[foodjustice-steering] Resolution to vote on solidarity with Palestinians

[Vinny]

Hi Connie,


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.


While I agree that education and open discussion are generally worthwhile,
I’m concerned that this particular invitation introduces an issue that is
only tangentially connected to our core mission. We’re already navigating a
range of food access and security priorities, and I feel that aligning
ourselves—formally or informally—with a political resolution risks
diffusing our focus and creating divisions that may not serve our local
objectives.


I’m 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’d prefer we keep our energy directed toward the local work that
brought this team together in the first place.


Happy to discuss this further at the meeting, but I wanted to be
transparent about my reservations.


Best,

Vinny


On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 5:21 PM Constance Mcguire <cmcguire at umich.edu>
wrote:

> I'm in favor of inviting a member of the UUJME group to our Food Justice
> Team meeting for the following reasons:
>
>    - 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.
>    - 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.
>
> 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 Bylaw
> <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ocGt541P6YKeSriEOJAlL8FxLGZ28lWZ/view>for
> congregational approval of a Resolution (which I don't think we would
> necessarily have to follow for our group).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *ARTICLE IX. CONGREGATIONAL RESOLUTIONS1. Approving a Congregational
> ResolutionThe Congregation may approve resolutions on moral, social,
> political or other issues. TheBoard of Trustees shall establish and guide a
> process for thoughtful consideration of a proposedcongregational resolution
> prior to a congregational vote to approve the resolution. The vote
> toapprove a resolution shall occur at a called congregational meeting. The
> wording for theresolution shall be contained in the notice of the
> congregational meeting. A required quorum forpassing a congregational
> resolution shall be twenty-five percent (25%) of the voting Members ofthe
> Congregation. Congregational resolutions shall be approved by an eighty
> percent (80%)majority of voting members present at the meeting.*
>
> -Connie
>
> On Sun, Apr 13, 2025 at 7:38 PM Cathy Muha <cathymuha at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Food Justice folks,
>> Please read this below. Would you consider co-sponsoring? If so, I will
>> invite them to come to our April meeting.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Cathy
>>
>>
>> Dear UUAA Group Leader,
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> *The UUJME group has two invitations for all groups across UUAA*.  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.
>>
>> 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, who would
>> be glad to attend a meeting to discuss in more detail.
>>
>> You can get in touch with UUJME at uujme at uuaa.org, or reach out to Mark
>> directly (mjagner at yahoo.com).  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.
>>
>>
>> ***  Examples of UUAA Group connections to the Palestine situation from
>> Mark:
>>
>> Palestine is a *Food Justice* 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.
>>
>> *Habitat for Humanity*: 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.
>>
>> *Restorative Justice*: 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.
>>
>> *Community of Writers*: 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!
>>
>> Palestine is a *Climate Justice/Environmental Justice* 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.
>>
>> Palestine is a *Racial Justice* 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.
>>
>> Thanks to the UUJME team for educating and engaging all of us in this
>> important matter.
>>
>> Regards from your Vision Support Committee/Social Justice Council
>>
>>
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>> http://uuaa.org/mailman/listinfo/foodjustice-steering_uuaa.org
>>
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