Bethel AME Church (Boston, MA) Statement in the Wake of the Hamas Massacre
A cry is heard in Ramah / Wailing, bitter weeping / Rachel weeping for her children / She refuses to be comforted / For her children, who are gone. (Jeremiah 31:15)
WE Mourn
as we denounce the deliberate and abhorrent slaughter and hostage-taking of Israeli civilians by Hamas fighters. We weep with Jewish family, friends, and neighbors who must grieve for the dead and live with the uncertain fate of the taken and the missing. We mourn the Palestinian civilians who have already paid the blood price for the choices of others.
WE Fear
The waging of total war, with noncombatans written off as collateral damage; the waves of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that will sweep across our nation and our world; the continuation and expansion of unjust settlement and occupation policies and practices; the fading of an already spectral peace.
WE Hope and Pray and Work For
The healing of broken hearts; an end to the threat of Hamas; and the beginning of a relentless pursuit of a truly just peace for Israel and Palestine.