I have been associated with Tent of Nations and the Nassar family for many years. In fact, my law office in Jerusalem has been and continues to represent them in their ongoing legal battles to save their land from the Israeli government and the Jewish settlers who have been trying for years to steal it from them. I myself have participated in activities on their land. One time, I even found myself alongside Rev. Alex Awad and a Lutheran German minister alone with Daoud in confronting the settlers who were bulldozing into their land.

At the core of international law is the concept of universalism. Essentially, the same rules, values, and expectations apply to everyone, friend and foe alike. It is also the principle behind the Golden Rule and the universal appeals of Christianity as well as Islam. It has its foundations in the unity of the Godhead, the father of us all.

“After learning of the murder of 22-year-old Amir Locke, shot to death in his bed as Minneapolis police used a no-knock warrant to enter his home, I expressed to friends my profound grief. I expressed that I have no new words and that my lexicon feels exhausted from decrying police brutality and militarized tactics that result in these fatal narratives – too often excessively impacting Black and Brown people.”

Community Renewal Society believes voting rights are intrinsically connected to our work to eliminate barriers due to racism, poverty, and LGBTQIA+ rights and reparations, two of our most recent platforms issues. Meaningful legislation that compensates the descendants of enslaved Africans and allows all LGBTQIA+ people to fully enjoy the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness can not pass without supportive lawmakers.

In the wake of last week’s deeply disappointing Senate failure to restore and expand voting rights, that question hits a little harder. But the answer, I think, is the same—we are still what democracy looks like.

The bill would protect our elections from voter suppression, partisan sabotage, gerrymandering, and dark money.

Community Renewal Society responds to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to put our faith in action by hosting an annual assembly on the holiday commemorating his life and work. Hear about the history of and need for reparations, and commit to supporting CRS' work in 2022.

CRS signed on to a letter that reminds our state legislators of our moral and religious imperative to support the passing of the Pretrial Fairness Act on February 22, 2021 without allowing regressive policies to counteract them.

Why reparations now? Racism and poverty systemically create inequitable disparities that cause generational harm. We seek to educate and eradicate those disparities.

Join us in hastening the day of freedom! Here are 3 things we can do!

Reparations was added as part of the Just Economy and Community Development platform by a vote of the membership in October 2020 and is being launched in 2022 with our Martin Luther King Jr. Faith in Action Assembly. Here are some ways you can take action today!

“Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it.”

Thank you for sharing in the struggle for freedom, inclusion and love alongside Community Renewal Society throughout the year. May you be inspired with Advent hope, love, joy and peace this season and beyond.

On Wednesday, December 22, 2021, a coalition of Illinois Palestinian, solidarity, civil, and human rights organizations will rally at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago to protest the Illinois Investment Policy Board’s Committee on Israel Boycott Restrictions’ investigation of Unilever for its subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s July 2021 decision to withdraw business from illegal Israel settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.

The undersigned are among the almost 1.5 million people who voted for you in 2016 to end the nightmare of police crimes in Black and Latino communities.

The good news of Advent is the hope, love, joy and peace of the season. It is all wrapped up in the greatest gift of all times, the gift of Jesus. Advent reminds me that even through my trials and tribulations, Jesus is still the center of my joy.

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

Part of what makes Christmas so special is that it’s different from other days. Our celebrations are marked by surprise. Our children spend Advent wondering what’s underneath that wrapping paper. Christmas morning brings the joy of discovery. Who knows what the gifts will be?

The angel Gabriel told Mary that she would have a son and that she was to name him Emmanuel. His birth would be an Immaculate Conception. The baby would be the son of the most high God and become the spirit of a faith that has transcended countless generations.

This year has been challenging. We were all anxious for 2021 after the sobering and sinister effects of 2020 and the global pandemic that continues to plague us. Instead, we began 2021 with one of the most outrageous attacks ever leveled against our government. The January 6th assault on Congress was repulsive to watch.