SILENCE = DEATH
March 30, 2024
XRNYC Palestine Solidarity affinity group disrupted Easter Vigil Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Saturday, March 30 evening. Please see our statement on the action below.
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED
Beloved Community,
On this sacred night, we beg your pardon for singing out of turn during the solemn vigil of Easter. We do so only at the urging of our consciences. For us the enormity of the crises of this moment demands a full-throated and unhesitating response.
War, occupation, and industrial pollution are poisoning the soil, air, and water in Gaza and all over the planet, destroying the earth’s capacity to sustain life. This destruction is called “Ecocide”.
Silence is complicity.
With thirty thousand dead in Gaza and all life on earth threatened by the climate crisis, every individual and every institution that values justice, peace, and love has a duty to oppose genocide and ecocide in a way that can be clearly seen and heard by all. This is especially true of those institutions that have a history of responsibility in the centuries of colonial occupation and exploitation of poorer nations that preceded this disaster.
Palestine is Everywhere #FreePalestine
QUOTES
“If these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40). The stones know that silence equals death. We know that to be nearly silent is to be nearly dead. We know that just as slow winning is another way of losing, speaking the truth so quietly that it is not noticed is another way of lying. We are here to tell the truth about ecocide and genocide as loudly as this moment warrants,” said John Mark Rozendaal, an XR NYC Palestine Solidarity activist at the church.
“The United Nations Security Council calling for a ceasefire is a good start, but churches making ceasefire statements is also a part of the solution. It will make a difference” said Matthew M., an XR NYC Palestine Solidarity member.
“War, occupation, and industrial pollution are poisoning the soil, air, and water in Gaza and all over the planet, destroying the earth’s capacity to sustain life. This destruction is called ‘Ecocide’”, said Gregory Schwedock, an XR NYC Palestine Solidarity activist at the church.
About XR NYC Palestine Solidarity
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a global, nonpartisan climate justice movement using nonviolent direct action to pressure governments to act now to address the climate and ecological emergency and listen to the people’s call for a just, livable future.
XR NYC Palestine Solidarity is an affinity group of Extinction Rebellion New York City activists fighting for a free and peaceful Palestine.