About the Sumud Network

From the ELCA website:

We are church for the sake of the world. Sumud is the ELCA Churches response to occupation and injustice in Palestine and Israel.In Jesus Christ all of life — every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life — flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.

Freed by the transformative life of Christ, the ELCA is committed to accompaniment, advocacy and awareness-raising with our partners in the Holy Land and in the United States. For the past two decades that work was organized through the ELCA Peace Not Walls campaign. In October 2023 the ELCA announced that, following an in-depth review by ELCA staff and leadership from the Palestinian Lutheran church, Peace Not Walls would be renamed and reconfigured as a new initiative, Sumud: For Justice in Palestine and Israel.

Sumud is an Arabic word meaning “steadfastness.” The term is widely used by Palestinian theologians and others to signify Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and people. That resistance takes the form of nonviolent advocacy for political change as well as “resistance through existence,” embodied in education, social work, the arts and one’s relationships with the land and community. Learn more

Read a full background about Sumud from Synod Working Group

About the Southeastern Iowa Synod Sumud Working Group

Our Synod Peace Not Walls Working Group began in 2012 and has been working in connection with the Churchwide emphasis since then. In 2023 we changed our name to Synod Sumud Working Group in connection to our colleagues at Churchwide. Our core members have practiced accompaniment through visits to the Holy Land to hear from and walk alongside Christians, Muslims, and Jews in actions toward peace. We have practiced awareness-raising through forums at past synod assemblies, through conferences featuring visiting Palestinian speakers, and through adult forum activities in congregations. We have practiced advocacy through visits to the US Consulate which was previously located in Jerusalem to advocate for the needs of people in specific villages, and through letters to our legislators and visits to their offices in Washington DC. In some cases, we have accompanied Palestinians to legislator offices to assist them in asking for help. We also work through the ELCA Advocacy Alerts to send letters to our legislators, which you can receive by signing up here.

We have recently made available a pre-recorded PowerPoint presentation, which congregations can access. This presentation, in two parts for ease of congregational use, was initially developed to help congregation members understand how we got to the point of the horrific Gaza war that began on October 7, 2023, and continues. We encourage congregations to view this resource to learn more about the situation in general and the war in Gaza in particular. View the recorded presentations (2 sessions just over an hour each session)  

From the ELCA website, “Through Sumud, the ELCA supports a viable, contiguous Palestinian state; a secure Israeli state at peace with its Arab neighbors; and a shared Jerusalem with equal access and rights for Jews, Muslims and Christians. To achieve this justice, we need your support!  Join us in this call to walk alongside our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land by raising awareness and advocating in your hometown, congregation, school or synod.”

Members of the Working Group

• Rev. Christine Cowan, chair, Synod Sumud Working Group

• Rev. Russell Melby

• Rev. Jack Mithelman

• Margaret Kiekaefer

• William Vogel

• Joseph Nolte