Will 2U be Apartheid-Free?
Apartheid is a system of segregation and discrimination including oppression and domination by one group over another.
For decades, apartheid has affected Palestinians’ water, education, roads, freedom of movement, job opportunities, fair treatment in court, freedom from having homes raided, house demolitions, freedom of speech, appalling treatment by Israeli settlers and Israeli Defense Forces, and prison time with no charges or due process for children and adults, medical treatment, their farm animals and olive orchards (our 7th UU Principle).
Our 8th UU Principle, whose ideas are embedded in our new UUA values and covenants, calls us to dismantle racism and oppression. In order to truly follow these guidelines and those of our 4th Principle which calls us to search for truth, we must move forward with a transition to a post-colonial future creating a social and spiritual transformation (3rd Principle) of justice, equity, and compassion (our 2nd Principle).
If we value the worth and dignity of every person (our 1st Principle), of liberation (our 6th Principle) and act on those parts of our faith, then we are not segregationists. We are an Apartheid-Free Community!
Members of 2U have the right to vote (5th Principle) next Sunday, June 8th and have us become an Apartheid-Free Community, as approved and called to do so by the delegates at the 2024 UU General Assembly. Let’s live up to our values with other congregations and organizations, like Jewish Voice for Peace and UU’s for Justice in the Middle East, with the following pledge:
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression;
WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community; and to that end
WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel's apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
We can educate each other and take action that is grounded in love, guided by our UU faith movement, and held by our beloved 2U community.
