Events

SUMUD Northland – for Justice and Healing in Palestine and Israel

This fall we will take an in-depth look at the Palestine Israel situation along with the world’s and the Western  Christian church’s response to it, and how we can accompany and advocate for justice and healing there. We will be using Munther Isaac’s new book, Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza to structure our study as well as relevant videos of major voices for a better understanding of and solutions for ending the catastrophe there. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian theologian who serves as pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church of Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour.  

We will be meeting at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (219 N. Sixth Avenue East, Duluth MN) as well as being available virtually at the Zoom link below on the following dates:

• Sunday, September 21 at 1:30 pm. Chapter 1 – A Genocide in Gaza
• Sunday, October 19 at 1:30 pm. Chapter 2 – The War Did Not Start on October 7
• Sunday November 16 at 1:30 pm. Chapter 3 – The Relevant Context of Gaza
• Saturday, December 20 at 8:45 am to watch the Annual Simulcast of Christmas Lessons and Carols from Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
• Sunday, January 18 at 1:30 pm. Chapter 4 – Coloniality, Racism and Empire Theology

A number of copies of the book are available for purchase at Gloria Dei for $20. We encourage you to get the book and join us this fall.

We also have this special invitation:

• Saturday, September 13 at 6:00 pm. Join SUMUD Northland for the Hope Abounds – Bright Stars of Bethlehem Gala watch party at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Bright Stars mission is to raise awareness and support for the Dar al-Kalima University, the first and only university of arts, culture and design in all of Palestine.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86033186918?pwd=N1lzY3ZmWS80eWNnZGdwSzJGck9odz09

Sumud Northland seeks to raise awareness, encourage advocacy, and provide opportunities for accompaniment in grappling with the realities of the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Important Talks, Webinars, Sermons

At Christmas time, 2024, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac gives another liturgy of lament with his sermon, Christ is Still in the rubble. 

Munther Isaac – Christ Still in the Rubble

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb gives the keynote address at the Matthew 25 Summit, January 18, 2024 at the New Life Presbyterian Church in Atlanta Georgia. (Lecture begins around 41:00)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T1BRfvLWQg 

Dr. Jeff Halper, who recently gave a talk at First Lutheran Church in Duluth MN, is the Executive Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) as well as co-founder of the One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC). Dr. Halper has a monthly update video of the situation in Palestine/Israel available on the ICAHD website: https://icahd.org

Since Donald Trump won the US election in November 2024, Jeff Halper has spoken about how Trump will seek to “normalize” the situation in the Middle East. That means no more war and the implementation of the Abraham Accords. A Palestinian state will be created but it will be an apartheid state under Israel’s regime that will lock Palestinians into permanent bantustans.

In his January update, Jeff identifies three developments as we enter into next (Trump) phase:

1. Fighting in Gaza will end and it will disappear as an issue, reduced to a “humanitarian crisis”
2. Ethnic cleansing will be completed in the West Bank, including taking parts of Area B, reducing the size of the Palestinian Bantustan
3. The normalization process will be completed, including with Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian issue will be marginalized under two-state apartheid.

Jeff lists these three political challenges as we move ahead the Palestinian issue:

1. Alliance of two settler colonial states against Palestinians: US & Israel
2. Transactional international system immune to pressures
3. The wider rise of racism and fascism, especially against Arabs/Palestinians

He ended by listing the four things we must do at this perilous time:

1. Establish a UN protection force for Palestinians
2. Launch a Campaign Against Two-State Apartheid
3. Replace the Palestinian Authority (PA) with a new PLO and leadership
4. Work to make Democratic Party in US an anti-transactional political force

Here is a link to his January update.

Jeff Halper January Update