Who We Are
Our Mission
Prayers for Peace Alliance is made up of Jews and Palestinian Muslims and Christians in the diaspora, united by our shared commitment to nonviolent faith traditions. We seek a just and lasting peace grounded in full equality and human rights for both our peoples. We work to end U.S. support for the State of Israel’s anti-Palestinian violence, dispossession, and occupation.
Our Story
In the weeks after of October 7th, 2023, both the Palestinian and Jewish communities were reeling from the horrific violence taking place in and around Gaza. Meanwhile, most of the United States’ political leaders and religious institutions were lining up behind the Israeli military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing, sidelining the prospect of a ceasefire and exchange of captives. And the wider population in the United States, who too often understand Jews and Palestinians through the misguided framework of a zero-sum struggle, were afraid to speak up.
But a small group of Palestinians and Jews in Philadelphia decided to change the narrative. By standing together with the same message – Ceasefire Now, End the Occupation – we walked the walk of peace and justice, and began to show the people of the most powerful country in the world a different path. With that leap of faith, Prayers for Peace Alliance was born.
PfPA’s initial activity was handing out flyers outside of churches, asking churchgoers to pray with us for Gaza. Through thousands of interactions, we saw minds widened, hearts softened, and doors opened. Since that first phase, PfPA’s organizing has evolved into new forms – mass advocacy campaigns, public rallies and vigils, and intercommunal religious observances. Through it all, PfPA has kept its belief in the transformative power of Jews and Palestinians speaking together from our ethical traditions, for peace with justice, full equality, and human rights for both of our peoples.
FAQs
Does PfPA Support a One State Solution or a Two State Solution?
As a diaspora-based organization, Prayers for Peace Alliance believes that the specifics of a resolution are best left to those living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. As we react to ideas and movements from our peoples living there, our values serve as our moral guideposts. Often lost in the debate between one and two states is that the occupation is an ongoing atrocity. There is no need to wait for a consensus to emerge on the perfect solution; the occupation must end now.
Why does PfPA organize together across an imbalance of power?
As a Palestinian-Jewish partnership, Prayers for Peace Alliance was not formed for the purpose of dialogue between two supposed “sides.” We must address the reality that, in the words of Edward Said, Palestinians have long been denied permission to narrate their own history. In the United States, Palestinians and their perspectives tend to be discounted by government, media, and faith institutions. The opinions of Jewish Americans on matters affecting Palestinians are too often given more weight than those of Palestinians themselves.
Our purpose is to work together across our different identities for peace with justice, full equality, and human rights for both of our peoples. Our commitment to mutual solidarity means standing against the bigotries faced by both the Jewish and Palestinian communities, including the pervasive anti-Palestinian bias in our society.
What Does PfPA Think About Zionism?
We start with the real-world outcomes of the Zionist movement, before and since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. For Palestinians, Zionism has resulted in forced displacement and dispossession, violence and restrictions on freedom of movement at the hands of a decades-long military occupation, and subjugation to laws and policies that discriminate in the arenas of land-ownership, immigration, citizenship rights, and natural resource allocation. For Jews, Zionism offered a refuge for people fleeing persecution, and the opportunity for self-determination in a land with religious and historical meaning. But Zionism has also produced a heavily militarized society in which a permanent state of occupation ultimately endangers everyone in the region.
Prayers for Peace Alliance believes there is a better way. We believe that peace, justice, and equality are necessities for both of our peoples, and that in this regard, the approach of the Zionist movement has failed. Justice will require that Israelis share with Palestinians the legal and economic privileges to which they now have exclusive access. And justice will also require that both Palestinians and Israelis are safe and protected from forced displacement.
