Statement supporting student activism on Gaza

Side With Love, in collaboration with the Youth and Emerging Adult team of the Lifespan Faith Engagement office and the UU College of Social Justice, joins in solidarity with Unitarian Universalist young adults and students across the globe who are protesting the ongoing assault in Gaza. These protests are a response to the moral urgency of this moment. The assault on Gaza, sponsored by the United States, has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians. We cannot turn away.We join the chorus of faith and progressive organizations calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the protection of student activists.

In the face of dehumanization, devastation, and death, human beings have always gathered to create life-affirming communities of resistance. Rooted in a strong lineage of student movements, this generation - like those protesting the Vietnam War, calling for the racial integration of their campuses, and for the end of apartheid in South Africa - are, again, asking this nation to embody its highest ideals of liberty and justice for all.

Our values call on every generation to listen with care and compassion to the prophetic witness of these courageous students and offer faithful solidarity. We, too, must rise to meet the highest aspirations of our faith, which rejects the disposability of any human being and proclaims all are worthy of love and belonging.

This generation of students has endured the trauma of COVID-19, school shootings, a climate crisis, and the brutality of U.S. police forces on their campuses and in their communities. It is time to turn around the question, “Where are the young people in our faith movement?” and instead ask, “Where are all of us, as people of faith, when our young people are showing up?” We must not turn away.

Side With Love proclaims the transformative power of love to build vibrant and liberated communities. This dangerous assault on civil liberties on college campuses and human rights – at home and globally –are connected. Too many of our justice movements (labor movement, Civil Rights, Gay liberation), have been met with sanctioned police brutality, imprisonment, and worse. We must not fail our students with our silence. We will not betray our faith with our complicity.

We call on university administrations and public officials to remove police from campuses, end the militarized response to student activism, and come to the table in good-faith negotiations with student demands. We call on our community to show up in solidarity. We welcome all, in this pivotal movement, to Side With Love.

Add your signature to this letter.

Signatories

Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association

Rev. Scott Aaseng
Abigail Abysalh-Metzger
Ms. Kathleen Adams
Rev. Dr. Julia Aegerter
Ms. Nancy Ahmadifar
Dr. Robert Alexander
Dr. Amanda Alexander
Ms. Melody Allan
Ms Gaylee Amend
Dr. Susan Anderson
Adele Andrews
Rev. Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone
Ms. Larissa Armstrong
Ms. Dana Ashrawi
Ms. Ellen Asprooth
Barbara Atkinson
Dan Bailey
Ms. J Bannester
Rev. Erica Baron
Rev. Dr. Tracie Barrett
Ms. Kathy Bartolomeo
Dr. Lynette Bassman
Janet Bednarz
Ms. Sharon Bell Stevens
Mrs. Sharon Bell-Stevens
Patricis Bennett
Ms. Rebecca Bent
Gene Bergman
Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt
Ms. Joyce Bianchini
Rev. Ashley Birt
Mx. Sara Blackthorne
Mx. Emily Blair
Ronnie Boyd
Cole Breedlove
Henry Bright
Mr. Farrell Brody
Ms. Beth Brunton
Ms. Dana Buhl
Mr. Benjamin Burch
Sue Burke
George Burman
Ms. Shirin Caldwell
Rev. Dr. Isabel Call
Mrs Cici Carilli
Cheryl Carmi
Dr. Devin Carroll
Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer
Alesha Chaffin
Mr. Donald Chery
Ms. Jane Collins
Mr. R.Sidney Collins
Rev. Otto Concannon
Rev. Susan Conrad
Rev. Julie Conrady
Mr. Larry Cooper
Rev. Darcy Corbitt
Ms. Nan Corliss
Betty Cornelisen
Rev. Lyn Cox
Carol Crabill
Mrs. Sue Craig
Chris Crass
Ms. Gretchen Crawford
Mrs. Jamaine Cripe
Mrs. Lee Curran
Patrice Curtis
Mrs. Jeanne Davis
Ms. Karen Deaton
Rev. Emily DeTar Birt
Ms. Mary Devitt
Rev. Tina DeYoe
Rev. Jaimie Dingus
Sarah Ditzler
Ms. Rebecca Donley
Angie Donnay
Laura Dooley
Ms. Lynn D Douglas
Mr. Bruce Douglas
Ms. Joyce Dowling
Ms. Helen Duffy
Martha Durkee-Neuman
Angelique Duvet-Tovar
Rev. Dayna Edwards
Natalie Eldridge
Susie Epstein
Ms. Claire Eustace
Dana Fisher Ashrawi
Beverly Fitzpatrick
Rev. Tobi Fleck
Ms. Clare Fortune-Lad
Kim Fox-Kristensen
Ms. Janna Radovsky Frelich
Ms. Roberta Frye
Lori Garcia
Dr. Shernaz Garcia
Dr. Anne Garcia
Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson
Ms. Vicki Gavel
Rev. Pamela Gehrke
Elaine Gehrmann
Ms. Sally Jane Gellert
Janine Gelsinger
Elisabeth Geschiere
Mrs. Stephanie Giamberardino
Mark Giese
Ms. Ann Gilmore
Rev. Annie Gonzalez
Rev. Sara Goodman
Ms. glenda gordon
Ana Gorny
Danielle Grand
Mrs. Virginia Green
Ms. Joan Gregory
Rev. Ranwa Hammamy
Emily Hand
Ms. Katia Hansen
Dr. bill Harris
Ms. Zoe Hart
Victoria Hartman
Ms. Aisha Hauser
Ms Gwyn Helie
Peter Helwig
Paul Heniques
Rev. Meagan Henry
Rev. Patt Herdklotz
Samantha Herndon
Bill Hessell
Ms. Sandy Hildebrandt
Mr. Joel Hildebrandt
Rev. Jamie Hinson-Rieger
Rev. Dr. Lucy Hitchcock
Heather Hoecker
Dr. Donna Hoffmeister
Ray A Hommeyer
rimki honnold
Rev. Ashley Horan
Edythe Hough
Rev. Molly Housh Gordon
Ms. Kathleen Yezierska Hulley
Kirsten Hunter
Rev.erend DL Hwlfer
Ms. Laila Ibrahim
Elizabeth Ingram
Diana Ingram
Ms. Catherine Jackson
Mr. Mark Jagner
Dr. Melissa James
Rev. Abhi Janamanchi
Ruth Jenkins
Ms Cheyenne Jenvey
Mr. Bruce Jewell
Valerie Johnson
Ms. Barbara Johnston
Miss Zoe Johnston
Constance Jones
Rev. Dr. Dr. Roger Jones
Rev. Jeff Jones
Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones
Mona Jones-Romansic
Dr. Donna Joss
Dr Razan Kaileh
ANN KALINOSKI
Mr. James Kane
Ms. Rosemary Kean
Carl Kennedy
Asma Khan
Ms. Izzy Khapoya
Lynn Kimbark
Dr. D King
Rev. Dan King
Gregory King
Rev. Cecilia Kingman
Mary Kingsley
Ms. LINDA KNIGHT
Ms. Katie Kosseff
Anne Kosseff-Jones
Rev. Tim Kutzmark
Ms. Pat Lamanna
Mr. Steven Sellers Lapham
Ms. Areej Latif
Dr. Kate Lenhardt
Rev. Bran Lennox
Ms. Renate Ley
Dr. Judy Lightstone
Tanya Liscano
Dr. Deborah Little
Ms. Karin Livingstone
Andrew Livingstone
Patricia Looney-Burman
Ms. Sue Ann Lorig
Mr. Terry Lowman
Marie Lowry
Marsha Luce
Monica Luevano Mares
Kathleen Lund
Leigh Ann Luscan
Dr. Aurolyn Luykx
Rev. Jason Lydon
Mx Bernise Lynch
Mx. Sherri Lysy
Mr. Melvin Mackey
Dr. Heather MacLeod
Ken Mah
Tina Malone
Alisha Mancinas
Rev. Kevin Mann
Jennifer Marck
Mr. Bob Mason
Ms. Sally McCollum
Clara McCollum
Dr. Renee McCormick
Ms. Pamela McInnes
Kathy McKay
Ms Ann McKay Bryson
Jung Han Messinger
Ms. Joanne Michelson
elizabeth miller
Rev. Alisha Mills
Rev. Sarah Millspaugh
Mr. Michael Monroe
Rev. John Morehouse
David Morgen
Dr. John Moses
Abbas Moussaoui
Rev. Johannah Murphy
Ms. Christine Myers
Ms. Diane Nassif
Mrs. Dawn Newcomer
Dr. Gail Newel
Mrs. Jackie Newman
Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen
Jil Novenski
Ms. Susan Nye
Debbie Ockey
Mx. Kyle Osborne
Peggy Owen Sands
Lori Palmer
Ms. Kathryn Partridge
Miss QuianaDenae Perkins
Rev. Ali Peters
Lydia Philip
William Philips
Rev. Millie Phillips
Betty Prange
Dr. Marcelle Pratt
Mrs Virginia Preuss
Ms. Lois Reborne
Dr. jon rice
Ms. Mary Richards
Emily Richards
Alice Richards
Sandra Rigsbee
Rev. Cathy Rion Starr
Christina Rivera
David Roberts
Ms Nancy Roberts
Dr. robert roberts
Ms. Amanda Rogers
Jonathan G Rogers
Rev. Jonathan Rogers
Ms. Genevieve Rohan
Rev. Katie Romano Griffin
Mary Rooker
Dr. Lee Rossi
Rachel Rott
Ms Ann Rovere
Mr James Ruelas
Mr. Stephen Sacks
Ms. Judith Sadegh
Rev. Misha Sanders
Rev. Elizabeth Saunter
Ms. Wendy Schoener
Rev. Amanda Schuber
Mx. Andrea Schulz
Rev. Catie Scudera
Antoinette Scully
Jeffrey Severson
Evelyn Sheridan
Ms. Isabel Sheridan
Rev. Alia Shinbrough
Ms. Terri Shofner
Dr. Joshua Shurley
Mr. Brett Smith
Rev. Julián Soto
Sandra Steubing
Catherine Strickland
Wesley Stroupe
Ben Strube
Rev. Sonya Sukalski
Judith Swick
Rev.erend Jan Taddeo
Rev. Leslie Takahashi
Dr. Katrina Thompson
Mr. Scott Thomson
Bis Thornton
Ms. Rita Townsend
MS. Ellen Trumpler
Dr. Brenda Ungerland
Elizabeth Valencia
Danielle Van Dusen
Nico Van Ostrand
Ms. Michelle Venegas-Matula
Sandra Villareal
Hannah Villnave
Dr. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa
Dr. Caitlin Waddick
Dr. Kaitlin Walker
Virginia Waring
Mylo Way
Rev. Vail Weller
Penelope Wells
Krista Westervelt
Elizabeth Westie
Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker
Mrs. Jan Wiley-Egdall
G Williams
Gordon Woodworth
Ms. Carol Workman
Ms. Connie Young
Lenore Yousef
Rev. Crystal Zerfoss