We continue to hold so much heaviness, horror, and heartbreak alongside Jewish and Palestinian siblings in the ongoing violence of the October 7th attacks, genocide and famine in Gaza, decades of Israeli occupation, centuries of antisemitism. The devastation is incomprehensible.
We bear witness to generational trauma. We bear witness to our country’s culpability and to our own moral injury. And, we bear witness to renewed momentum for collective liberation, the call for ceasefire and release of hostages, for an end to war — efforts like Mennonite Action, Christians for a Free Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. If you are not plugged into a community that is engaged in this struggle, please get connected! We need you.
I know many of us — especially religious leaders — feel stuck. Polarized. Perhaps shameful. Overwhelmed by this crisis among many. I feel these things too. And yet, I hope we can lean into brave and imperfect learning and action together.
How, in this devastating moment, can we embody the truth that Queer and Trans liberation is a Jewish liberation, a Palestinian liberation — that our liberation is intertwined? What is our role, as BMC, as lgbtqia+ and allied Anabaptists?
One place of deep learning for me at has been unpacking the grip of Christian Zionism in this current and historic struggle. For reference, Christians United for Israel has 10 million members, almost double the number of Jews in the U.S. As I explore the roots of Zionism in my own origin tradition of Christianity, I’m able to unmask the (false) binary that pits Jewish and Palestinian people against one another, revealing the U.S./Western interests that benefit when this happens. I’m able to better identify the oppressive roots of antisemitism, anti-Arab hate, and white Christian nationalism. I’m able to see how the roots of Christian Zionism are deeply entangled with the theologies, ideologies and political agendas that undergird the oppression of lgbtqia+ people (and BIPOC and Latinx folks). I remember that while Jewish people were the primary group oppressed in by the Nazi regime, it went after queer, gender-nonconforming, and disabled people scapegoated by society, too.
I’ve become more clear-eyed about not only my role and responsibility in this crisis, but also my own liberation. Below are some of the resources that have helped me in recent months — I hope this small collection helps deepen learning and action for you and your community. I hope that even at the junctures where we disagree, we can become unstuck, moving toward collective liberation. May freedom and safety be so — may we make it so — for our lgbtqia+ kindred, for Palestinians in Gaza, for Jewish siblings, and for all who experience trauma in the name of religion.
Podcast: Jonathan Brenneman and Aidan Orly on Christian Zionism – One of the best primers I’ve read/listened to on this topic. Jonathan is a Palestinian-American Mennonite and Orly is an Israeli-American Ashkenazi Jew.
Essay: Progressives Can’t Ignore Role of Christian Zionism in Colonization of Palestine – Truthout piece referenced in the Orly/Brenneman podcast above, 2021.
Panel discussion: "Christian Zionism: the often-misunderstood political theology powering this moment" - with Showing Up for Racial Justice and Jewish Voice for Peace, Nov 2023.
Resource Guide: Queer Solidarity with Palestine – Note: I haven’t digested this whole toolkit. It contains LOTS of helpful perspectives, links, articles, videos, essays, and historical context connecting lgbtqia+ and Palestinian struggles.
Brief guide to Antisemitism – by T’ruah, rabbis for human rights
Prayer: Jewish Prayers for Gaza – by Rabbi Brant Rosen
Political & Theological Reflection: Our Grief Guides Us to the Path of Empathy: Distraught Reflections on the People of Israel and Gaza – by my friend Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein, with wisdom on complex and generational trauma, politicized grief, and nonviolent action — wisdom well-known to many queer and trans Anabaptists and others impacted by ongoing religious- and state-sanctioned violence.
Donate: Help Haya Leave Gaza – a mutual aid fundraiser by On Earth Peace (a Brethren SCN member) to help OEP Nonviolence Fellow Haya and her family flee Rafah.
Donate: Middle East Children’s Alliance
Songs: We Rise with Batya Levine and Lord Listen to Your Children Praying with Mennonites
Take action with Mennonite Action, Christians for a Free Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and/or US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
What have you been reading, learning, and doing at these intersections of Queer & Trans, Palestinian, and Jewish Liberation? I’d love to know.
—Annabeth Roeschley, 3.13.2024
