together
the largest Jewish-Arab grassroots movement in Israel
Wednesday, March 13, 12:30pm
Congregation Etz Chayim
4161 Alma St., Palo Alto

Standing Together has become an essential voice during this difficult moment. Sally and Alon-Lee will share personal stories about the work they have done and the support system they have created through their thousands of members to maintain a group of dedicated Jews and Arabs who are devoted to creating a society capable of achieving peace, equality, and social justice for all. At a time when hope feels hard to come by, their work for a better future is a true inspiration.

REGISTER HERE. BYO brown bag lunch. Desserts provided.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Standing Together from there website. 
Their motto is:
Where there is struggle, there is hope.