And that if money is spent on a apartheid and a genocide, you got money. This is what your silence is telling us. The American church is complicit in all of this. Palestinian pastor Reverend Munther Ishaq spoke from the same church where Doctor Martin Luther King junior called on churches to break their silence on the U S. War in Vietnam. In his famous 1967 speech, MLK junior declared the U S. Government was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. He urged people to reject war, militarism, racism and injustice. Since Martin Luther King, how many wars did the United States learn that aggression? Ten months into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Reverend Ishaq traveled from Bethlehem to the U S. With a call for churches to hold both Israel and their own government accountable, in which also to commit war crimes. I welcome like heels in the Congress of that time. Doctor Ishaq spoke with AJ plus ahead of his speech at New York City’s Riverside Church. Faith leaders in this country are silent. If faith leaders are not speaking up, that means they are okay with the way their money is being spent, the money of their congregations is being spent, and that they are okay with the decisions of the people they have elected. Taking inspiration from the global movement against apartheid South Africa, Palestinian civil society launched an international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel in 2,005. The movement’s goal is to pressure Israel to Comply with international law and prompt governments to hold Israel accountable and its one way. Faith groups have acted in support of Palestinian rights. Many Palestinian Christians have followed that by making calls to churches around the world, in the United States as well, um, to consider the way they invest, uh, their money, uh, and whether, uh, money is being invested in companies that are operating in the occupied territories. And many churches actually responded, uh, to our call and have, uh, divested from, uh, uh, these companies. Multiple major U S. Churches have divested from companies like Hewlett Packard, G4S, Motorola Solutions, and others that have profited from Israel’s occupation. More recently, some have begun calling for the U S. To stop sending weapons to Israel and to divest from companies like Chevron, which supplies energy to Israel. I’m very much inspired by the example of South Africa, where, again, people of faith, churches and others came together to say no to apartheid. They showed the world what moral credibility looks like, what integrity looks like. In the 1980s, major churches in the U S. Advocated for their government to end its support for the apartheid regime in South Africa. They built momentum for economic sanctions among the U S. Political and financial elite and boycotted American and international companies operating in South Africa. Inspired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s visit to the U S. In 1988, many churches responded by boycotting the Royal Dutch Shell Oil company. Right now, we’re calling churches To, uh, adopt resolutions that consider Israel an apartheid state. Uh, all of these are small steps in the right, uh, direction. Doctor Ishak takes inspiration from major moments in our history when church leaders mobilized against injustices. But 10 months into Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, he’s still waiting for many church leaders to speak out. What kind of a message we’re sending to the world as people of faith if all that we are concerned about is our own kind of spiritual business with god, yet we have no concern for the world around us? What future are we preparing for our children if we are okay with the normalization of killing of children in such a horrific way?