<div dir="ltr"><div>I can only speak for myself, but I do not feel comfortable discussing this issue and feel that it is out of scope of the local efforts of the Food Justice group. Perhaps we could get a summary email from the UUJME to describe what they expect (a statement or more action) before we proceed. We could then discuss it as a group and hopefully come to some consensus internally.</div><div><br></div><div>Julie</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 10:36\u202fPM Cathy Muha <<a href="mailto:cathymuha@sbcglobal.net">cathymuha@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div></div>
<div dir="ltr">Vinny,</div><div dir="ltr">Just because someone will explain what it would entail doesn't commit us to do anything. I feel that the whole committee should be able to weigh in on this with complete information.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Cathy</div><div><br></div>
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On Monday, April 14, 2025 at 06:21:59 PM EDT, Vinny <<a href="mailto:vincentjonna@gmail.com" target="_blank">vincentjonna@gmail.com</a>> wrote:
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<p>Hi Connie,</p>
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<p>Thank you for laying out your thoughts so thoroughly. I appreciate the intention to foster dialogue and understand the context better before any decisions are made. That said, I remain hesitant about inviting UUJME to our Food Justice Team meeting.</p>
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<p>While I agree that education and open discussion are generally worthwhile, I\u2019m concerned that this particular invitation introduces an issue that is only tangentially connected to our core mission. We\u2019re already navigating a range of food access and security priorities, and I feel that aligning ourselves\u2014formally or informally\u2014with a political resolution risks diffusing our focus and creating divisions that may not serve our local objectives.</p>
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<p>I\u2019m also not clear on what co-sponsorship would entail in practice, and I worry about the optics and unintended commitments that might follow from it. I\u2019d prefer we keep our energy directed toward the local work that brought this team together in the first place.</p>
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<p>Happy to discuss this further at the meeting, but I wanted to be transparent about my reservations.</p>
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<p>Best,</p>
<p>Vinny</p>
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</div><br clear="none"></div><div><br clear="none"><div><div dir="ltr">On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 5:21\u202fPM Constance Mcguire <<a shape="rect" href="mailto:cmcguire@umich.edu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cmcguire@umich.edu</a>> wrote:<br clear="none"></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I'm in favor of inviting a member of the UUJME group to our Food Justice Team meeting for the following reasons:<div><ul><li>The FJT has not discussed the pros and cons of co-sponsoring the Resolution, which will ultimately be brought before the voting members of the congregation. I think the FJT would benefit from talking with a member of the UUJME before deciding whether we want to co-sponsor the Resolution. I see this as an educational opportunity that would also be a forum for discussion and for asking questions. </li><li>If the FJT should decide to co-sponsor the Resolution, I don't think that would necessarily take away from our efforts to address food access and food security issues in our local community. The expectations for our group's involvement is something that could be discussed with the UUJME representative. </li></ul><div>I think the FJT will also need to discuss among ourselves how we will decide if we want to be co-sponsors. We could ask the UUJME representative about the process followed by other UUAA groups that have been invited to co-sponsor the Resolution. As a frame of reference, this is the <a shape="rect" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ocGt541P6YKeSriEOJAlL8FxLGZ28lWZ/view" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bylaw </a>for congregational approval of a Resolution (which I don't think we would necessarily have to follow for our group). </div></div><div><br clear="none"></div><div><i>ARTICLE IX. CONGREGATIONAL RESOLUTIONS<br clear="none">1. Approving a Congregational Resolution<br clear="none">The Congregation may approve resolutions on moral, social, political or other issues. The<br clear="none">Board of Trustees shall establish and guide a process for thoughtful consideration of a proposed<br clear="none">congregational resolution prior to a congregational vote to approve the resolution. The vote to<br clear="none">approve a resolution shall occur at a called congregational meeting. The wording for the<br clear="none">resolution shall be contained in the notice of the congregational meeting. A required quorum for<br clear="none">passing a congregational resolution shall be twenty-five percent (25%) of the voting Members of<br clear="none">the Congregation. Congregational resolutions shall be approved by an eighty percent (80%)<br clear="none">majority of voting members present at the meeting.</i></div><div><br clear="none"></div><div>-Connie</div></div><br clear="none"><div></div><div><div dir="ltr">On Sun, Apr 13, 2025 at 7:38\u202fPM Cathy Muha <<a shape="rect" href="mailto:cathymuha@sbcglobal.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cathymuha@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote:<br clear="none"></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div></div>
<div dir="ltr">Food Justice folks,</div><div dir="ltr">Please read this below. Would you consider co-sponsoring? If so, I will invite them to come to our April meeting.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Thanks,</div><div dir="ltr">Cathy</div></div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yahoo_quoted_5249866184"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(38,40,42)"><div><br clear="none"></div>
<div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156"><div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yahoo_quoted_4851449822"><div style="font-family:old times,serif;font-size:16px"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(38,40,42);border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:8px;margin:0px 0px 0px 8px"><div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668yqt75277"><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yahoo_quoted_4850467216"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(38,40,42)"><div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yiv6424692049"><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yiv6424692049yqtfd09892"><div><div style="font-family:old times,serif;font-size:16px"><div><div><div style="color:black;font-style:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Sans sans-serif"><div style="color:black;font-style:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-family:Sans sans-serif"><div style="font-style:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal"><div style="font-style:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal"><div style="font-style:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal"><div align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial"><br clear="none"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yiv6424692049ydp643bc0acyahoo_quoted_4654886337"><div style="font-family:old times,serif"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(38,40,42);border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:8px;margin:0px 0px 0px 8px"><div><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yiv6424692049ydp643bc0acyiv0280557290"><div id="m_-9192158285081486784ydped58cebbyiv3250430673m_90198835371910053m_2754434399020920384ydpcbe66983yiv6574810156ydpfcb9de36yiv5573049668ydp7f5eca13yiv6424692049ydp643bc0acyiv0280557290yqtfd95752"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="4">Dear UUAA Group Leader,</font></div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4">I am writing from the now-combined Social Justice Council and Vision Support Committee - joined beginning in April in the pursuit of both Vision 2050 and our collective social justice efforts. </font></div><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4">One of those efforts - our UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) - is working on a Resolution to bring to the full congregation for a vote in June. This resolution would align UUAA with the UUA's "Solidarity With Palestinians: Action for Immediate Witness." The proposed Resolution is attached below. </font></div><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4"><u>The UUJME group has two invitations for all groups across UUAA</u>. The first invitation is to join them in co-sponsoring this Resolution, because of it's many links to the work of this congregation, as Mark Jagner explains below. If you might consider co-sponsoring, UUJME representatives would welcome the opportunity to meet with your group at your April or May meeting to discuss the Resolution in more detail. </font></div><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4">The second invitation is for groups that may not be considering co-sponsoring. For you, the UUJME team appreciates if you can share the Resolution with your members and invite feedback for the UUJME team, <span>who</span> would be glad to attend a meeting to discuss in more detail. </font></div><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4">You can get in touch with UUJME at <a shape="rect" href="mailto:uujme@uuaa.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">uujme@uuaa.org</a>, or reach out to Mark directly (<a shape="rect" href="mailto:mjagner@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mjagner@yahoo.com</a>). And they invite everyone to attend this Sunday's event (April 13, 1:00pm), the film "Roadmap to Apartheid." The Weekly News has more information. </font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="padding:12px 0px"><div style="font-family:old times,serif"><font size="4"> </font></div></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(38,40,42);border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:8px;margin:0px 0px 0px 8px"><div><div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="4"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font size="4">*** Examples of UUAA Group connections to the Palestine situation from Mark: </font></div><div style="font-size:small"><br clear="none"></div><div style="font-size:13px"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:small"></span>Palestine is a <b>Food Justice</b> issue: Israel is using mass starvation as a weapon of war. Since breaking the ceasefire a month ago, Israel has not allowed any food, medicine or humanitarian aid to enter Gaza! In the West Bank, agricultural land where the native population has practiced sustainable farming for centuries is being destroyed.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><b>Habitat for Humanity</b>: Every individual and every family deserve a home that is safe and secure with access to water, electricity and sewage. Since October, 2023, Israel has destroyed the homes of 2 million people in Gaza and 40,000 people in the West Bank.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><b>Restorative Justice</b>: Peace will come to Palestine/Israel when there is a process of reconciliation in which both peoples see and affirm the the humanity in the other.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><b>Community of Writers</b>: There is a group of young people in Gaza called We Are Not Numbers who write in English about theirs lives under a 2 decades-long military siege and never ending war. They have just published a book!</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Palestine is a <b>Climate Justice/Environmental Justice</b> issue: The dumping of chemicals near poor communities and unequal water distribution is common practice in the West Bank. War and conflict have a devastating impact on ecosystems, poison the soil and release huge amounts of carbon and toxic gases into the atmosphere. </div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr">Palestine is a <b>Racial Justice</b> issue: Anytime people are excluded, discriminated against, denied basic human rights and oppressed because of their ethnic identity or religion, that is racism and it is morally wrong.</div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small">Thanks to the UUJME team for educating and engaging all of us in this important matter.</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small">Regards from your Vision Support Committee/Social Justice Council</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div></div></div></div>
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</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Julie Mitchell, PhD</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>