During 2024, the SJ team organized several events to call for peace and justice. In April, the team called for a ceasefire in Gaza with lasting justice in Israel/Palestine and in May, coordinated a photo with over 80 people gathered in the sanctuary.
In June, the team submitted a resolution to endorse the statement by the Canadian Unitarian Council and Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada calling on the State of Israel and on Hamas to agree to a permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages.
In September, during the annual water ceremony, the team invited the congregation to stand in solidarity with those in Palestine, Sudan and Indigenous communities who do not have access to safe drinking water.
In 2025, the SJ team will continue calls for peace and justice by working within VanU and with other organizations. On January 26th, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) will be hosting an author talk at 7pm at the Peretz Centre ( 6184 Ash Street, Vancouver). The SJ Team will be one of the many cosponsors and invites all VanU members to attend this free event. Authors: Rabbi Alissa Wise and Rebecca Vilkomerson will talk about their recently published book: Solidarity is the Political Version of Love: Lessons from anti-Zionist Organizing.
Building on the efforts of many past and present VanU members, the Social Justice Team has been busy working on a Resolution on the Endorsement of the CUC Motion to Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and the Doctrine of Terra Nullius. The team is grateful to John Omielan who proposed and drafted the resolution with input from the SJ Team. The Social Justice and IPA teams are co-sponsoring this resolution.
On February 23rd, there will be a forum to give the congregation an opportunity to ask questions and discuss this resolution. Individual members of the Environment, IPA and SJ teams presented a forum in November 2022 on the Doctrine of Discovery. Here is a link to a recording of the forum on the previous UCV website. This forum was instrumental in helping the CUC draft and approve their motions to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and the Doctrine of Terra Nullius.
The Social Justice team has sold white peace poppies every November to recognize all victims of war and the team assembles wreaths for the annual Let Peace be Their Memorial ceremony. This past November, the team hosted the first Peace Building reception that provided ceremony attendees a chance to socialize, meet event hosts and wreath layers, and visit display tables set up with information about peace building activities at VanU and beyond.
The Social Justice team plans to create more opportunities for discussion about peace in 2025. On March 9th, SJ/IPA members Debra, Hisako and Huguette will be speaking at the forum entitled Let’s Talk about Peace Building. The SJ team invites all VanU members to attend and share their thoughts.