Niagara-on-the-Lake Local received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Kit Andres, who invites the public to join in speaking out against violence:
As a Mennonite, my ancestors came to Canada so we could live out our cultural and spiritual values - mainly our commitment to nonviolence. We commit our lives to rejecting violence and resisting injustice wherever we encounter it. Sadly, many Mennonites have lost our way and fallen in step with upholding the status quo that further marginalizes our neighbours who experience daily violence - people who are homeless, queer, disabled, migrants and refugees, Black and Indigenous. And people who are Palestinian.
The good news is that hundreds of Mennonites (including myself and people from my church) are organizing across the U.S. and Canada during Holy Week to call on our elected representatives to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid, a release of all hostages (all for all), an end to weapons funding and an end to the occupation of Palestine.
As Mennonites, it’s our duty and our inheritance to speak out against violence, especially state-sanctioned violence and genocide. Will you join me?
Email [email protected] to learn more about how you can be part of the peaceful solution.
Kit Andres,
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
