Leaving my work on Israel/Palestine
I will be ending my partnership with the Reformed Church in America at the end of this year. Chris De Blaay, who began working with me in the fall of 2022, will be done at the end of September.
It is an odd time to be leaving this work. Palestinians have never been more vulnerable. The genocide in Gaza has been going on for almost two years, spanning two different American administrations.
Both administrations are complicit in genocide. Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth are all war criminals. They all belong in prison.
But no one will be held accountable for the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. We know this. Benjamin Netanyahu will not be brought to justice for his crimes. No Israeli leader, no Israeli soldier will be held accountable.
Most of the Hamas leadership, and all those directly responsible for October 7th, are dead. No one mourns the wicked, and rightly so.
The last phase of the destruction of Gaza is happening now. Israel is destroying the buildings and nearly all of the infrastructure of the only remaining city in Gaza, Gaza City. They are also killing about 50-100 Palestinians a day in the process, using bombs, guns, drones, and starvation.
It seems pretty clear that the death toll in Gaza is more than 100,000, maybe much more. We may never know.
The total Israeli death toll—civilians, police, and military, including the murders of October 7th—is around 2,000. Reported numbers vary. Haaretz lists 1,964 killed.
Last week, Chris and I had our first conversation about our engagement on this issue, which has led us both to closely follow American and international politics. We will have at least one more conversation. I will also be having a conversation or two with my dad, Marlin, who had my job from 2006 to 2016.
We will follow up these conversations with at least two Zoom Q&As for those interested.
I will send a post later this week explaining what’s next for me, and how you can support me in 2026 and beyond.