Sixty-one Mennonite Christians were arrested outside the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on Tuesday, stemming from a peaceful protest aimed at getting Warner to commit to end the ongoing Israeli military siege of Gaza.
The group included Mennonites from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area.
“International law clearly prohibits the intentional targeting of civilians. Such actions are abhorrent, and people of faith and conscience have no choice but to oppose them in all nonviolent ways we can,” said Timothy Seidel, an associate professor of peacebuilding, development and global studies at Eastern Mennonite University, who was among those who were arrested, reportedly for their peaceful refusal to stop singing hymns.
“The willful killing of so many innocents in Gaza is a violation of conscience and an affront to everything we proclaim about our faith,” said Harrisonburg resident Tim Godshall, who attends Shalom Mennonite Congregation, and was arrested on Tuesday.
“It should disturb the conscience of members of Congress as well, since the destruction of Gaza would not be happening without U.S. support,” Goodshall said.
Today’s action on Capitol Hill was organized by Mid-Atlantic members of the national movement Mennonite Action, hailing from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Smaller groups of Mennonites visited the offices of Pennsylvania and Maryland members of Congress, including U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, both D-Md., to sing a song of gratitude for their willingness to take legislative action to hold Israel accountable.
“As Mennonites, Christians, and people of faith who seek to respond to Jesus’ call to live as active peacemakers, this action allows space for grief, prayer, and protest as we witness the forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza,” said Harrisonburg resident Ciela Acosta, who attends Shalom Mennonite Church.
More than 1,373 Palestinians have been killed since late May while seeking food in Gaza, which the United Nations has officially declared an area of “man-made famine,” in the context of a Palestinian death toll of more than 62,000, with an additional 156,230 wounded.
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Chris Graham
