On January 28th, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s General Secretary, Chrisite Duncan-Tessmer facilitated an Iran Crisis zoom call with support from the Middle East Collaborative. With over 20 Friends joining the call, we were delighted to welcome Friends from the yearly meeting, a Friend from Texas, and others from the Middle East Collaborative.
After worship and a brief welcome, Jim Fine, of the Middle East Collaborative and member of Bristol Meeting, provided members of the call with an informative overview on the history of Iran relations with the United States and other Middle East countries, relationships in the Middle East, and where things stand currently. Please read Jim Fine’s bio to learn about his extensive work on Middle East relations.
After a question and answer session, the conversation shifted to the action and work of others in monthly meetings and other groups. As written in the Morning Call, Joyce Hinnefeld (Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting) called on the United States to act peacefully, as war will not create real peace and is also calling for the United States Congress to “reassert its war powers by refusing authorization for war and to block funding for war with Iran”. Further “as a faith community, we commit ourselves individually and as a community, to pursue lives that uphold peace and negate the acceptance of violence and war”.
Please see the resources provided for the call.
We closed with worship and the hope to gather again for future discussions.
For additional information about the call or to learn about upcoming events with the Middle East Collaborative (MEC), please contact Sandy Rea, clerk of the MEC, at drsandyrea@hotmail.com.
To receive information about similar calls in the future, please reach out to Olivia Brangan, PYM Community Engagement Coordinator at obrangan@pym.org.
