Like you, we are deeply saddened, heartbroken and shaken by the unimaginable violence in Palestine and Israel, and the growth of retaliatory violence arising inside and outside the region.  Grief and rage need great care and should not be the grounds for revenge, for further violence, nor for demonizing one another.  As our beloved teacher Ven. Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us,“Man is not the enemy. Our enemy is hatred, anger, ignorance and fear.”

As sibling practitioners in the Plum Village practice communities who center racial justice and social equity, we recognize the dangerous moments we are in, where violence is the default response to violence, where over two million people in Gaza are facing imminent loss of life, starvation, and forced displacement from the ceaseless Israeli military bombardment, where settler and military violence in the West Bank is increasing, where Jews, Palestinians, and Arabs in Israel and beyond are targeted for reprisal.  To look at the underlying issues of apartheid and colonization faced by Palestinians does not diminish the suffering faced by all communities. It is in these moments that as we embrace and tenderly care for our own suffering, grief and despair, we can also embrace and tenderly care for the suffering of our siblings across the globe.

The widespread killing of Palestinians, at least 12,000 since October 7th, at least half of whom are children, will not bring peace. The ongoing oppression and occupation of Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories by Israel also will not bring peace.  Cutting off water, food, medicine, electricity, fuel and humanitarian relief, as well as bombing civilians and annihilating the social and structural fabric of society for the people of Gaza will not bring peace. The massacre and hostage taking of Israelis will not bring peace.  Violence against Israelis, the Jewish diaspora, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims will not bring peace. “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but by love alone is healed.” (Siddhārtha Gautama, The Dhammapada)

Join us and many others in a compassionate and humanitarian call for peace, for a ceasefire, for the return of the Israeli hostages, release of unjustly detained Palestinians, and for humanitarian support for all of the impacted Palestinian communities in Gaza, Israel and the occupied territories.  Join us and many others in a compassionate and humanitarian call for an end of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people and territories. The freedom and peace of the peoples of Palestine is deeply intertwined with the freedom and peace of the peoples of Israel.  Thay’s teachings, including the mindfulness trainings, remind us to not turn away from the suffering in ourselves, in our communities and in the world; and that the suffering of another is not separate from our own.

While we call for a military ceasefire, we also invite each of us to tenderly care for our anger, rage, and impulses towards violence so that we may cease the fire that is raging inside of our bodies and hearts. We can see more clearly, more deeply, when we stop and allow a settling, a clearing, a transparency that can lead us forward toward peace.
 

Breathing in,  I know that all my Palestinian and Israeli siblings want to be safe.

Breathing out,  I know that all my Palestinian and Israeli siblings want to be happy.

Breathing in, I know that all my Palestinian and Israeli siblings want to be free from fear and violence.

Breathing out, I know that all my Palestinian and Israeli siblings want to live in peace and freedom.
 

Bowing in the lotus of interbeing,

ARISE Sangha

November 20, 2023

Here is a link to the ARISE sangha website.

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