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Dear
friends
Happy
Refugee Week! This week, we’re celebrating the joy, energy, diversity and
experience refugees bring to our communities across the UK. This year’s theme
is ‘Compassion’, inviting us all to consider how we can show compassion in the
face of an increasingly hostile approach to refugees and people seeking asylum.
We know that compassion and justice are core expressions of our faith as
Christians, and we will continue to show compassion this week and beyond. In this
month’s newsletter, we’re also thinking about free school meals, plastic
production, influencing manifestos and sanctions. There’s plenty to get stuck into,
and we hope it will inspire you to take action for change.
Every
blessing
Hannah & all the JPIT staff
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Refugee Week 2023: Faith leaders speak out
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“But the
Illegal Migration Bill will deny people desperately seeking safety in the UK
the right to community, peace, compassion and security.
Instead of
hospitality, it treats people with hostility, discrimination and distrust.
We believe
in a different approach.”
This
Refugee Week, faith leaders have come together to stand in solidarity with
refugees and in opposition to the Illegal Migration Bill. You can watch what they
had to say here.
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Human Rights in the Light of the Jewish
Tradition – Responsibility Towards Humanity
Monday 26th June 8-9:30pm
Will you be
joining us for this year’s Beckly Lecture on Monday 26th June? We’ll be joined
by Rabbi Nava Hefetz from Rabbis for Human Rights, to deliver this annual
lecture at Methodist Conference.
In the
midst of escalating conflict and hostility in Israel and Palestine, what does
faith have to say about upholding and advocating for human rights? What does
action to honour and protect the human rights of all people within the Occupied
Territories look like in practice? By opening up a dialogue between faiths,
we’ll explore how faith can speak into the call for reconciliation, encounter
and justice.
The lecture will be livestreamed on YouTube, and
it’s not too late to join us in Birmingham to get involved on site. Find all of
the information here:
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Interest rate rises: is there another way?
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“If
economic laws were like physics, they could not be changed; but the way our
economy works is changing constantly. It is determined by laws, regulations,
institutions, technologies and new ideas, and those changes are not the act of
an invisible hand but of deliberate human choices.”
This week’s
news about fresh interest rate rises raises questions about the inevitability of
the unequal impact they have on different communities. Paul explores whether
there is another way to approach our economy in his response.
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Banning boycotts and divestments – have we not
learned anything from South Africa?
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“The
Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill states that central
government (not Local Authorities or their constituents or the governing bodies
of universities) are best placed to determine whether Local Authorities and
universities should disinvest their funds on the basis of significant human
rights abuses, or “political or moral disapproval of foreign state conduct”.
Why such perspicacity is deemed to be the sole preserve of central government
is not clear, especially given historical precedent.”
Steve
explores the impacts of the UK Government’s new bill in his latest blog.
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Sanctions don’t work – but they are increasing
anyway
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‘In 2016,
it was clear to churches and charities on the ground that sanctions were
causing a great deal of harm to the least well off. The estimate was that for
every ten sanctions, five food parcels were given out. Along with partners, we
led a campaign saying it was “Time to rethink Benefit Sanctions”. It still is.’
Paul
unpacks the Department for Work and Pension’s internal report into the effectiveness of benefit sanctions,
and what a different approach might look like.
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No Child Left Behind – Week of Action
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Next week,
the No Child Left Behind coalition are coming together to say that we need free
school meals for all children. They’ve put together a toolkit to help faith
groups get involved, including a prayer and service resources to use over the
weekend. Find all of the resources below.
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Don’t Bank on Plastics Campaign
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Since 2011,
HSBC has lent over US$3 Billion to plastic polymer producers, the sector that
is the source of single-use plastic waste. This puts it in the top 5 banks in
the world financing single-use plastic production. The Just Money Movement are
mobilising people to say that the plastic crisis is a climate crisis, and we
need the biggest bank in the UK to lead
by example.
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Season of Creation Resources
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Season of
Creation is just around the corner, and this year’s resources ‘Let Justice and
Peace Flow’ are now available to download. With prayers, ideas, videos and
events, there’s plenty to help you get involved. Download the resources below.
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To publicise an event or project, or to follow
up on any of the issues mentioned here, contact us on enquiries@jpit.uk.
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Joint Public Issues Team | Methodist Church
House | 25 Tavistock Place | London | WC1H 9SF
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