Sharing Jerusalem is a grass-roots campaign that was launched in the Washington DC metro area in the spring of 2006 to educate, organize, and activate mainline churches in support of a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict - specifically, a two-state solution that would include a Jerusalem that is "shared" both politically between Israel and Palestine and religiously among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

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Presentations at Gaza workshop

The February workshop at Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church focused on the current fighting and on-going blockade of Gaza. Click here to see the presentation by Phil Farah, a Palestinian-American Christian from Jerusalem whose family originates from Gaza. Click here to see the presentation by Kay Halpern, a concerned American Jew and active member of a local area synagogue.

Recent News and Action Items

Please take action by sending an email to your Congressman and Senator in support of Special Middle East Envoy, Sen. George Mitchell. One of his top priorities after dealing with the Gaza humanitarian crisis and ensuring a permanent cease fire between Israel and Hamas, should be to address each of the Jerusalem issues that Danny Seideman discussed in his recent talk at the Middle East Institute, co-sponsored by the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now, and MEI. I have attached a summary of his presentation that I urge you to print and read. It is quite startling and forboding. For example, the new ultra right-wing Mayor of Jerusalem told a mutual friend of his and Danny's that he wants to create a “Jewish Disneyland” in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, adjacent to Temple Mount and the Al-Asqua Mosque, demolishing dozens of homes, schools, and community centers. This action, along with other ultra right-wing plans for the city that he mentions in his presentation, will create an "explosive" situation according to Danny, who is the leading legal authority on Jerusalem in the world.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, June 14th, 2009
12:30 PM
Peace with Justice Sunday
Foundry United Methodist Church
Luncheon Discussion: "Jerusalem is the Key to Middle East Peace"

Ori Nir, spokesman for Americans for Peace Now (APN), will speak about the importance of Jerusalem as an integral part of any settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A long-time peace activist and journalist, Mr. Nir will also suggest what Christian churches like Foundry can do to help influence and support the Obama administration's push toward a two-state solution that includes a "shared" Jerusalem.

Foundry United Methodist Church
1500 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC
Sponsored by the Peace with Justince Mission and Sharing Jerusalem

Lunch will be provided. A $5 donation is requested.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is the American support group for Peace Now, Israel's largest peace group (www.peacenow.org).

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Sunday, June 28th, 2009
10 AM
Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
ISRAEL-PALESTINE: A PROGRESSIVE JEW’S DILEMMA

The featured speaker is Kay Halpern, a Jew who has long felt a disconnect between many of Israel’s policies and the values of justice and compassion toward the stranger that are deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. She is an active member of a local synagogue. Kay often feels torn between the two sides in this painful conflict and tries very hard to listen to both sides, tease fact from fiction, and stand up for what she believes - which sometimes means telling people on both sides things they don’t want to hear.

Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
3215 Powder Mill Road
Adelphi, MD

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Are you interested in learning more about what is happening in the Middle East peace process - particularly, those "conditions on the ground" that are standing in the way of a just and durable peace? Would you like to meet others who share your interest and learn what you can do together to help make peace possible? Through its Give Peace a Chance campaign, Sharing Jerusalem is sponsoring a year-long series of workshops focusing on impediments to the peace process and what we can do to help change them. Settlement expansion, suicide bombers, checkpoints, rockets fired into Israel, the siege of Gaza - all of these and many more "conditions on the ground" are obstacles to peace that must be changed.

The goal of the Give Peace a Chance campaign is to engage in activities that will help to create measurable and documented improvements in conditions on the ground in both Palestine and Israel so that a negotiated peace settlement can succeed. The campaign plan includes monthly prayer services followed by educational workshops, each of which will focus on understanding and improving a specific condition that is undermining support for peace by both Israelis and Palestinians. The services and workshops will be hosted by local churches, synagogues, and mosques. Click here for an overview of the campaign details.

The heart of our campaign is the year-long series of monthly prayer services and workshops. Is your church, mosque, or synagogue interested in hosting a prayer service and workshop? Click here to contact us and find out how to participate.