For 340 years the members of Abington Monthly Meeting have upheld the Quaker Peace Testimony that guides the to treasure and actively protect the sanctity of human life and to be peacemakers in times of war.
Abington Monthly Meeting Peace Minute | October 2024
For 340 years the members of Abington Monthly Meeting in Jenkintown, PA have upheld the Friends/Quaker Peace Testimony that guides us to be peacemakers in times of war. In response to the recent widening of armed conflict in the Middle East, we affirm the call for the immediate cessation of violence.
October marks the one year anniversary of the brutal surprise attack on Israelis civilians by a Hamas invasion that resulted in 1200 people killed and 254 taken hostage. The subsequent retaliation by Israel, aimed at Hamas, has led to unrelenting bombardment of Palestinian residents in Gaza. At this point, 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100,000 injured. Seventy percent of the buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. In response to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, Israel has begun bombing southern Lebanon and sending in ground troops. Iran has also recently launched missiles at Israel. Instead of reaching a peace agreement in the last year that so many hoped for, the war continues to widen and threatens to pull in direct involvement of American military forces.
Recent U. S. policies in the Middle East have been an abject moral failure. They have failed to provide a peaceful resolution that recognizes the right of all people to safety and basic human rights. Furnishing armaments without restrictions to the leaders of Israel has given them no incentive to pursue peace. Therefore, we are urging our government to take the following actions:
- To call for an immediate ceasefire among all parties in the war
- To redouble efforts for the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza
- To cease providing military weapons and assistance to all countries in the Middle East
- To increase diplomatic efforts to de-escalate Middle East conflict
- To support the UN resolution demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories (Gaza and the West Bank) within a year
- To resume funding of the UNRWA and other humanitarian aid groups in Gaza
We are holding all people in the Middle East in the light and offer our support for nonviolent resolutions to their differences.
Abington Monthly Meeting Death Penalty Minute | May 2025
For 340 years the members of Abington Monthly Meeting in Jenkintown, PA have upheld the Friends/Quaker Peace Testimony that guides us to treasure and actively protect the sanctity of human life. As a Religious Society of Friends, we uphold nonviolence which precludes state sanctioned execution. We believe that our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should not execute anyone in our name, as well as with our subsidy and implicit support.
Prior to 1976, Pennsylvania carried out 1,040 executions, the third highest number of any state. The death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1977, but the law was revised and reinstated in 1978. Although only three executions have been carried out since then, due in part to moratoriums by our last and present governors, a change in governors could result in their resumption. Currently, there are 94 people on death row. Since 1978, thirteen innocent people have been sentenced to death, only to be exonerated later.* Twenty-three U.S. states have abolished the death penalty.
The death penalty is an anathema to our religious convictions. It is cruel and inhumane.
As Quakers, we believe that there is that of the divine in each person. We are holding all those on death row in the light. We call for the abolition of the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
*Sources include Pennsylvanians Against the Death Penalty and www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
