Founded in 1971, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) works within the Unitarian Universalist community to promote peace and justice in Israel-Palestine, including a settlement of the conflict affirming the equality, dignity, freedom and security of all peoples involved.

UUJME has a national Board of Directors as well as several local groups affiliated with Unitarian Universalist churches throughout the United States. This web site contains many resources for people interested in learning more about the conflict in Israel-Palestine, which stretches back to the 1880s, as well as resources for those ready to take action to promote justice and human rights in Israel-Palestine. 

 Photo: Emile Ashrawi, West Bank, Palestine

The UUA's Beacon Press has just released a timely new book from author and Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi entitled Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East.  In light of President Obama's recent trip to Israel-Palestine, this book could not have come at a more opportune time, and UUJME has just signed an agreement with Beacon Press to offer a 20% discount and free shipping to all UUJME members, supporters, and contacts!  What's more, UUJME will receive a 10% rebate on all books purchased through this agreement.  Learn more!

To read about the Interfaith Boycott Coalition's boycott of SodaStream, an interview with Rabbi Brant Rosen, and more, check out our Winter 2013 Newsletter.

UUJME's Don McInnes will again be leading a human rights trip to Israel/Palestine this summer, from June 24 - July 4, 2013.  If you'd like to join the trip, a non-refundable deposit of $250 by March 13 is needed, so act quickly!

SodaStream is an Israeli corporation that manufactures consumer devices that create soda water from tap water in the home.  SodaStream bills its product as being environmentally friendly, as it helps reduces waste from bottles and cans created by commercially-bottled carbonated beverages.  Unfortunately, SodaStream's main manufacturing plant is located on illegally-confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Edomim, which means the profits from the sale of SodaStream products are being used to sustain Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land.  UUJME has heeded the call of Palestinian civil society to boycott SodaStream, and we have signed on as an endorser of the Interfaith Boycott Coalition.  For more information, see Code Pink's SodaStream page.

Read about UUJME's activities at the recent UUA "Justice" General Assembly, our upcoming trip to Israel-Palestine, our 2013 Sermon Contest, the work of UUJME chapters and members, and more in our Fall 2012 Newsletter!

The year's sermon contest topic is "Confronting Religious and Cultural Entitlement in Israel-Palestine", inspired by the official repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery at this year's UUA General Assembly in Phoenix.  We encourage anyone, whether clergy or layperson, with an interest in the topic to enter.  And please make sure your congregation and minister are aware of the contest!  Click here to view the contest details.

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) has begun a campaign asking UUs to sign a petition to investment giant TIAA-CREF calling on it to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. 

The petition to TIAA-CREF is particularly appropriate for UUs because the staffs of UU congregations and UU organizations have their retirement savings with TIAA-CREF, and  because TIAA-CREF prides itself on socially conscious investing.

A statement describing the background of the campaign and the reasons for it can be read here and the petition itself can be signed online. A printed version of the petition can also be accessed here.

With this petition, now circulating among UUs, UUJME is joining the “We Divest” campaign.  The We Divest campaign calls on TIAA-CREF to divest from companies directly profiting from the Israeli occupation. The campaign is endorsed by more than 50 peace and justice organizations to-date and is administered by Jewish Voice for Peace, Adalah-NY, the American Friends Service Committee, Grassroots International, and the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (see http://www.wedivest.org).

We ask all UUs who recognize the injustice of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to join us in this campaign. We ask that you sign the petition, gather signatures in your congregation, and share information about the petition with other UUs (for example, by forwarding this announcement as an email message).  Signatures can be gathered on the printed version of the petition at coffee hours or at special events such as the showing of a film. The campaign will last one year. Partially or completely filled petitions should be sent to UUJME, P.O. Box 380355, Cambridge, MA 02238.

The suffering of Palestinians from Israel’s occupation of their lands and violations of their most basic human rights continues unabated. As Unitarian-Universalists (UUs), believing in the worth of every human being and compassion in human relations, we cannot put this issue aside. Yes, the issue is controversial, but we must not shy away from controversy in the face of such injustice.

You can now see the video of Jill Baker's winning sermon presentation at the awards luncheon in Phoenix during GA in June.  The text of Jill's sermon, titled "Staying Awake and Overcoming:  A Unitarian Universalist Response to the Israel-Palestine Conflict", is also available, as is the text of Debbie Espen's runner up sermon, titled "How My World Was Turned Upside Down".

The videos and transcripts for all three UUJME Sermon Contests are now online and ad-free!

Read about our upcoming events at General Assembly in Phoenix, our statement on divestment, chapter activities and more in the UUJME Spring 2012 Newsletter.