Reflections from the People's Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights

Sitting in a crowded room filled with activists from all over the world in the basement of a building off a side street of the city I was brought back to the days of sitting in the basement of the Kay Spiritual Life Center at the American University for a variety of grassroots planning and United Methodist and CASJ meetings focused on the call to justice and action.

Although this room was filled with United Methodists, much like the days at the university, the colored faces of those around me told of much longer, much harder and much more diverse stories than the faces of my university colleagues. Already in my participation in the United Methodist delegation to the People’s Global Action during the past three days, I have been inspired by the stories that have been shared and anticipate that many more such stories will be shared over the course of the coming days during my time here in Geneva.

This week I am here in Geneva taking part in the United Methodist delegation to the People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights. The People’s Global Action (PGA) is a low-level, self-organized collective of activists, NGOs, and religious organizations working on issues of migrants’ rights and recognition. The meeting of the PGA is being held concurrently with the Civil Society Days, a gathering for NGOs and academics working on issues of migration, as well as the private sector. Both of these more grassroots level meetings have taken place on an annual basis since 2006 in response to the meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), which will once again meet later on this week here in Geneva. The GFMD is the only inter-governmental forum on migration and serves as a private process, which is completely independent from the United Nations (UN). Unlike the security focus of the GFMD, the Civil Society Days and the PGA seek to bring a focus on human rights and human dignity into the center of the discussion and dialogue on migration.

During my first day here at the forum, I remained uncertain of my role here as one member of the United Methodist delegation thrown into the meeting of an organization and a movement to which I previously had neither ties nor active experience. I couldn’t seem to shake the doubt in my mind and the lingering request for honesty and reality – will the conversations we have, the emotions that are exposed, the things we learn, the people who we meet, and the stories we share actually make a difference?

By flying people from around the world to Geneva and putting us up in hotels and feeding us overpriced Swiss food change the lives of a single child with migrant parents? Or prevent the deportment of an undocumented person?

During the past two days I have, however, grasped a thread of hope that the networks which are being built, the discussions being held, and the presence of each individual and delegation here does in fact present the possibility to change the reality of migration in today’s global world. Since 2006 the People’s Global Action and Civil Society Days has, in fact, already helped to bring human rights more into the focus of the Global Forum on Migration and Development; this grassroots level meeting has worked to influence policy, including the Domestic Worker’s Convention passed in June of this year. Inshallah, our presence here might also have such outcomes – not only at the international level, but also for the average migrant, the mother working to earn a living for her family, the father awaiting deportment in a detention center, and the child seeking justice, recognition, and simply love as a child in a strange land.

Michelle Dromgold is a Mission Intern of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. She is currently serving at the Kindertreff Delbrücke at the Salem Gemeinde in Berlin, Germany. There, she works as a social worker with an emphasis on intercultural and interreligious dialogue amongst the children and youth at the after-school program and with local United Methodist Congregations.

On a historic day for Palestine, rethinking the UMC's role

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has just submitted a request to the United Nations for recognition of Palestine as an independent member state. Though the United States has pledged to veto the bid, it promises to be a historic day in the struggle for Palestinian rights. Predictions of the consequences abound. Some commentators fear an outbreak of violence in the West Bank and Gaza. Some are optimistic about the possibilities of increased UN representation for a Palestinian state through action by the General Assembly. Others fear that the UN bid, whether or not it’s successful, could actually become an obstacle to Palestinians’ national aspirations. What seems certain is that we are at a particularly volatile point in the history of Palestinians and Israelis. The tension held in this moment could erupt in any number of ways.

For decades, the United Methodist Church has stated its opposition to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Our denomination has repeatedly called for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict, one which respects the civil and human rights of all people. The church has been clear that the continued repression of the Palestinian people and the expropriation of their land makes this impossible.

Today, those of us who seek justice and peace in Palestine/Israel must recommit ourselves to, in the words of the Kairos Palestine Document, “speak a word of truth and take a position of truth.” Truth, we know, will be a victim of the political and diplomatic battles that are to come. As the abuses of Israel’s military occupation continue – as they certainly will – we must not only speak out against them, we must refuse to be complicit.

Since 1968, the United Methodist Church has spoken words of truth about the Israeli occupation. But we have yet to take a position of truth. Despite our statements, our denomination’s financial resources are invested in companies that profit from the occupation and the expansion of settlements. We hold stock in Caterpillar, which produces armored bulldozers that an Israeli general called “the key weapon” in the occupation of Palestinian land. Using these bulldozers, the Israeli military has demolished over 24,000 Palestinian homes since 1967. The church also invests in Motorola Solutions, which provides surveillance systems to Israeli settlements and communications equipment to the military in the West Bank. Hewlett-Packard, another company in the church’s portfolio, produces biometric scanning equipment used in checkpoints on occupied land. It also supplies Ariel, one of the largest West Bank settlements, with municipal data storage systems.

These investments represent a troubling contradiction between our words and our actions. Though we may sincerely hope for the occupation to end, we are implicated in its continuation as long as we help finance it.

The United Methodist Church has little if any influence over how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be resolved. We are not in a position to weigh in on the logistics of a political settlement. But we can and do influence the situation on the ground, and by extension, the factors that determine what kind of settlement is possible. Right now, our money helps to make the occupation possible. Removing our money will make the occupation less possible.

Over the next weeks and months, events in the Middle East may unfold rapidly and dramatically. Rather than feeling overwhelmed or helpless, we must focus on our own involvement in the occupation and change it.

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Emily McNeill is a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the Project Manager of United Methodist Kairos Response. For more information about the movement to align United Methodist investments with resolutions on Israel/Palestine, visit www.kairosresponse.org.