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

Mon Apr 14 17:36:13 CDT 2025

 Vinny,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.
Cathy
    On Monday, April 14, 2025 at 06:21:59 PM EDT, Vinny <vincentjonna at gmail.com> wrote:  

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 for congregational approval of a Resolution (which I don't think we would necessarily have to follow for our group).  
ARTICLE IX. CONGREGATIONAL RESOLUTIONS
1. Approving a Congregational Resolution
The Congregation may approve resolutions on moral, social, political or other issues. The
Board of Trustees shall establish and guide a process for thoughtful consideration of a proposed
congregational resolution prior to a congregational vote to approve the resolution. The vote to
approve a resolution shall occur at a called congregational meeting. The wording for the
resolution shall be contained in the notice of the congregational meeting. A required quorum for
passing a congregational resolution shall be twenty-five percent (25%) of the voting Members of
the 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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