Photos courtesy of J. Denny Weaver

In March, Mennonite Action held a “Week of Action” where 1,400 pairs of children’s shoes, paper birds and non-perishable food items were piled in front of a governmental office. From left to right, Janice Bauman, J. Denny Weaver and Mark Bauman.

People of all faiths and backgrounds have stood in solidarity with Palestine in their struggle against Israeli oppression for decades. Mennonites, Anabaptist Christians known historically for their peace churches, have mobilized themselves across the U.S. and Canada in solidarity with Palestinians through the grassroots group Mennonite Action. The group formed after October 7, 2023, when Hamas broke out of Gaza’s open-air prison, sparking Israel’s ongoing siege, genocide, and mass starvation in Gaza.

The Mennonite Action website states, “We are compelled to act – both as human beings, and also as Mennonites and Christians. Our faith teaches us that God’s love is made manifest through taking action for justice, and that following Christ means standing with those who suffer.”

Jonny Rashid, Pastor of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, serves on the pastoral committee of Mennonite Action National. He is also co-host of Mennonite Action’s Front Light Podcast.

“Two organizers, Adam Ramer and Nick Martin, allied with other Mennonites who had connections to Palestine,” Rashid explains the group’s origins. “They started the organization that way, and the point was to mass coalesce Mennonites with monthly calls and actions.”

Adam Ramer grew up in the Madison Mennonite Church here in Wisconsin. Dr. J. Denny Weaver, also a member of Madison Mennonite Church as well as Mennonite Action Madison, is a retired religion professor who taught at Bluffton University in Ohio for over 30 years. 

“I was privileged to give a theological statement at the very first national call with 800 people,” Weaver mentions. “I have been surprised by what putting a name on this group has done for us. People have been contacting us, and we’ve gotten letters published in the paper, and the visibility pleases me a lot.”

Mennonites have a history of collective action and resisting Christian nationalism dating back over 500 years. Their beliefs champion principles like nonviolence, simple lifestyles, separation of church and state, and “separation from the world” – nonconformity to a society deemed sinful. 

In the context of Palestine, U.S. political support for Israeli violence against Palestinians constitutes a sinful society in the eyes of Mennonite Action.

Weaver elaborates, “If you respond to violence with violence, you become what you say you hate, and it raises the cycle. It makes sense to do something to change that.”

He continues, “I can also do that by talking about Jesus and how he healed on the Sabbath when he could have waited until the next day. That is a deliberately confrontational activity, and things have for centuries been treated very passively. Jesus was a nonviolent activist, and this is a nonviolent activist way for a person of a lower status to change a situation.”

Honoring the legacies of existing Mennonite activist groups, Mennonite Action has amassed over 8,500 members in just a year and a half. There are at least a dozen chapters, steered by a national leadership structure that communicates with different chapters through monthly mass virtual calls.

“We are grateful for how we’ve grown, and we see ourselves continuing in the long haul,” Rashid continues. “Right now, our focus has been confronting Christian Zionism and Christian nationalism, especially in the face of the Trump administration.”

“This is a new stage,” Weaver contends about Mennonite activism. “Large chunks of us have moved over to be active and confront injustice.”

A Mennonite Action “Longest Night” vigil for a cease-fire in Gaza on Dec. 21 in Madison 

After several months of joining demonstrations by existing organizations, Mennonite Action had one of their first major events in January 2024 in Washington, D.C., where they held the halls of Congress singing hymns together.

“The optics were, we’re in the chamber singing, and the police are arresting people,” Rashid remembers. “That contrast not only gives a different picture of who Mennonites are, but also what activism is and what civil disobedience can look like.”

Two activists from Rashid’s congregation were arrested during this action. “These are people who have never blown a red light,” Rashid puts in perspective. “Yet, they thought it was important enough to do this.”

Two months later, in March, Mennonite Action held a “Week of Action” where they constructed symbols of aid to demand that local representatives support humanitarian relief and not bombs be sent to Gaza. Displays across chapters included 1,400 pairs of shoes spread across a plaza, paper birds decorated by children, and non-perishable food items piled in front of a governmental office.

Dr. J. Denny Weaver, Madison Mennonite Church and member of Mennonite Action Madison

 

One of the largest Mennonite Action events to date was their All God’s Children March for a Ceasefire last July. The eleven-day, 135-mile march from Harrisonburg, Virginia to Washington, D.C. was joined by interfaith allies and concluded with a protest of the annual Christians United For Israel (CUFI) convention.

“We sang hymns in the hotel that held CUFI, and then on the lawn we held an interfaith prayer service,” Rashid recalls. “It’s quite a feat to march that much in the middle of the summer, so a lot of credit to the people who did that.”

Mennonite Action Madison has co-sponsored various Palestine solidarity actions in Wisconsin with groups like Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, Jewish Voice For Peace, CODEPINK, and Interfaith Peace Working Group. 

Their interfaith Longest Night vigil for a cease-fire in Gaza last December grieved for Palestinians who struggle to sleep night after night out of fear of Israeli bombs, tanks, and gunfire. Despite the cold, over 75 people turned out. Madison’s chapter has also participated in the monthly Anti-War Cafe, War Tax Resistance workshops, Madison farmers markets, and the recent Palestine Solidarity Fair in May.

The current Mennonite Action campaign, God’s Love Knows No Borders, expresses solidarity with Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, college students protesting the ongoing genocide, and migrants in the U.S. being threatened with deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“These plights are combined,” Rashid affirms. “Christian nationalism and Christian Zionism are twin evils that are two sides of the same coin.”

Mennonite Action Madison is collecting donation items through June 10 for a summer silent auction, where proceeds will benefit Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA).