From Art Laffin--Report of Dec. 27, 2024 Feast of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents Witness at the Pentagon

[Catholic Worker]

From: Art Laffin <artl...@hotmail.com>

 

Dear Friends,

From 7-8 AM this morning, amidst a beautiful sunrise, twelve peacemakers held a nonviolent witness at the Pentagon to commemorate the Feast of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents. The witness was organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, and those participating included members of the Little Flower Catholic Worker, the Southern Life Community, Franciscan Action Network, and Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore. Because the actual Feast of the Holy Innocents falls on Saturday, Dec. 28, the witness was held today so we could be present to as many Pentagon workers as possible who do not work on weekends. 

When we arrived, the Pentagon police were expecting us and had already closed the main southeast entrance to the Pentagon. They were rerouting workers to enter the building by the Pedestrian bridge entrance. Thus, many workers, who we don't ordinarily see at the weekly Monday morning DDCW peace vigil, walked by us in the designated fenced off protest area. Based on this police action, we can reasonably conclude that this main Pentagon entrance was closed due to our presence. 

Holding and displaying signs and banners (see attached photo), the witness began with an Introduction that I gave (see below) followed by a prayer service. Rev. Peter Pearson read the Gospel account of the massacre of the innocents (Mt. 2: 13-18) which was followed by the Coventry Carol song. Bill Frankel-Streit and Beth Brockman then read an excerpt of a deeply moving sermon by Rev. Munther Isaac: "Christ is Still in the Rubble" that was given on Dec. 20 during a Liturgy of Sumud at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem where Munther is pastor (see below). The song "Cry of Ramah" was then sung.  A poem by Sr. Anne Montgomery, Feast of the Innocents:1991-In Memoriam: Mass Graves, was offered. A Litany for the Feast of the Holy Innocents was then read (see below), followed by a Redeem the Times Declaration. 

We then gathered in a circle as Bill shared his initial intention to risk arrest at the main entrance but, due to that entrance already being closed, wanted to engage in group discernment about whether a possible alternative action should be undertaken. We collectively decided to leave the designated protest area, form a line across the sidewalk and recite the Lord's Prayer. (In the past, going outside the designated protest area and holding signs would usually result in a police warning to return to the designated area or face arrest). However, once we did this, the police closed off the entire sidewalk and rerouted workers along a different walkway to enter the building (see photo attachment). The witness concluded with the song, Vine and Fig Tree. 

I want to express appreciation to all those who did readings in the prayer service--Peter, Bill, Beth, Michele Dunne, Kathy Boylan, Frank Panopoulos, John Holden, Mary Beaudoin, as well as all who participated in this witness. We are also grateful to everyone who expressed their prayerful support and solidarity with this witness, (including those of you who receive this) but who could not be physically present. 

Another prayer of intercession was offered this morning at the Pentagon! God have mercy on U.S.! In these perilous times we need now, more than ever, to live and proclaim the Gospel of Nonviolence and resist the ongoing massacre of the Holy Innocents today.

In the hope of Christ's peace,

Art

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Introduction to Holy Innocents Witness 2024

Good Morning. We greet everyone going into the Pentagon and the Pentagon police in a spirit of peace and nonviolence. Tomorrow,  Christian churches commemorate the feast of the massacre of the Holy Innocents, recalling how Herod, fearful of being removed from power, sought to destroy the child Jesus by ordering the slaughter of boys under two years old in and around Bethlehem. We, members of the DDCW, Pax Christi, the Atlantic and Southern Life Community, FAN, and other peace groups, come to the Pentagon, the center of warmaking on our planet, to remember the innocents who have been killed--past and present—due to greed, oppression, racism and war. In this time of perpetual war, nuclear peril and climate chaos, the lives of countless innocents are endangered by today's Herod's.  

As followers of Jesus, who commands us to love and never to kill, we unequivocally oppose and condemn all killing, no matter who the perpetrator is. We remember and pray for all victims of violence, war and occupation–from Ukraine to Sudan, to the Holy Land and elsewhere. We remember all Palestinian and Lebanese victims of Israel's genocidal war as we cry out again and again for permanent ceasefire and an end to genocide and just peace. We remember all Israeli victims from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Over the last 14 months, the U.S. has supplied over $17 billion in weapons to Israel to conduct genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.

We remember all Indigenous and African victims of conquest, genocide and slavery.  We remember all children living under systems of violence, oppression and white supremacy. We are mindful that Sunday marks the commemoration of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre      

Our faith in the nonviolent Jesus compels us to nonviolently resist today's Herod's and the massacre of Holy Innocents that continue to be carried out. We are ever so mindful that children are always the first victims of war. This is especially true in Gaza where over 17,000 children have been murdered and many more missing in the rubble during the last 447 days, as a result of Israeli bombardment and siege. We call into our presence this morning all the Holy Cloud of Witnesses, including all those who have witnessed here at the Pentagon proclaiming Jesus' Gospel of Nonviolence in resistance to a warmaking empire. We stand with all people worldwide who are nonviolently resisting state-sanctioned violence, oppression, war, genocide and Christian nationalism, and who are working to create the Beloved Community!

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Excerpt of a Sermon by Rev. Munther Isaac: "Christ is Still in the Rubble" 

(Given on Dec. 20 during a Liturgy of Sumud at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem).

It has been 440 days. 440 days of constant bombing. Nonstop. 440 days of starvation. On top of 17 years of siege and imprisonment. Tens of thousands killed. Injured. Forever disabled. Imprisoned. Starved. More than 17,000 children killed. It feels like we have watched them being killed one by one. 440 days of the people of Gaza sharing live images of their executions; burned alive. And we cannot stop it.

It is hard to believe that another Christmas has come upon us and the genocide has not stopped. It has expanded. We are out of words. We feel powerless to stop it. Decision makers are content to let this continue. To them, Palestinians are dispensable. And they know it. They are watching. It is not as if the horrors of this genocide will be discovered after all is said and done. No, it is well documented. We are all watching it. Even Those committing it, the ruthless soldiers and their masters are sharing images of their blatant crimes against humanity and boasting about it... 

But it has also been 440 days of resilience and even beauty. I think of our heroes of Gaza: the doctors, the medics, the rescuers, the volunteers—those who sacrifice and give everything for their fellow human beings. I think of those who created schools in tents. The ones who play music to the displaced children, to bring a smile in the midst of pain and destruction. The chefs who are cooking meals en masse. And the smallest of children, tending to their siblings. The loss is enormous. But we have not lost our faith, or our collective humanity. This is the beauty I am talking about.

We especially remember our steadfast churches in Gaza, which, despite the brutality of the scene, have embraced, supported, and suffered for their sons and daughters. In the midst of genocide, they continue to pray and serve.

Today we ask: What happened to humanity? I really fear for our collective humanity when a genocide of such scale is normalized, even celebrated. I fear for our souls, because we have gotten used to the images of children, lifeless, pulled from under the rubble, of plastic and cloth tents bombed, and people starved. How have we become numb? How do we watch this? We must fight this within us. We cannot be content. We have to fight against the growing apathy. We must not rest or grow weary. To do so, is to abandon not only the people of Gaza, but our very own humanity...

Equally, we must insist that all who committed war crimes must be held accountable. We cannot normalize impunity. What kind of a world and future we are leaving our children – if we accept a reality where war criminals go unpunished, even emboldened – where they openly boast of their crimes, and rather than met with justice they are met with applause in the halls of congress and defended by European parliaments. And they still dare to lecture us on human rights and international law.

Never again is only a slogan. Empty words. Never again should mean never again to all peoples. Never again has become yet again! Yet again to supremacy. Yet again to racism. Yet again for genocide...

And sadly, never again has become yet again for the weaponization of the Bible, and the silence and complicity of the western church. Yet again for the church siding with power; with the Empire.

Today, and after all this total destruction and annihilation – Gaza is erased – millions have become refugees and homeless, tens of thousands killed, why is anyone still debating whether this is a genocide or not?...

The genocide will end one day. Soon we pray and plead. But history will remember where people stood. What they said. They cannot claim they did not know. This is why we insist that this is more than Gaza or Palestine. In Palestine, we find the intersection of colonialism, supremacy, the logic of might is right, militarism, racism and religious fundamentalism all coming together...

Today also, we acknowledge all those who stood on the side of justice and truth; all those who said no to dehumanization; many of whom paid a heavy price. We salute you. Solidarity, by definition, is costly. Over the last 440 days, we have heard you, in churches, mosques and synagogues, in the streets, in universities, in governmental buildings, in front of arms factories, protesting, organizing, lobbying… we heard you.

Dear friends, it is indeed painful that we live in a time when a genocide is committed before the eyes of the world, and we feel powerless to stop it. Today, as we gather around “Christ in the Rubble”, we remember the children of Gaza, the children of Bethlehem before them, and many others around the world who have fallen victim to the tyranny of Herod and his modern-day counterparts. The Massacre of innocents.

A voice was heard in Ramah, the prophet cried thousands of years ago, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her sons and daughters and refuses to be comforted, because they are no more. A voice was heard in Bethlehem, and today we hear the same voice in Gaza: weeping and great mourning.

We weep, we are crushed, we suffer. And we cry out: How long, O Lord? Why, O Lord? Why do You allow this, and why do You remain silent? Humanity has chosen Herod’s path. Humanity glorified power and cruelty. It glorified domination, greed, weapons, and even the annihilation of others. Herod is neither the first nor the last. This is the logic of the Empire. And we have fashioned God in this image, turning Him into a god of war!..

This is why we said last year, “Christ is in the rubble,” and this year, we say, “Christ is still in the rubble.” This is His manger. Jesus finds His place with the marginalized, the tormented, the oppressed, and the displaced. We look at the Holy Family and see them in every displaced and homeless family, living in despair. In the Christmas story, God walks with them and calls them His own.

Today, let us reflect on the Child Jesus—the Child of Bethlehem. At the heart of the Incarnation, there is a child. In His weakness, He is our hope, our consolation, and our strength. This child shook Herod’s throne...He was born among us and entered our world under the most difficult and harsh circumstances. His family suffered greatly to protect His life. The children of Bethlehem were massacred, but not all of them. Jesus survived this genocide, becoming a refugee with His family in Egypt, then returning to His land and people, serving, building, working, and bringing salvation and redemption. In this resilient child and His family, we find hope. This child, whom we see today among the ruins, once stood before Pilate and Herod, faced death itself, and triumphed, granting eternal redemption.

With this hope and faith, we endure. We refuse to surrender to despair, because ours is a faith of resurrection. 

We embrace our calling in this wounded world and land. We insist on seeing the image of Jesus in every victim of oppression, marginalization, and violent ideologies of supremacy and Empire. We will continue to declare the goodness and justice of God. 

It has been 440 days of Palestinian resilience – sumud. Indeed, 76 years of sumud. But we have not and will not lose hope. Yes, it is 76 years of the ongoing Nakba, but it is also 76 years of Palestinian steadfastness, sumud, clinging to our right and the justice of our cause. 76 years of praying and singing for peace ...

And today we say: Our faith in the God of truth and justice is our hope.

In our steadfastness – sumud, let us have eyes of faith to perceive and believe that every Herod will pass, every Caesar will fade, for Empires have an expiry date, and let us remember that it is the meek, not the powerful, who will inherit the earth. In our pain and oppression, we might feel that death has the final word, that Herod is sovereign. But through the eyes of faith, we see that God has the final word: and it is a word of life and light, not death and darkness. In Christmas, God has spoken, and the Word is Christ. Christ is born! Hallelujah! Peace on Earth, Hallelujah! May it be so today – Amen!

(Here's a link to the entire sermon of Rev. Munther Isaac: 
https://redletterchristians.org/2024/12/20/christ-is-still-in-the-rubble-a-sermon-by-the-rev-dr-munther-isaac/

Christ In the Rubble -- The nativity scene at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem.

"Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world. This is our message to the world today:

This genocide must stop now!"  — Rev. Munther Isaac  

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Litany For Feast of the Holy Innocents 2024

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

During the last three decades, the United States has engaged in immoral and illegal military intervention and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, U.S. intervention resulted in over several million Iraqi deaths and countless injuries from bombings, sanctions, torture and occupation; over four million refugees; immeasurable trauma for an entire society; political and social instability; and an endless cycle of violence. During its criminal military intervention in Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghan civilians were killed and wounded and there has been political and social instability. Like Iraq, an entire population has been traumatized by U.S. warmaking. We demand that all those responsible for committing these war crimes be held accountable. 

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

 

In Yemen, the U.S. continues to provide direct military support and weapons to Saudi Arabia in its brutal war against the Houthi rebels. The war in Yemen has killed over 150,000 people. According to UNICEF, more than 11,000 children have been killed and injured during the war and 2.7 million children are malnourished. A Lockheed Martin made bomb was used in the Saudi bombing of a school bus in Yemen on Aug. 9, 2018 killing over 40 children. We demand that all those responsible for committing these war crimes be held accountable. 

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

 

We also remember the thousands of innocent civilians who have died as a result of U.S. drone attacks and air strikes over the last twenty years. Three years ago,  the New York Times published a series exposing a vast cover-up by the Pentagon of hiding the numbers of civilians killed by these U.S. bombings. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), U.S. strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen from January 2004 to February 2020 killed between 10,888 and 20,000 people. On August 29, 2021, 7 children were among the 10 family members of the Ahmadi family that were killed in Kabul Afghanistan by a Lockheed Hellfire missile fired from a General Atomics Reaper Drone. We demand that all those responsible for committing these war crimes be held accountable. 

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War!

In retaliation for the October 7th Hamas attack that claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis and the taking of 240 hostages which we denounce, the Israeli government and military has engaged in a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, despite pleas for an immediate ceasefire from the UN, Pope Francis, Jewish Voices for Peace, numerous human rights, religious and humanitarian aid organizations, and countless citizens worldwide.

As we remember the over 46,000 Palestinian victims in Gaza and thousands more who are still missing, 900 entire families who have been killed, the over 100,000 wounded in Gaza, the nearly 2 million people who have been displaced and in need of urgent food and humanitarian assistance, we decry U.S. complicity in these atrocities by providing weapons and intelligence to Israel, and for refusing to support UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire. We remember all Palestinian victims in the West Bank who have been killed by the Israeli military and Jewish settlers, and all who continue to suffer under the ruthless U.S.-backed Israeli occupation of the West Bank. We demand a permanent ceasefire, that all humanitarian aid be made available to the starving people of Gaza, release of all Palestinian prisoners and those held hostage by Hamas, an end to occupation and apartheid, self-determination for Palestinians and a just peace in the Holy Land. We demand that all those responsible for committing war crimes be held accountable. 

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

 

The 2025 NDAA military spending bill of $895 billion was recently passed by Congress, and signed by President Biden. The U.S. proceeds with an estimated $1.7 trillion nuclear modernization program over the next several decades, which includes 12 new Columbia-Class nuclear submarines to replace existing Ohio-Class Trident subs at an estimated cost of over $120 billion. The Pentagon’s new B-21 Raider is a dual-capable strike stealth bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear weapons. Each B-21 will cost over $700 million. Estimated costs for 100 B21’s over the next 30 years will exceed $200 billion. Pope Francis has declared that the mere possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. These exorbitant expenditures for weapons and war is an abomination--an affront to God and a crime against the poor!

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

 

According to Save the Children, 1.4 billion children are living in poverty worldwide. According to the Poor People's Campaign, there are 140 million poor and low-income people in the U.S. According to the Children Defense Fund, 11 million children in the U.S. live in poverty. Over 25 million people are uninsured in the U.S. Over 650,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the U.S. In 2024, about 120 people in D.C. died without the dignity of a home. Dr. King declared: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” 

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

                                        

The Doomsday Clock is set to 90 seconds before midnight due to the existential dangers of nuclear war and climate change — threats compounded by cyber-enabled information warfare, upgrades to existing nuclear systems, AI, and worsening world tensions. The Ukraine war has further exacerbated the nuclear peril between the two foremost nuclear powers. While the U.S. has always maintained a “first-use” nuclear weapons policy, Russia has stated it would consider using nuclear weapons if it feels endangered by increased U.S. and NATO intervention in the Ukraine war. With respect to waging war, Dr. King, who condemned nuclear weapons in 1959, declared: “War is not the answer…I consider war an evil…The choice before us is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” It is imperative that the U.S. and the eight other nuclear-armed states ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

According to the Federation of American Scientists, nine countries possess roughly 12,512 nuclear weapons. Approximately 88 percent of all nuclear warheads are owned by the U.S. and Russia. U.S. nuclear weapons are also stored at six military bases in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Turkey. Furthermore, U.S. and NATO missile defense systems ring Russia and China, increasing already heightened tensions. The U.S. and Russia, whose nuclear forces are on high alert, as well as China, are developing hypersonic weapons that could become nuclear capable.                            

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War! 

Every day, the world’s addiction to oil, natural gas and nuclear power is the cause of environmental contamination that is threatening global devastation. With nearly 800 military bases worldwide establishing its vast war machine, the Pentagon is the world's single biggest consumer of fossil fuels, making it a major contributor to destabilizing the climate. Climate chaos acutely impacts the poor countries of the world. According to the WHO, climate change threatens the essential ingredients of good health – clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter – and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress alone.

Refrain: War Hurts and Kills Children, Help Us Abolish War!