Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembered—January 15

We Must Choose 

“Justice at its best is power correcting everything

 that stands against love.”

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,

tied in a single garment of destiny.” And that garment has been rendered. It has bloodstains from the slaughter of the innocents and martyrs. Yet we are part of this network of mutuality, part of one body, are we not?  So how do we respond to the rising escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel? The attack on human rights and international law?  What is our responsibility as people of faith, as US citizens, as human beings to this crisis we help fund through our military and corporate support? How do we correct the many things that need correcting? How do we stand on the side of Love?

In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King--- his words, his legacy, his commitment to nonviolence as the path forward, I lift up some of the people, the organizations and the nonviolent resistance movement itself as examples of King’s far-reaching legacy.

The People

The Ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,

begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.

Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it,

through violence you may murder the liar

but you cannot murder the lie,

not establish the truth.

Through violence you murder the hater,

but you do not murder the hate.

In fact vengeance merely increases hate.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness

Only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate

Only light can do that.

See singing message from United Church of Christ:---Only Light Can Do That---- http://www.ucc.org/god-is-still-speaking/animated-greetings/only-light-only-love.html

Let us begin by lifting up Dr. Mustafa Baraghouti, Palestinian Presidential candidate and general secretary of the Palestinian National Imitative, which is dedicated to nonviolence. In a recent interview in Slate Magazine he said “I tell you the Israelis will not be free until we are free. They are oppressing us but hostage to the same oppressive system.  Mr. Baraghouti, like other Palestinian leaders, is committed to nonviolence not just because violence hasn’t worked or because the Palestinians cannot match Israel’s military strength but because there is an understanding that the people are connected to one shared destiny and that it is the system itself which is oppressive. It is important for those of us working on a justpeace solution to know and stand with these leaders who are seeking a nonviolent path like Mr. Baraghouti.

Read recent interview Dr. Baraghouti at Slate magazine

http://www.slate.com/

Palestine in the U.N.- W#5D7BC4

In thinking about another person influenced by King and his doctrine of loving your enemies the name of another doctor often comes up. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish. He has even been called the Palestinian MLK because he is the man who wants to cure hatred.  Dr. Abuelaish used to work in Israeli hospitals while living in Gaza with his family. During the bombing attack of Cast Lead three of his daughters were killed. While many would turn to hatred and revenge, Dr. Abuelaish instead refused to make the Israelis his enemies. Instead he has dedicated his life and work to a dream: “Like Martin Luther King, Jr. I have a dream, he writes, “My dream is that my children---all Palestinians and their children and our cousins, the Israelis and their children---will be safe, secure, and well fed; they will have their own citizenship and identity.” Dr. Izzeldin is the founder of the Daughters for Life Foundation and has written about his experiences in a book called I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey.          .

Read about the good doctor in this recent interview

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-j-bell/to-cure-the-world-of-hate_b_809950.html

or in Democracy Now interview

Gaza Doctor Izzeldin Abu#5D7AD5

Nonviolent Movement

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in the universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform the dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

“To exist is to resist” so says the writing on the Bethlehem wall. To protest nonviolently against the separation wall cutting into your land or village is also a form of resistance. The story of the village of Budrus and its struggle to stop the wall is a story of the success of nonviolent resistance. Just Vision’s new documentary chronicles the years of struggle for viewers so they can see what it looks like to get tear-gassed and shot at. It also shows the importance of women in the struggle. You can see a trailer for the film at

http://www.justivision.org/budrus

We Shall Over Come

Civil rights and peace movements through out the world have sung the song We Shall Over Come to rally, accompany, and inspire their movements. The song has been translated into a hundreds of languages. So it is fitting, appropriate, no surprise that this song

has become once again the song of the Freedom in Gaza movement. From 2009-2010, an international group of 1500 men and women from 42 nations went to Egypt to join a Freedom March to Gaza. They did this to protest the current blockade of Gaza. They came to protest the fact that the people of Gaza live in a virtual prison, to protest the fact that a year after the terror attack by Israeli armed forces destroyed most of their homes, hospitals, schools, and other public buildings, had no possibility of being rebuilt because the borders are closed. The would be Freedom Marchers wanted to peacefully draw attention to the predicament of the Palestinian population of Gaza. The Egyptian government, (funded to the tune of $2.1 billion a year, by us, the US tax payers), would not allow the marchers to approach Gaza. The movement shifted tactics to flotillas with a few members being able to get through.  Singer, songwriter, and long time activist Roger Waters from Pink Flyod rewrote this song for this movement. Listen to his new verses with images of the struggle for Palestine.

http://youtu.be/vnMMHepfYVc

Final Words

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.

We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.

In this unfolding conundrum of life and history

there is no such thing as being too late.

Procrastination is till the thief of time…

We must move past indecision to action…Now let us begin

Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter—

and beautiful---struggle for a new world.

This is the calling of the children of God,

and our brothers and sisters wait eagerly for our response

Shall we say the odds are too great?

Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard?

…or will there be another message,

of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings,

of commitment to the cause, whatever the cost?

The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise

we must choose in this crucial moment in human history.