Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Inc.

10/14/2026

"This week we as a church were very disturbed to hear about Israeli settlers trespassing and damaging agricultural facilities at the Starmountain (Sternberg) Support Center for people with disabilities near Ramallah.

The Starmountain Center is operated by our partners from the Moravian Church and serves approximately 100 children and youth with intellectual disabilities. Last Friday, the 9th of October, a large group of Jewish Israeli settlers broke into the facility, damaging the property’s fence. On Monday the 11th, the farmer at the center noticed significant destruction in the greenhouse, including slashed tarpaulins, uprooted plants, and destroyed irrigation pipelines, suggesting the group broke in on Sunday as well and caused additional damage.

The severity and urgency of this situation cannot be overstated..."

Statement from Bishop Dr. Imad Haddad on the Attack on Starmountain (Sternberg) Support Center by Israeli Settlers

This week we as a church were very disturbed to hear about Israeli settlers trespassing and damaging agricultural facilities at the Starmountain (Sternberg) Support Center for people with disabilities near Ramallah.

The Starmountain Center is operated by our partners from the Moravian Church and serves approximately 100 children and youth with intellectual disabilities. Last Friday, the 9th of October, a large group of Jewish Israeli settlers broke into the facility, damaging the property’s fence. On Monday the 11th, the farmer at the center noticed significant destruction in the greenhouse, including slashed tarpaulins, uprooted plants, and destroyed irrigation pipelines, suggesting the group broke in on Sunday as well and caused additional damage.

The severity and urgency of this situation cannot be overstated. This is illegal violent trespassing and destruction of property that could escalate even further at any time. The current physical damage caused to the facility is compounded by the intense psychological damage to those who attend and work in the center. As the Moravian Church shared in their statement, if Starmountain is no longer seen as a safe place for people with disabilities, this important work will not be able to continue.

This attack on Starmountain Center is part of an extremely concerning pattern of Israeli settler violence in the areas around Ramallah. Palestinian homes, agricultural lands and institutions are all under threat of violence, putting numerous lives at risk. No Palestinians in the West Bank are exempt from this threat, including Christian communities and institutions. As Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, I call for immediate and decisive action from international governments and faith leaders to take action to support Starmountain Center and to protect the rights of Palestinians to live in peace and safety.

10/13/2026

On Friday (10/16) at 12 pm EDT, Anglican priest and Desmond Tutu partner Rev. Edwin Arrison joins human rights lawyer Robert Herbst and ICMEP Director Michael Spath to discuss The Global Significance of Navi Pillay's recent Nobel Peace Prize award.

Join here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/OKZjhuLoSoyZRmO1RneR2Q?fbclid=IwY2xjawU7JlNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMVRNQmNYRVJLSEJEblZyb0VzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe-woFyYRcS1-FBOLuxDXR6mL2DeGzlcZ1lgqKnsZAQVohHAXylxAiMd1GbUo_aem_hOdB-cJXvUvlTphQQPEvgw #/registration

Born into apartheid South Africa, Navi Pillay is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice, a former UN human rights commissioner, and once served as a judge on the International Criminal Court. She also recently led the U.N. Independent Commission of Inquiry that accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. When hearing of her award, she said, “We are living through an era when international law and human rights are under significant political attack. … [I dedicate this prize] to all of the survivors of international crimes and defenders of international justice.”

Rev. Edwin Arrison is a South African Anglican priest, close friend and partner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the anti-apartheid struggle. Edwin is a leader of Kairos South Africa and a consultant with Kairos Palestine on its landmark 2009 Statement; he and Rev. Frank Chikane led the first delegation in support of Palestine after the October 7 genocide began during Advent 2023.

Robert Herbst is a civil rights and human rights lawyer, co-chair of the ICAHD-USA board, and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and the Westchester, New York, Peace and Action Coalition (WESPAC). He has argued before the US Supreme Court and also served as Independent Counsel to the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Michael Spath is the Executive Director of Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, co-chair of ICAHD-USA, and on the board of Friends of Hebron.

Edwin and Michael were co-leaders of the “In the Footsteps of Desmond Tutu & Nelson Mandela” tour which just returned from South Africa in which Bob and 14 other activists participated. One of the trip’s goals was to learn the lessons of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle for our activism in the US as well as in our solidarity with Palestine.

10/12/2026

This Thursday (10/15), anti-Zionist Rabbi Brant Rosen visits Fort Wayne, IN. Brant is the rabbi of the anti-Zionist synagogue Tzedek Chicago. He was Midwest Regional Director of American Friends Service Committee, and a founder of Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation
5310 Old Mill Rd, Fort Wayne Indiana
Thursday, October 15th, 6:30pm EDT

The program is free and open to the public. It will also be livestreamed live-streamed on the ICMEP YouTube Channel youtube.com//videos and the recording will be posted following the program.

Join us and anti-Zionist Rabbi Rosen on 10/15 in Fort Wayne. Brant is the rabbi of the anti-Zionist synagogue, Tzedek Chicago. He was Midwest Regional Director of American Friends Service Committee, and a founder of Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation
5310 Old Mill Rd, Fort Wayne Indiana
Thursday, October 15th, 6:30pm EDT

Free, open to the public. This program is live-streamed, and posted as a video a few days after the event, on our YouTube Channel: youtube.com//videos

10/08/2026

While diesel exceeds record prices, education, health research and public services are cut, and the most vulnerable in America are vilified, the US government continues to use US taxpayer dollars to fund a genocide.

As Dr. King observed in 1967, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

10/08/2026

"Over the past 3 years, the US has given Israel and estimated $40+ billion in weapons like tanks, guns and 2,000-lb bombs to kill Palestinians..."

3 years of Israel's Genocide: A Timeline from the Institute for Middle East Understanding ( IMEU )

10/06/2026

Brown University's "Costs of War research examines the human toll of U.S. military operations and spending, for U.S. service members, veterans, military contractors, and allies; and for civilians killed and displaced.

An estimated over 940,000 people were killed by direct post-9/11 war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001-2023. Of these, more than 432,000 were civilians. The number of people wounded or ill as a result of the conflicts is far higher, as is the number of civilians who died “indirectly,” as a result of wars’ destruction of economies, healthcare systems, infrastructure and the environment. An estimated 3.6-3.8 million people died indirectly in post-9/11 war zones, bringing the total death toll to at least 4.5-4.7 million and counting."

https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/human

10/05/2026

"We’ve just finished our first full day of our fourth 'In the Footsteps of Desmond Tutu & Nelson Mandela' tour of South Africa. With Tutu friend and Kairos South Africa leader, Rev. Edwin Arrison, and Embrace South Africa Tours, Deon Kitching, we are leading 15 social justice activists, 12 of whom also work for Palestinian liberation (many with Jewish Voice for Peace and other local and national Palestinian justice organizations).

ICMEP Director Michael Spath details the delegations first few days in South Africa https://michaelspath.substack.com/p/in-the-footsteps-of-desmond-tutu-a52

10/05/2026

"This is their 'ceasefire'..."