The consensus of human rights groups – in a cascade of reports, first by B'Tselem and then Human Rights Watch in 2021, followed by Amnesty International in 2022 – is indisputable: the government of Israel practices the crime of apartheid. While the conclusion of these reports has become the focus of fierce denial and vitriolic charges of antisemitism, the facts are clear, problematic only and precisely because, as Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, points out, they are unbiased.

In response, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has convened an interdenominational coalition of faith groups that through 2022 met to design and organize a campaign of Apartheid Free Communities. UCC PIN has been participating in this coalition, along with other denominational PINs such as the Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Mennonites, Unitarian-Universalists, Quakers, and Baptists.

The campaign has now been launched. Inspired by the anti-apartheid movement that toppled South Africa’s apartheid regime, this Apartheid Free Communities campaign is urging faith communities, organizations, and communities to adopt the pledge below and to become apartheid free. UCC PIN will be promoting this campaign, looking to engage UCC congregations across the nation in adopting the pledge as their own, to guide their solidarity work and advocacy. 

Go to the campaign's website to learn more and find resources about taking the pledge and living into what it means to be apartheid free.

 Apartheid Free Pledge

We affirm our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;

We oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and

We declare ourselves an Apartheid-free _________ [community/ congregation/ organization] and to that end, 

We pledge to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.