 |  | July 11th News Bulletin Here’s what’s upcoming and what you may have missed at CMEP and in the news. | | | | 1. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with congressional leaders CBS News "Congressional leaders are meeting this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after some lawmakers accused the Israeli leader of trying to drag the U.S. into another war. Netanyahu met with House Speaker Mike Johnson Tuesday after meeting earlier in the day with Vice President JD Vance. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, postponed a trip to Israel in June to address the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, as war broke out with Iran." | | | | | | 2. Netanyahu Backs Trump’s Vision for Redeveloping Gaza, Says Palestinians Can Leave Time "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday backed a proposal by President Donald Trump to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and turn the war-ravaged coastal enclave into a luxury waterfront development—a plan that has drawn international condemnation and could further complicate fragile cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.” | | | | | | 3. Israeli plan for forced transfer of Gaza’s population ‘a blueprint for crimes against humanity’ The Guardian "Israel’s defence minister has laid out plans to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah, in a scheme that legal experts and academics described as a blueprint for crimes against humanity. Israel Katz said he has ordered Israel’s military to prepare for establishing a camp, which he called a “humanitarian city”, on the ruins of the city of Rafah, Haaretz newspaper reported." | | | | | | 4. Last Christian town in West Bank attacked by Israelis, church leaders appeal to world for help Independent Catholic News "A 5th century church and an ancient Christian cemetery were badly vandalised by Israeli 'settlers' in the last Christian town in the West Bank yesterday. In a statement today, Tuesday, 8 July, the priests of the churches of Taybeh - Latins, Greek Catholics, and Greek Orthodox - made a clear appeal to the world, expressing deep concern about the increasing and documented attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on the town's land, holy sites, and properties - amidst official silence that exacerbates the sense of danger and lack of protection." | | | | | | | | July 10, 2025: ACTION ALERT "Block the Bombs Act" On May 21st, 2025, House Resolution 3565 was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives, also known as the "Block the Bombs Act." The resolution calls for a limit on the sale of bombs, ammunition (including white phosphorus), and ammunition manufacturing capability. The act comes as Israel has strengthened its assault on Gaza and the West Bank, with an estimated death toll since October 7th, 2023 standing at 54,000 Palestinian men, women, and children. Congress needs to pressure the Trump Administration to protect Palestinian civilians through the passage of HRes. 3565. Your voice can push your representative to support this vital resolution and limit offensive weapon capabilities of Israel, protecting Gazan civilians from relentless bombs. Contact your representative and urge them to support the initiative. | | | | | | | | Iron(wo)man for Gaza Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) presents Iron(wo)man for Gaza, a bold fundraising journey led by Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon. As she trains for and completes a full Ironman Triathlon—140.6 miles of swimming, biking, and running—Rev. Dr. Cannon aims to raise $1000 per mile for a total of $140,600 in support of peace, justice, and liberation in the Middle East. All funds raised will support the work of Churches for Middle East Peace, an organization Rev. Dr. Cannon has had the privilege of leading for over 8 years. For over 40 years, CMEP has been advocating, educating, and elevating voices in the Middle East, with the steadfast belief that peace is possible, and justice will prevail when we work together. We invite you to donate $70.30—just $1 for every mile of the half-Iron(wo)man in May —to stand with Rev. Dr. Cannon and support the transformative work of CMEP.
This weekend, every gift to the Iron(Wo)man for Gaza campaign will be doubled. Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is racing toward 140.6 miles — and toward a future of freedom, justice, and peace in Gaza and beyond. Now is the moment. Help go the distance. | | | | | | | | July 8, 2025: CMEP Joins more than 200 Humanitarian Organizations in Condemning Israel’s Militarized Aid Distribution Scheme in Gaza Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) joins more than 200 humanitarian organizations in calling for the immediate end to Israel’s deadly, military-controlled aid distribution scheme in Gaza and the restoration of a unified, UN-led humanitarian coordination mechanism. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, now responsible for food delivery, has replaced 400 community-based distribution points with only four militarized sites, turning the desperate pursuit of food into a death sentence. Since the scheme’s implementation, over 500 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 4,000 injured while simply trying to survive. | | | | | | July 9, 2025: CMEP Condemns the Israeli Settler Attack Against the Palestinian Christian Village of Taybeh Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) strongly condemns the most recent attack by Israeli settlers on the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh on July 7, 2025, where settlers set fire to the town cemetery and church. This act of violence represents an assault not just on the historically Christian town but on the sustainability of the Christian presence in the Holy Land. | | | | | | | | July 13, 2025: Destiny Magnett Guest Sermon at Rock Spring UCC Join CMEP’s outreach manager, Destiny Magnett, at Rock Spring UCC where she will be delivering a guest sermon on July 13th. Rock Spring is a longtime church partner of CMEP and we look forward to worshipping alongside them on this special Sunday. Join us in-person at Rock Spring (5010 Little Falls Road, Arlington, VA 22207) or via livestream at 10:00 AM ET. | | | | | | Church at the Crossroads September 11-13 Join Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) and faithful witnesses from across the country for Church at the Crossroads, a national gathering of Christians who recognize that the church stands at a defining moment–Jesus is urgently calling us back to the narrow way of the cross. As violence escalates in Israel and Palestine, and some in the Church use Scripture to justify war, occupation, or silence, we must ask: Have we traded the gospel of peace for the false promises of security and comfort?
Rooted in Scripture and led by Palestinian Christian leaders, including CMEP executive director, Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon—alongside pastors and peacemakers from across North America—this conference invites American Christians to engage in honest reckoning, prophetic reflection, and faithful action. Through worship, prayer, teaching, and fellowship, we are called to repentance, renewal, and courageous discipleship. This is a space to confront harmful theologies, rediscover the gospel of the Kingdom, and stand with all who seek justice in the land. | | | | | | | | 5. New Israeli report says Hamas used sexual violence as a 'weapon of war' in Oct. 7 attack NBC News "Newly released interviews and documentation further bolster evidence that Hamas systematically used sexual violence as a weapon of war during its Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, according to a report by a group of Israeli gender and legal scholars. The report unveiled Tuesday, titled "A Quest for Justice," was published by the Dinah Project, a legal research initiative led by Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, women's rights activist and law professor at of Tel Aviv’s Bar-Ilan University; Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, a lawyer and the former chief military prosecutor at the Israel Defense Forces; and Nava Ben-Or, a former judge and deputy attorney general." | | | | | | 6. Rubio sanctions UN human rights official who called for criminal action against Israel Politico "Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions on Wednesday targeting a top U.N. Human Rights Council official who has been critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, alleging the human rights expert has spearheaded a 'campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel.' Last week, U.N. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called for the International Criminal Court “to investigate and prosecute corporate executives and/or corporate entities,” with Albanese alleging war crimes perpetrated by Israel amid its war with Hamas." | | | | | | 7. US revokes foreign terrorist designation for Syria's HTS Reuters "President Donald Trump's administration on Monday revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation for Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, as Washington moves to remove U.S. sanctions on Syria to help the country rebuild following years of a civil war. In December, Islamist rebels led by HTS ousted Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria's president and said he wanted to build an inclusive and democratic Syria." | | | | | | 8. In Armenia, a bitter dispute escalates between PM Pashinyan and the Church Al-Jazeera “A confrontation between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenia’s top Christian clerics seems to be deepening, polarising the deeply religious South Caucasus nation of 3 million. St Echmiadzin, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s headquarters, has been 'taken over by the anti-Christian, immoral, antinational and antistate group and has to be liberated', Pashinyan wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, adding: 'I will lead this liberation.'" | | | | | | | | Contact Us Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 505
Washington, District of Columbia 20002
(202) 543-1222 info@cmep.org | | | | | | | |
