Resurrection calls us to action
“The resurrection is not just an event of the past; it is a living reality that calls us to action today. We must remember the victims, stand with the oppressed, speak truth to power, and continue to demand accountability no matter the cost.” – Sabeel Easter message
CFOS’s Solidarity Evening & Art Auction, May 3
Please plan to attend our Solidarity Evening & Art Auction on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time on Zoom. Bring your friends!
We will gather with others for prayer, poetry, music, and to grieve and hope together in our ongoing journey of solidarity. We will also raise funds to enable CFOS to continue to amplify Palestinian voices in the work for justice and peace.
The fundraising portion of the event will take the form of an art auction conducted through online bidding. The silent auction features beautiful Palestinian embroidery, ceramics, and olive wood carvings. It also includes amazing artwork donated by allies here in Canada, including watercolour and acrylic paintings, prints, weavings, baskets, pottery, and knit items.
Here is how to participate:
Register to bid on the art items here. Bidding is already open!
Register to participate in the May 3 Solidarity Evening event here.
During the Solidarity Evening there will be a time for "open mic.” We invite you to offer up your own poem or song or reflection during this time.
Participation in the Solidarity Evening is optional. You may bid online at any time up to the end of the event at 8:30 pm Eastern on May 3, which is when the auction will also close. You may want to keep an eye on the bids until that time, as you could get outbid at any time up to the closing of the auction.
Send an email to info@friendsofsabeel.ca if you wish to join Monica on Friday, May 2 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time for a tutorial on online bidding. You will receive a Zoom link for this brief event.
For more information about the event, visit our webpage here. And please join us!
Pope Francis’s death
We join with Roman Catholics and other Christians worldwide in mourning the death of Pope Francis. From an interview with Father Gabriel Romanelli of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City, we learn that every evening since October 2023, including the night before he died, Pope Francis personally telephoned “to check on how those huddled inside Gaza's lone Catholic church were coping with a devastating war.” Pope Francis made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land including Bethlehem in May 2014, still widely commemorated there. More on Pope Francis’s ministry to Palestine here and here.
Additional Easter messages from Palestine
Several Easter messages from Palestinian partners reached us at CFOS after our last bulletin, so we’re drawing attention to them here. The Easter message of Sabeel continues to be resonant, moving, and inspiring. “In this time of darkness, when all seems lost, we must remember that hope is not bound by circumstances. It is a gift that comes through resistance, through the breaking of seals, and through accepting the leadership of those on the margins.” Read the complete text here.
Worshippers on Easter Day at St. Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church, Gaza. Credit: Facebook
Kairos Palestine’s Easter appeal states, “Palestinian Christians stand at a crossroad—one that will determine whether our presence in the land where Christ was born, crucified, and resurrected will endure or fade into history.” It insists, “We do not exaggerate when we say: If we do not act now—locally, nationally, regionally, and internationally—this could be one of the last Easter celebrations with a significant Christian presence in Palestine.”
Addressed to members of Christian churches worldwide and to religious and political leaders, the appeal offers Easter prayers and pleas for action which include BDS, community-based advocacy, and ‘Come and See’ visits to Palestine. It also announces the dates for the Kairos Palestine International Conference: November 10–15, 2025. Full text in English here.
Another award
Yusef Daher, coordinator of the Jerusalem Liaison Office of the World Council of Churches, has earned the Menno Simons International Sermon Award for 2025. The winning sermon interprets the situation of refugees in the Middle East, particularly Palestinian Christians, through the lens of Joseph's escape to Egypt with his family (Matthew 2:13-16). The Menno Simons award, granted by the Center for Peace Church Theology in Marburg, Germany, is intended to encourage and recognize sermons that express the biblical witness to peace and nonviolence in light of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. More here.
Call for Repentance conference
A reminder of the conference titled, “Palestine, Settler Colonialism, and Western Churches,” being held on May 28–30, 2025. It will emphasize Palestinian Christian voices, including speakers Jonathan Kuttab, Shadia Qubti, Munther Isaac, and Momodu Taal. The conference is in faithful response to the Open Letter of October 2023, “A Call for Repentance,” issued by 12 central Palestinian Christian organizations. It will take place at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, and online. CFOS is a co-sponsor of this event and will be facilitating a plenary workshop. More information here.
Volunteer appreciation
April 27–May 3 is National Volunteer Week in Canada. Here at CFOS, we acknowledge the contributions of one of our volunteers: Bill Butt. Bill lives in London, Ontario, and is retired, after a career that included writing for CBC Television, teaching at Western University, and serving for 13 years as Overseas Personnel for the United Church of Canada, based primarily in Angola and Mozambique.
Bill serves as a member of the CFOS Communications Committee and uses his literary skills to help write our e-bulletin and other items. (He is a modest guy, so he didn’t write this part!) While participating in a Palestinian Solidarity Pilgrimage in November 2024, he wrote daily reflections, which we shared on our blog: In a Time of Genocide.
Thank you, Bill, for your humble, faithful, and good-humoured service!