Sumud
Dear friends of Sabeel.
Palestinians speak about sumud as the spirit of steadfastness and perseverance that enables them to continue to exist and to resist the realities of occupation, oppression -- and now genocide. As we at Canadian Friends of Sabeel amplify the voice of Christian Palestinians, we seek to embody that same spirit of sumud in our ministry of solidarity.
Canadian Friends of Sabeel came into existence in November 1998. We were all set to celebrate our 25th Anniversary Year starting with our Christmas Appeal last year. This was supposed to be the closing of a year of celebration and honouring of CFOS’ accomplishments.
Instead, it has been a year of horror, grief, and mourning. What we are celebrating now is our sumud, and the gift of sumud that we receive from our Palestinian siblings. We are still here, standing with the Palestinian Christian community as they continue to work for a just peace.
2024 brought many frustrations for our work. Program priorities shifted, our volunteer work hours doubled and postponements and cancellations became a regular occurrence. Twice we have been unable to send the Naim Ateek Anglican delegation to Palestine, due to increasing settler violence and the regional war.
Nevertheless, thanks to your support, Canadian Friends of Sabeel have been able offer some significant programs and activities in the past year, despite the ongoing barriers and difficult circumstances:
We began the year with a communications overhaul, rejuvenating our website and strengthening our social media presence. We have dedicated time and resources to stronger outreach and we are now ready to deepen that work through the hiring of a Communications and Outreach Coordinator.
Much of the year has been focused on building avenues for collective action with the Canadian churches and church Organizations. A highlight was the Kairos Cease Fire Pilgrimage on Parliament Hill last May. Increasing our support to church staff and Christian organisations helped with the coordination of this work. It also led some church Leaders to speak out more vigorously against the genocide and the various ways that the Canadian government has enabled the violence.
At the end of the summer we released Authentic Christian Pilgrimage to the Holy Land guidelines. They are shared with ecumenical groups as a way of true solidarity when visiting Palestine/Israel. These guidelines are not just useful for our partners, but they are the foundation on which we build our solidarity trips.
For several months we have been planning several solidarity trips, some of which are underway now.
In November, we held our annual James Graff Memorial Lecture on the topic "One Year Later: Our Response to Genocide and Occupation in Palestine".
In the face of endlessly increasing violence and hardship, CFOS has written numerous letters to our government and coordinated statements calling for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and a diplomatic path to a just peace. In the spirit of sumud we are dedicated to continue no matter how discouraging the landscape. We welcomed new board members and honorary board members and strengthened our strategic planning.
We thank you for your generosity in 2024 as it enabled us to overcome many obstacles and supported our accomplishments. We pray that you continue to help us amplify the voice of our Palestinian brothers and sisters as we continue to resist with sumud. Now more than ever Palestinians need us all, and even more they need to know that Western Christians are still with them.
For a just peace for all,
Rula Odeh
Chair, Canadian Friends of Sabeel