 |  | October 3rd News Bulletin Here’s what’s upcoming and what you may have missed at CMEP and in the news. | | | | 1. Trump announced his 20-point Gaza peace plan. What comes next? CNN "US President Donald Trump called it “potentially one of the great days ever in civilization” as he laid out his administration’s 20-point proposal for a comprehensive end to the war in Gaza. In statements alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Trump said, “We are beyond very close.” | | | | | | 2. Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla and detains activists including Greta Thunber BBC "Hundreds of activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, have been detained by Israeli forces after a flotilla carrying aid bound for Gaza was intercepted. Israel's Foreign Ministry said those involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) were being transferred to an Israeli port to be deported. The first boats were stopped about 70 nautical miles off the Gaza coast in international waters and others closer. Israel has been policing this area but does not have jurisdiction there." CMEP has issued a statement about the unlawful attacks on the Global Sumund Flotilla that can be read HERE. | | | | | | 3. Netanyahu vows to ‘finish job’ in Gaza during UN speech as delegates walk out The Guardian "Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “finish the job” in Gaza and said that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “insane” as delegations walked out of his address to the United Nations. Just days after the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and other countries broke with the United States to recognise an independent Palestinian state, Netanyahu called a two-state solution “sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.” | | | | | | 4. Israeli PM Netanyahu apologises to Qatar over Doha attack Al-Jazeera "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologised to Qatar for the killing of a Qatari citizen during an unprecedented Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha this month, which drew global condemnation. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani received the apology on Monday in a joint call from United States President Donald Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House." | | | | | | | | Still Active: 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. | | | | | | | | Call to Prayer for Shadi Khoury On Sept, 8th 2025, after two years and eleven months of procrastination in the corridors of the occupation's courts, after an arrest accompanied by torture, Shadi's steadfastness during interrogation, a full year of house arrest, and thirty-seven consecutive court sessions, the judge issued his decision convicting Shadi. Please join us on Wednesdays 12:30pm EST as we pray for Shadi and all other affected by unjust violence. | | | | | | Sep 25, 2025 Prayers4Peace: Occupation not PA harms Christians in Palestine by Jerusalem Voice for Justice In response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s misleading claims at the UN, A Jerusalem Voice for Justice sets the record straight: the decline of Bethlehem’s Christian population is not the result of Palestinian Authority policies but of decades of Israeli occupation, displacement, and military violence. Christians and Muslims alike continue to endure these hardships together, united in their shared struggle for equality, justice, and peace in their homeland. | | | | | | September 30, 2025: CMEP Echoes Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on Armenian Patriarchate Foreclosure Threat Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) affirms the call of Jerusalem’s church leaders and stands in solidarity with the Armenian Patriarchate. The renewed foreclosure threat is a direct challenge to the centuries-old Status Quo that safeguards Christian communities in the Holy Land and risks undermining Jerusalem’s religious diversity and heritage. | | | | | | October 3, 2025: CMEP Condemns the Attacks Against the Sumud Gaza Flotilla The Global Sumud Flotilla, nearly 50 ships carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, has been violently attacked by Israeli forces in international waters, with hundreds of peaceful activists arrested. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) condemns these illegal assaults, calls for the immediate release of all detainees and aid, and urges an end to the siege and ongoing massacres in Gaza. | | | | | | | | October 5th: Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon Guest Sermon at Washington Community Fellowship On Sunday, October 5th, CMEP executive director, Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon will join Washington Community Fellowship to deliver a special guest messaged entitled The Violence of Love: A Radical Revival of Peace, Justice, and Enemy Love. At a moment when anger often overshadows love, this message calls for revival—one that restores our faith, our politics, and our common life together by centering ourselves on Jesus and the radical love of the cross. This revival is not about cheap activism or easy answers, but about the transformation of our own souls and the reclaiming of our Christian witness. We must return to seeing the humanity of the other, practicing enemy love, and embracing the costly, sacrificial love that Jesus embodied—a love that is strong enough to heal hatred and transform enemies into friends. We hope you will join Rev. Dr. Cannon in-person or via livestream to hear this timely message. | | | | | | October 22, 2025: Virtual Vigil Lamenting Two Years of War in the Holy Land As we continue to bear witness to the suffering in Gaza and across the Middle East, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) invites you to a Virtual Vigil of Lament. Together, we will pause to reflect on the pain of the past two years in the Holy Land through prayer, reflection, and witness. Speakers will be added periodically as they accept invitations to take part. | | | | | | Churches for Middle East Peace
Nov. 2025 Encountering the Holy Land Trip Join Churches for Middle East Peace as we journey to Israel/Palestine in November 2025 for Encountering the Holy Land. This trip will highlight the spiritual significance of the land, the role of local Christians in shaping the region’s past and present, and opportunities to meet with religious, academic, and non-profit leaders working toward peace and justice in the land. Alongside visits to sacred sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and beyond, participants will engage in thoughtful conversations that bring deeper understanding of the complex realities on the ground today. Trip Dates: November 8th - 17th, 2025
* $500 deposit due by September 28th to reserve your spot *
Full payment due by October 15th, 2025 | | | | | | "Peace by Piece" 2025 Speaking Tour Fall "Peace by Piece" Tour Cities Announced!Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is excited to announce our Fall 2025 “Peace by Piece” Tour coming to your area in Fall 2025 in collaboration with the Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans (BFTA)! We invite you to host a meaningful event in your community centered around peacebuilding, economic justice, and advocacy related to Israel-Palestine. In collaboration with Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans, this program offers a unique opportunity to support Christian-led Palestinian craftspeople while fostering dialogue about paths toward peace and justice in the Holy Land. Our tour will visit select U.S. communities, featuring both a CMEP representative and a BFTA leader from Bethlehem who will share firsthand experiences about daily life, creative resilience, and hopes for peace. This initiative is particularly timely as communities in the region continue to recover from recent violence and conflict. Our presentations will incorporate the most current insights from our team's recent visits to the region, including perspectives from diverse communities affected by ongoing tensions.
Reach out to destiny@cmep.org for more information
Planned Tour Stops: New York-- New Jersey-- Delaware-- Washington DC-- Illinois-- Minnesota-- Michigan | | | | | | Receive the Name of a Palestinian Child Alive Today and Lift them up
in Prayer and Advocacy "Let Children Live" More than two million children in Gaza and the West Bank live under brutal oppression, their lives too often reduced to statistics. Yet each child is beloved by God. The Let Children Live campaign invites you to receive the name of a Palestinian child alive today and lift them up in prayer and advocacy. Together, we can remind the world of their dignity, hope, and right to a future. Join Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) and our global partners in this urgent call to stand with children who deserve to live and thrive. | | | | | | | | 5. Ten things Tom Barrack said in wild interview on Israel, Lebanon and Muslims Middle East Eye "Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, has made a number of frank remarks about Israel, Lebanon and Qatar, among other issues, in an interview with The National. Barrack, whose grandparents were Lebanese, has been President Donald Trump’s envoy to Syria since May. In a wide-ranging 23-minute interview with journalist Hadley Gamble, published on Monday, he described peace in the region as “an illusion”, and said that Israel was “attacking everybody”, including Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia." | | | | | | 6. Sanctions reimposed on Iran 10 years after landmark nuclear deal BBC "Sweeping UN economic and military sanctions have been reimposed on Iran - 10 years after they were lifted in a landmark international deal over its nuclear programme. The new measures took effect as the three European partners to the deal - the UK, France and Germany - activated the so-called "snapback" mechanism, accusing Iran of "continued nuclear escalation" and lack of co-operation. Iran suspended inspections of its nuclear facilities - a legal obligation under the terms of the 2015 deal - after Israel and the US bombed several of its nuclear sites and military bases in June." | | | | | | 7. An Entire Generation of Americans Is Turning on Israel Politico "President Donald Trump is often at his most frank when he plays pundit, and so it went with his recent musings about Israel’s war with Hamas and the political fallout. “They had total control over Congress, and now they don’t,” Trump told the Daily Caller in an interview published earlier this month, referring to Israel. “They’re gonna have to get that war over with. … They may be winning the war, but they’re not winning the world of public relations, you know, and it is hurting them.” | | | | | | 8. The Kushner-Blair Gaza plan is a moral atrocity – and a policy catastrophe
Josh Paul The Guardian "And yet here we are again, in 2025, talking about a western occupational government imposed on a region of the Middle East – and one led by Blair, no less – complete with the same old visions of economic prosperity disconnected from the realities on the ground or the rights of the people. It will not work, and it should not be trusted." Josh Paul was the first USG official to resign from the U.S. government under President Joe Biden over the War on Gaza. His job was to analyze U.S. policies and weapon sales to ensure they were in compliance with U.S. law. | | | | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | |
