By Rev Sandra R Mackie
Today, a US citizen who listens to, or reads, mainstream news about the Middle East may encounter words that are new, vaguely familiar, or disturbing: military occupation, apartheid, genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, administrative detention, flying checkpoints, annexation, harassment, torture.
If these phrases feel foreign, or only vaguely familiar, and you feel a curiosity or a concern about how they fit in with the use of US taxpayer resources, then you may find a three-part series being sponsored by The ICPJ and The Middle East Justice and Peace Group to be of interest. The events will take place in the Auditorium in Valentine Hall on the campus of the Lutheran Seminary. Enter from Springs Ave for parking.
On Tuesday, September 22 at 6PM, career educator, historian, and Middle East expert Linda Funsch will offer a brief history of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Funsch has lived, worked, and traveled throughout the Middle East for decades.
On Tuesday, October 13 at 6PM, Palestinian American Nabila Taha will join us to recall how the founding of the State of Israel has forever affected her family. Many families in Palestine still hope to one day return to their homes in what is now Israel, as is their right to do.
On Tuesday, November 10 at 6PM, we will view the film Israelism: The Awakening of Young American Jews. Two young American Jews, raised to support Israel unconditionally, witness the way Israel treats Palestinian people, and it changes their lives. They join a movement of American Jews campaigning to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel and reveal a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.
Every year, for decades, Israel has been the recipient of the highest amounts of US foreign aid allotted to any country. Currently, that amount of foreign aid is a minimum of $3.8 billion. Why is it the minimum? When Israel is involved in a military conflict with one of its neighbors, the US Congress appropriates more billions of dollars to the Israeli military. From October 2023 to September 2025, after the Hamas attack, Congress appropriated an additional $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel. Some Americans question whether those billions of taxpayer dollars should be invested in our own communities here at home, instead of being given as foreign aid which is used to support military occupation, apartheid, and genocide.
Informed voters are essential to a vibrant democratic republic. But for far too long, the US government has kept American voters in the dark about the policies, costs, and effects of US Foreign Policy. Some Americans feel that sending taxpayer dollars to the Middle East year after year means that the American people have a special responsibility to understand how those taxpayer dollars are spent.
Please join the Middle East Justice and Peace Group as we explore the history, and ongoing effects, of the violence in the Middle East.
Rev Sandra R Mackie, retired Lutheran Pastor and Gettysburg resident, works for a just peace in the Holy Land.