By Cliff Kindy
Over 50 people gathered outside Raytheon/RTX, one of 10 weapons contractors in Fort Wayne, Ind., on the afternoon of Sept. 5. Participants representing at least six Church of the Brethren congregations from the two church districts in Indiana, and a group of 10 from the Manchester University Kenapocomoco Peace Coalition, were joined by other Christians, Muslims, Jews, and non-faith folks to say a strong “NO!” to the Israeli/US genocide against Gaza.
Veterans For Peace had initiated this week of Solidarity with the People of Gaza by earlier sending a well-documented 11-page letter (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VLYB3VuHEM-UfjvuOnMJdFzi3HNR738P/view) to US State Department offices across the country pointing out the ways that US military munitions and enabling actions in support of Israel break many US and international laws that are in place to prevent genocide and human rights violations. In the first week of September, Veterans for Peace and friends delivered the same letter to congressional offices, military bases, and military contractors in dozens of locations across the country.
With the goal of ending the genocide in Gaza, the Fort Wayne Coalition asked the contractors to 1) stop sales of weapons used by Israel in Gaza, 2) compel the US Administration to institute a total arms embargo of Israel, and 3) transform their production lines to build tools that care for and nurture all the peoples of the globe. The Fort Wayne Coalition is expecting a rapid response.
Interestingly, Parkview Health, a major regional healthcare provider in the Fort Wayne area, leases space and buildings to two of the arms manufacturers complicit in the massive onslaught in Gaza. The targeting of all the health facilities in Gaza, as well as most mosques and churches, schools, 80 percent of the homes, the clean water sources, food supplies, energy sources, humanitarian aid, and sites where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have encouraged the Gaza population to move for safety is clearly not improving health for the people of Gaza.
The Fort Wayne Coalition has asked that 1) Parkview terminate its leases with the military contractors, 2) lead the way among national health providers to compel the US Administration to implement a total arms embargo on Israel, and 3) send health teams to assist Doctors Without Borders in their Gaza clinics.
The Fort Wayne Coalition, which has had very strong Church of the Brethren participation, is asking everyone–coalition members included–to respond positively to these “invitations to goodness,” recognizing that all of us are guilty of not stopping the genocide in Gaza over the last 11 months. Clearly, our taxes and our inaction allow that genocide to continue unimpeded.
Appropriate actions of goodness might include prayers, walking off the weapons assembly lines, divesting from weapons stocks and Israeli companies that support the occupation, teaching our children and grandchildren the ways of peace, and stepping away from our economic constructs that demand profit at all costs and that prioritize money over people.
— Cliff Kindy is a Church of the Brethren member and organic farmer in the area of North Manchester, Ind. He is a longterm participant in Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and has worked with CPT in a variety of locations including the city of Hebron in the West Bank of Israel and Palestine.
———-
Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Children’s Disaster Services helps families in shelter, Brethren Disaster Ministries directs grants for aid, among other Hurricane Helene updates
- Clergywomen’s Retreat registration is now open online for event in February 2025
- Standing with People of Color Committee offers October trainings
- Sharon Norton hired as executive director of Global Mission
- Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 336 completes orientation