by Gabi
Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 at 4:16 PM
A short primer on advancing Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions in the church
Some take-home lessons from our West Coast organizing session:
Its is not just the black lives matter movement and prisoner rights movement that Palestinian activists need to get involved with- the mainstline church movements are also ripe for our influence. With declining membership, especially among young people, joining a local church (currently, I'd recommend the Methodists, although any will do) will give you a chance to punch above your weight class.
The technique for church involvement is a bit different that of a radical movement- in fact, its quite the opposite. First rule- if the church has a pre-existing political agenda, stay away. Join a different one. You want to appear as mainstream and middle-American as possible. Do not wear sandals. Do not wear a kuffiyeh.
Spend about half the year feeding the poor, going to services, fitting in. Then suggest creating a social action committee. Bring in BDS speakers that have been carefully screened for the widest appeal. Always use the language of universal human rights. After careful study, your social action committee can suggest that the church join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Remember, act as though this is a grassroots, decentralized decision.
There are many resources available that can help you- for example, leave booklets from Kairos response in the newsrack. Pin literature on the bulletin boards.
The key is to go slow- and remember-the mainline churches are starving for young people- this presents an excellent opportunity to advance the Palestinian cause