SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Weekend Reading

Hi John,

Thank you to everyone who donated to our humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza. Over the past 17 months, your support has made it possible for us to deliver food, water, hygiene kits, and other life-saving aid to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Now we are preparing for the next phase of our emergency response. Read more about our efforts from AFSC’s Kerri Kennedy. [link removed]

IN THE MEDIA

Victory! Detained immigrants prevail in federal lawsuit [link removed]

Last year, AFSC and detained immigrants filed a lawsuit challenging an ICE ban on virtual court appearances. Earlier this month, a court ruled in our favor. The judge found that preventing people detained in Pennsylvania from remotely attending New Jersey criminal court proceedings violated their constitutional rights. Read more in the New Jersey Monitor. [link removed]

TAKE ACTION

Fund human needs, not war and militarism [link removed]

Our communities are safest when we spend our tax dollars on health care, housing, and other programs that benefit all people—not on weapons and war. But every year, the U.S. spends $1.1 trillion—more than half of our federal discretionary budget—on war and militarism. And today, Congress is proposing yet another massive budget increase for the Pentagon while these vital programs face drastic cuts.

AFRICA ADVOCACY

Coming together to protect civic freedoms [link removed]
By Christina Tavernelli

Last year, AFSC brought together peacebuilders from 13 African countries in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss strategies for protecting civic space. In many places, governments have cracked down not only on protesters in the streets, but on any organizations doing social change work deemed political. The convening is one way that AFSC is helping human rights defenders in Africa work together to hold governments accountable for abuses. Read more. [link removed]

JOIN US

Lessons from Anti-Apartheid Struggles: Past and Present (Feb. 25, noon ET/ 9 a.m. PT) [link removed]

From the U.S. to South Africa to Palestine, anti-apartheid movements have mobilized communities to oppose legal systems of racial injustice and oppression. Join our monthly Apartheid-Free Communities webinar to learn more. We’ll hear from anti-apartheid activists and liberation theologians Rev. Wendell Griffen and Rev. Dr. Allan Boesak as well as Palestinian activist Ms. Shadia Qubti. Register today. [link removed]

Special thanks to our monthly donors, our Partners for Peace, for their ongoing support to make all our work possible.

DONATE [link removed]

American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States

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