{"id":44480,"date":"2023-10-25T12:06:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=44480"},"modified":"2023-10-25T12:06:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:06:10","slug":"40-faith-leaders-lead-gaza-pray-in-at-house-minority-leader-jeffries-dc-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/25\/40-faith-leaders-lead-gaza-pray-in-at-house-minority-leader-jeffries-dc-office\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Faith Leaders Lead Gaza Pray-In at House Minority Leader Jeffries&#8217; DC Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the death toll from Israel&#8217;s relentless and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=656916296613316&amp;set=pcb.656916596613286\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approached<\/a> 5,800 Palestinians\u2014including <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-children-hands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over 2,300 children<\/a>\u2014a group of around 40 faith leaders calling for an immediate cease-fire led a Tuesday afternoon pray-in at the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n<p>The Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders and activists occupied the New York Democrat&#8217;s office in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, where demonstrators opened their action with prayers for the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed since October 7.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Participants &#8220;highlighted the devastating impact of each bomb that has been dropped and each life cut short through a reading of nearly 200 names of those killed by American-made weapons, including entire families across generations,&#8221; the organizers of the pray-in said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The actions send a clear message to the Democratic Party: You cannot continue with business as usual while Israel commits genocide in Gaza with full U.S. backing,&#8221; the coalition added. &#8220;Cease-fire is the only moral choice, and the world is watching your next move.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ceasefire is the Moral Choice. The World is Watching <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJeffries?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RepJeffries<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CeasefireNOW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CeasefireNOW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Pray4Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Pray4Gaza<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AllEyesOnJeffries?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AllEyesOnJeffries<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nQcBWn2VOf\">pic.twitter.com\/nQcBWn2VOf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; #EndTheSiegeOnGaza (@AdalahJustice) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdalahJustice\/status\/1716856929106964504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The activists raised mirrors with the phrase &#8220;The whole world is watching&#8221; painted on the back in a symbolic move to compel members of Congress &#8220;to take a long, hard look at themselves and reckon with their complicity in Israeli war crimes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Prayer leaders included Rev. Andr\u00e9 Greene of Varick Memorial AME Zion; Rabbi Alissa Wise; Imam Suhaib Webb; Rev. Dayna Edwards of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation; Minister Jessica Anderson, a Howard University divinity student; and Rev. William T. Young of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Groups leading the event included the Adalah Justice Project; U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights; Jewish Voice for Peace; <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/dream-defenders\">Dream Defenders<\/a>; Rising Majority; and the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today we stood at the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to ask for a cease-fire from the Israeli government because of the innocent deaths. We ask that he act swiftly in this moment of history,&#8221; said Greene. &#8220;Peace must prevail! This is the moral thing to do!&#8221; <strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wise said that &#8220;I am part of a growing, vocal segment of the American Jewish community that is pleading with our elected officials to not allow our grief to be used as justification for more deaths in Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlissaShira\/status\/1716863754754011654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1716863754754011654%7Ctwgr%5E746b49bbcc9f1f9c9e2def1a008fff4e948e2e89%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgaza-pray-in\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlissaShira\/status\/1716863754754011654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1716863754754011654%7Ctwgr%5E746b49bbcc9f1f9c9e2def1a008fff4e948e2e89%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgaza-pray-in<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is impossible to overstate the urgent need for Congress and the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire,&#8221; the rabbi added. &#8220;Congressman Jeffries, as House minority leader, should play a key role in making that happen. Our prayers today were for peace, for a cease-fire, for justice before another life, another entire world, is lost.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Webb asserted that Democrats&#8217; failure to support a cease-fire &#8220;undermines their dedication to racial, economic, and environmental justice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Like President Joe Biden, Jeffries has repeatedly <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/democraticleader.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/leader-jeffries-our-commitment-israels-security-ironclad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declared<\/a> his staunch support for Israel, despite a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/legal-scholars-israel-genocide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warning<\/a> from hundreds of international legal scholars that Israeli forces may be committing genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The special relationship between the United States and Israel is ironclad and unbreakable.<\/p>\n<p>We will do everything necessary to support Israel\u2019s effort to defeat the Hamas terrorists and their barbarity.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJeffries\/status\/1711363154779779493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to a survey <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/voters-support-cease-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published<\/a> last week by Data for Progress, 80% of Democratic and 68% of all U.S. voters believe the United States should support a cease-fire in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>However, as of Tuesday afternoon, only 17 other congressional Democrats had backed a resolution <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/house-progressives-cease-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">introduced<\/a> last week by Rep. <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/cori-bush\">Cori Bush<\/a> (D-Mo.) calling on the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Biden administration is <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/biden-military-aid-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asking Congress<\/a> to approve $14 billion in new U.S. military aid for Israel\u2014which already receives nearly $4 billion from American taxpayers annually, with almost no conditions attached.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Every Democrat in Congress who is allowing Israel to carry out mass atrocities in Gaza should know that the world is watching,&#8221; Adalah Justice Project executive director Sandra Tamari said. <strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The only moral choice is cease-fire,&#8221; Tamari added. &#8220;We will continue disrupting business as usual until Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic Party stop this genocide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Brett Wilkins is is staff writer for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">Common Dreams<\/a>. Based in San Francisco, his work covers issues of social justice, human rights and war and peace. This originally appeared at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">CommonDreams<\/a>\u00a0and is reprinted with the author\u2019s permission.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the death toll from Israel&#8217;s relentless and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza approached 5,800 Palestinians\u2014including over 2,300 children\u2014a group of around 40 faith leaders calling for an immediate cease-fire led a Tuesday afternoon pray-in at the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders and activists [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-44480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"\"You cannot continue with business as usual while Israel commits genocide in Gaza with full U.S. backing. Cease-fire is the only moral choice, and the world is watching your next move.\""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44480"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44482,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44480\/revisions\/44482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44480"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}