Ceasefire Carols 2.0🎄🇵🇸

PUBLIC TOOLKIT   (UK version here)

[updated 12.9.2024]

IG @CeasefireChorus  I  #CeasefireChorus & #CeasefireCarols

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. PURPOSE
2. ORIGIN
3. ACTION CONCEPT & GOALS
4. VALUES & TALKING POINTS
5. HISTORICAL/POLITICAL CONTEXT
6. WHY SINGING
7. WHO ARE THE SINGERS?
8. EDUCATION & ACTION FLIERS
9. ACTION IDEAS & TYPES
10. VISUALS
11. PREPARATION & POST-ACTION
12. MATERIALS
13. CHRISTMAS SERVICES
14. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

PLEASE NOTE: It’s important to read through the ENTIRE toolkit and to get consent from each caroler about the framing of this action! There is nuance and complexity here that we want to hold with care and rigor. Thank you!

I. PURPOSE

To call white/European-descent Christians + Christian lineage people into action for a permanent ceasefire, to stop the genocide in Gaza, and an end to the occupation of Palestine. This call is due to both the role and relationship of Christian hegemony related to Palestine/Israel, as well as to call people into alignment with liberatory Christian teachings.

• Many powerful voices of Palestinians, Arab, and Muslim communities, Jews, and Black Christian leaders are taking a stand, while white Christian voices are largely absent, though we are grateful for Christians for a Free Palestine (and on IG).
• White/European Christians, historically and presently, have played major roles in the creation of Zionism by supporting Israel’s violent occupation of Palestine and remaining a major political force behind the current atrocities. Antisemitism also originated in Christian Europe, and has functioned to protect the interests of the Christian ruling class.

II. ORIGIN

The structure of this carol-singing action series is decentralized and is meant for anyone around the world to implement. In 2023, it was led by a small team of people in the midwest for the Christmas season. During that Christmas season, Ceasefire Carolers coordinated over 💫 125 actions 💫and sang in over 💥77 different cities and towns 💥across the US and globe. Ceasefire carols have rang out from Salt Lake City, Utah to Stockholm, Sweden to Suva, Fiji. One ceasefire caroling reel has been viewed 4 million times! National and local news outlets have featured our calls for a permanent ceasefire, end to US military aid to Israel, a free Palestine, and end to Antisemitism, Islamophobia and Christian Zionism. After the Christmas season, we created a CEASEFIRE CHORUS - protest & grief songs TOOLKIT & LYRICS. Thousands of people have been singing these songs since. And now, we painfully update the Ceasefire Carols toolkit as we enter into another Christmas season in 2024 as the genocide continues.

III. ACTION CONCEPT & GOALS

[NOTE: the term “Christian/lineage” is shorthand for describing practicing Christians, people with Christian heritage, and secular Christians. For more, see VII “Who Are the Singers?” below]

• To form a “Ceasefire Christmas Choir” and organize a series of Christian/lineage-led caroling actions throughout the Christmas season (Dec 9-January 7), all throughout the US (amplify via Instagram; #CeasefireCarols).
• Carol as many times as your heart desires! This is what’s called a “rinse and repeat” action in that it can be used multiple times, and you can iterate as you go.
• Action Goals:

• Spread the message of a permanent ceasefire, and be visible and outspoken for ceasefire as Christian/lineage people, making this demand alongside Palestinian, anti-Zionist Jews, and the many other communities speaking up.
• Move our congress people to call for an arms embargo now, by mobilizing people to make calls, and through direct caroling action targets congress people.
• To take concrete action for ceasefire, an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and for the end of occupation - connect people to actions like calling/emailing reps, becoming aware of local groups leading actions and taking action with them.
• For our actions to get attention in the media, including social media, and spread widely 
• To lovingly face Christian/lineage people with the questions: How am I complicit and what will I do? What does our tradition call us to do?

IV. VALUES & TALKING POINTS

Review these values with your choir, as well as learn/practice them with your group in preparation to talk with the public.

• We are adding our voices to the national movement calling for a permanent ceasefire. We know this struggle has been going on for a long time and will likely continue for a long time. We want a permanent ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza, we want an end to Israeli occupation and apartheid. We want a future of peace and safety for all people in Palestine / Israel. We are following these demands from Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Jewish-led movements.
• Humility.  We don’t have all the knowledge or all the answers. We are humble to our not-knowing of what the long-term solutions in the region should be, but we know enough to say that what’s happening is horrific and wrong and must stop.
• We have a stake and a role as Christian heritage people and as US citizens. What’s happening in Palestine / Israel is our issue and our problem.  Christianity, Christian Zionism, white supremacy, islamophobia, and settler colonialism have been and continue to be powerful forces in the creation and perpetuation of Zionism and the violence we are witnessing.
• We hold all life to be precious. Palestinian lives, Israeli lives. All life.
• You are welcome, whoever you are. Whatever your relationship with Christianity, religious background, racial identity, sexual orientation/gender identity. We acknowledge that Christianity has harmed some of us, has been powerfully healing for some of us, some of us are practicing today, some of us are not.
• We speak up, we don’t stay silent. Many of us hold identities (White, Christian, USer, midwestern, privileged) that encourage us to be silent in the face of oppressions perpetuated by our people and lean away from conflict.  We choose to come together to break out of those patterns.
• We denounce and oppose Antisemitism and Islamophobia and believe that they are real and dangerous forces. We do not believe that criticizing the policies and actions of the state of Israel is antisemitic.

V. HISTORICAL / POLITICAL CONTEXT

It’s important to engage in self-education enough so that we can act from an informed place, and so that people feel moved to take action. If you are one of the carol leaders, please be sure to familiarize yourself with core concepts by reading through these resources. We also encourage you to share them with your Choir participants and to engage with this material as part of your rehearsal.

White/Christian-lineage people have played major roles in Zionism, longstanding Israeli occupation and apartheid, warmongering, and are the majority of key power holders in the US government. Anti-semitism originated in Christian Europe. They/we have benefitted from these systems more than anyone else (read: Christian hegemony), therefore, this is “our issue” as Christian/lineage people just as much as our Palestinian and Jewish comrades. Additionally, the active mass violence/killings, apartheid, and sourcing the conflict with US money and weapons are not in alignment with Christian values and are fundamentally opposed to the teachings of Jesus. This action series is explicit about being against Islamophobia and Antisemitism. As Christian-lineage people, many of us have internalized feelings like “what’s happening is Israel/Palestine isn’t my issue”. “It’s so terrible how Jews and Palestinians/Muslims hate each other (and this has nothing to do with me)”. “This conflict is too complicated and can never be resolved.” This project intends to help us as Christian/lineage people understand our stake, how we are complicit in these systems of violence, and to move into action.

Here are some key points of historical and political context:

Zionism and the Occupation of Palestine:

• From US Campaign for Palestinian Rights: “Zionism is the political ideology behind establishing and maintaining a Jewish demographic majority in Palestine through the state of Israel and at the expense of the native Palestinian population. Early Zionist leaders understood that to manufacture a Jewish majority in Palestine, they would drive out the native Palestinian population and settle Jewish people in their place. This objective continues to guide Israeli policies, manifesting in ways that include a network of illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank, the siege of the Gaza Strip, the ongoing displacement of Bedouins in the Naqab inside Israel, and the ban on return for millions of Palestinian refugees. Zionism is, and always has been, a settler-colonial project.”
• “Since 1967, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have lived under a brutal Israeli military occupation, which is among the most visible forms of its settler colonialism and apartheid. This occupation has included Jewish-only, illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land; military checkpoints; thousands of Palestinians imprisoned and killed by the Israeli army; theft and restriction of natural resources, tens of thousands of home demolitions; and more than one million olive trees uprooted.” For more, watch this video from Amnesty International on Israeli Apartheid. 

Christian Zionism: is a powerful political force, and is one of the key forces promoting and backing the US government’s support of Israel’s violent tactics. Christian Zionism is a deeply antisemitic ideology. As taken from FOSNA’s Christian Zionism Toolkit:

• “Christian Zionist theology holds that Israel must gather all the Jews of the world, enlarge its territory, destroy Muslim holy places, and ethnically cleanse “the holy land” of all non-Jews. A majority of evangelical Christians in the United States believe that support for such actions by Israel will help hasten the return of Christ and the desired end of the world. While most theologians (be they progressive or evangelical) consider it heresy, many Christians hold this far-right ideology without realizing its implications.
• Christian Zionism is a political and theological ideology that misuses Christian texts to support the modern nation-state of Israel out of the belief that Israel has a cosmic purpose in bringing about the “End Times” which will culminate in the second coming of Jesus and the end of the world.
• Christian Zionists make up the largest US voting bloc supporting Israel’s most heinous practices. Christian Zionist lobbies like Christians United for Israel (CUFI) leverage their political power to ensure the US gives moral and political cover to Israeli colonization, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.”

Christian Hegemony: is the everyday, pervasive, deep-seated, and institutionalized dominance of Christian institutions, Christian values, Christian leaders, and Christians as a group.

• From Paul Kivel: “Nothing is unaffected by Christian hegemony (whether we are Christian or not) including our personal beliefs and values, our relationships to other people and to the natural environment, and our economic, political, education, health care, criminal/legal, housing, and other social systems.
• Christian hegemony benefits all Christians, all those raised Christian, and those passing as Christian. However the concentration of power, wealth, and privilege under Christian hegemony accumulates to the ruling class and the predominantly white male Christian power elite that serve its interests. All people who are not Christian, as well as most people who are, experience social, political, and economic exploitation, violence, cultural appropriation, marginalization, alienation and constant vulnerability from the dominance of Christian power and values in our society.”

Islamophobia: is anti-Muslim racism

• As taken from Defining Islamophobia: “Islamophobia is anti–Muslim racism. At length, Islamophobia is a fear, hatred, or prejudice toward Islam and Muslims that results in a pattern of discrimination and oppression. Islamophobia creates a distorted understanding of Islam and Muslims by transforming the global and historical faith tradition of Islam, along with the rich history of cultural and ethnic diversity of its adherents, into a set of stereotyped characteristics most often reducible to themes of violence, civilizational subversion, and fundamental otherness. Islamophobia must also be understood as a system of both religious and racial animosity that is perpetuated by private citizens as well as cultural and political structures.”
• From the United Nations: “Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and other horrific acts of terrorism purportedly carried out in the name of Islam, institutional suspicion of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim has escalated to epidemic proportions. Numerous states, as well as regional and international bodies, have responded to security threats by adopting measures that disproportionately target Muslims and define Muslims as high-risk and at risk of radicalization. At the same time, widespread negative representations of Islam, and harmful stereotypes that depict Muslims and their beliefs and culture as a threat have served to perpetuate, validate and normalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities.”

Antisemitism: is serious and real, and it is not antisemitic to criticize the state of Israel.

• From Jewish Voice for Peace: “Antisemitism is grave, serious, and totally incompatible with movements for collective liberation, and we stand against it in any form. Antisemitism is discrimination, targeting, violence, and dehumanizing stereotypes directed at Jews because they are Jewish. In the past decade alone, some examples of the horrifying white nationalist antisemitic violence we have witnessed include the murder of 11 congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, synagogue shootings at a Chabad synagogue in Poway, California in 2019, Nazi symbols at the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, antisemitic hate groups and rallies, and the desecration of cemeteries. We have also seen the use of Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories as part of racist ideologies. Visibly observant Jews have been especially harassed and harmed”
• JFREJ’s ‘On Antisemitism’ (pg 11) “Originating in European Christianity, antisemitism is the form of ideological oppression that targets Jews. In Europe and the United States, it has functioned to protect the prevailing economic system and the almost exclusively Christian ruling class by diverting blame for hardship onto Jews. Like all oppressions, it has deep historical roots and uses exploitation, marginalization, discrimination and violence as its tools. Like all oppressions, the ideology contains elements of dehumanization and degradation via lies and stereotypes about Jews, as well as a mythology. The myth changes and adapts to different times and places, but fundamentally it says that Jews are to blame for society’s problems.”

VI. WHY SINGING 

• Songs have the ability to deeply move us and open our hearts 
• Christmas carols are well known to secular Christians and practicing Christians alike, and are a platform with which to call into question Christian people’s relationship to Palestine and Israel.
• Singing can be a joyful, connecting, and creative way to take action together

VII. WHO ARE THE SINGERS?

• We recommend a minimum of 6 (2 people on each part) up to however big you’d like, but also feel free to be creative!
• This is an action focused on/targeting white Christians and the singers would be primarily of Christian/lineage people. The aim is for the optics to be read as a Christian-led action (knowing that Christians are very diverse). Songs will be sung from the perspective of Christians, and people who are not Christian are welcome within this context.
• Like any action, this action could elicit counter protests or strong reactions, so participants should be aware of this when opting-in. Organizers should communicate risk levels to participants, depending on the specific actions, so that participants are always in consent.      
• People with any level of singing experience are invited to participate. If people aren’t comfortable with harmonies, they can hold down the melody. Ideally there are folks who can hold down harmonies who are part of the group.
• What do we mean by “Christians and Christian-lineage” people? 

• We mean anyone who has ancestors who practiced Christianity, anyone who was raised Christian, or anyone who practices Christianity today. This includes religious Christians as well as secular Christians. Christians are incredibly diverse, and include people of all races, ethnicities, ancestries, and are all over the world.
• As Christians living within Christian hegemony and in a Christian-dominant society, we are members of the dominant group. One of the ways privilege manifests for Christians is having the ability to opt-in and opt-out of identifying as Christian. By contrast, many Muslim or Jewish people cannot “opt-out” of being perceived as Muslim or Jewish and they cannot opt-out of islamophobia and antisemitism.
• Paul Kivel defines christian hegemony as “the everyday, systematic set of Christian values, individuals and institutions that dominate all aspects of US society. Nothing is unaffected.” When we name our Christian lineage, we name cultural forces that have shaped many aspects of who we are, as well as systemic privileges we or our ancestors may have received through our/their Christianity. These privileges are vastly amplified for those of us who are white.  

VIII. EDUCATION & ACTION FLIERS

Create a flier to pass out to people at your action, telling people how to take action in your specific location, including: upcoming local actions, where people can learn more, the info for contacting your representatives, etc. Feel free to use THIS TEMPLATE and these resources while compiling: find a protest here or here, call your rep here, email Biden, donate here, toolkit for action. [NOTE: Some of this info is outdated; we encourage you to do your own research and update the flier accordingly!]

IX. ACTION IDEAS & TYPES

Location Ideas

When you choose your locations, we encourage you to choose ones where you think there will be more Christian folks (knowing we can’t fully control who is present). We do NOT recommend caroling door-to-door due to safety concerns and because it’s not an effective strategy.

Please do:

• Carol in public places where Christmas is being visibly observed. Ex: At a mall in front of a big Christmas decoration, at a pop-up Christmas market, at a public Christmas display (like Rockefeller center in NYC).
• Carol at a public official’s office, fundraiser, speaking event, home, etc. with the call to sign on to Cori Bush’s Ceasefire resolution in the House. Location ideas:

• Outside or inside Rep’s offices during working hours
• Dream: at an event where they are specifically observing Christmas!

• Carol at your Church: work with a/your church choir to learn the carols and sing them at different events
• Carol and record at home: if you’re unable to be in the streets, make a quality recording in your living room to amplify on social media, using the guidelines below // We encourage sending Xmas cards (here!) and/or calling your reps too! Here’s a toolkit for how to make Ceasefire Carols duets on TikTok & send it to your rep.  

Ideas for Types of Actions

• Simply sing the Ceasefire Christmas Carols in the above ways
• Sing Ceasefire Christmas Carols at a protest to sustain direct action
• Do a sit-in or a die-in while singing the songs
• Implement a flash mob
• Do a “costume” change within the action
• Bring candles and light them (like Lessons & Carols)  

Flow of the Action

• Sing in a traditional Christmas Carol way, one song after the other
• Sing a few minutes of each song, with NO breaks
• Start dispersed, then gather like a flash mob, singing the songs in succession

X. VISUALS FOR THE ACTION

The most successful actions have clear visuals, including signs and messaging, outfits, meaningful symbols, and thoughtful location of the action. We want these actions to clearly signal that we are people of Christian lineage taking action for a permanent ceasefire and for a free Palestine. We also want it to be immediately clear who is and isn’t in your group. We ask that as much as possible, you use some combination of the following visual elements so that actions have a similar look and feel across the country.

LOCATION - Plan actions to take place in front of public displays of Christmas decorations, when possible

ART BUILD - Plan an art build before your action to make banners and signs! For tips on how to run a great art build, check out this guide from Sunrise Movement!
BLACK BINDERS

• These serve the dual purpose of holding your sheet music, and they also make us look like carolers
• If your binders have a pocket in front, you can print and insert this END THE OCCUPATION Songbook Cover to make them double as signs! 

RED AND GREEN SCARVES

• If people don’t have these already, buy a length of red and green fleece from a fabric store and cut it into simple scarves

PICKET SIGNS AND BANNERS

• We recommend having at least 1 banner carried by 2-4 people at your action (designs for 2 different sized banners are included in this toolkit!)
• If you have a larger group consider making 4 (or more) picket signs and asking as many people to carry them
• PAY ATTENTION TO COLORS - we’re recommending the following  

• WHITE or cream… or a warm white…

• Our designs use these light colors as the background to be more legible at night. Consider buying cream fabric or foam core, or painting a coat of cream paint as a base to get the “christmas” vibe

• GREEN - aim for a dark green - an evergreen if you will - that almost reads black. Going for legibility and contrast
• RED - try for a berry red over an orange-red. Red is the accent color.
• If you can’t get green and red - consider using Black and White like the many ceasefire actions around the country

PICKET SIGNS

BANNERS

XI. PREPARATION FOR & POST-ACTION

Safety:

• Before your action, make a plan to keep your group safe. This community safety toolkit from Vision, Change, Win has great resources.
• If needed, have some people in the role of marshalls, who can focus on the surroundings instead of singing, and who can interface with passersby and de-escalate if needed. Assign a police liaison who can interface with police or security guards if they show up at your action.
• Make a plan for how your group will navigate COVID together. Remember that COVID rates are rising in many places as we head into winter, and take this into account.
• Be aware of your context, and prepare accordingly. These actions may face different threats or pushback in a big city vs. a small town, in different geographies and political contexts, etc. Use your local knowledge of your own context to make a plan, and when in doubt, ask people you know for help making an assessment.

Relationship Building:

• Are there other groups organizing around these issues where you live? We recommend that you reach out to them to let them know what you’re doing, and to see if they have feedback or want to collaborate. Acting in solidarity and building relationships with other aligned groups can help our local strategies be more effective, and can also help keep us all safe in the context of any backlash.  
• Something to keep in mind is that backlash against groups or people speaking out often doesn’t land on those of us with the most privilege (white people, Christians, etc.). Building connections with Muslim and Jewish led groups who are aligned around the same values can help keep all of us aware and safe.

Music:

• Review the sheet music (more will be added) & listen to the recordings 

• Here’s a link to the songs that haven’t been made into sheet music yet; and a document for ALL the lyrics 

• Strong recommendation to rehearse the songs in advance with your group (and any related specific action). This will make the action more powerful if it sounds good, and will spread more! If someone in your community is good at leading songs, recruit them to lead or co-lead this rehearsal.
• Rehearse the carols, as well as sing some of the powerful movement non-carol songs that are moving through movement right now (feel free to use this song list resource)

Choir Rehearsal:

• We *highly recommend* using this sample agenda here for a two hour meeting/rehearsal. This ensures that folks are receiving political education and are clear about the values and approach for this action.
• Recruit your choir through emailing trusted listservs, making announcements in related groups, reaching out to friends, a Facebook event (keep private), etc.
• Find a 2-hr time when the majority of your choir members can attend
• Provide basic political education on Christian Zionism and roles of Christian/lineage people in this moment within your group
• Share grounding with each other in why we are doing this, the values, the strategy, etc.
• Prepare people for the logistics of the action & practice it
• Covid - be considerate of people’s needs around COVID safety whether that’s everyone taking rapid tests before or masking

Props:

• Discuss and plan for how you will acquire/make the props, signs and banners (as listed above)
• If you need to raise funds for your props, pass a hat/ask folks at your rehearsals and ask people to contribute
• *DONATIONS for GAZA* If you’d like, put out a hat or guitar case while you’re singing for donations to Gaza, and then send them here (or wherever you’d like)

Traditional Media:

• How To: Send a Media Advisory and Press Release
• Sample: Media Advisory (a few days before your event)
• Sample: Press Release (Immediately after your event)

Social Media:

• Create your communication plan [THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR AMPLIFICATION]:

• Identify who will film at least 90 seconds of the action - here are some tips for how to film
• The filming should be VERTICAL & try to get decent sound quality from the singers
• Identify whose Instagram account will be used to post it and who will be collaborators (not just tagged), so that you all are ready in advance for posting it. .  them to be ready to post the 90 second film-bit with these 3 components after the action:

1. Upload your video as a REEL and add the hashtag #CeasefireCarols + #CeasefireChorus & your location somewhere on the video 
2. Add CAPTIONS for the lyrics – to do this, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Once the reel is uploaded & you have completed step (i) above (since you cannot do this after you create captions)
• Step 2: Click on the Sticker icon (looks like a face in a box)
• Step 3: Choose the “Captions” sticker to add subtitles. IG will automatically generate them.
• Step 4: Finalize your captions by clicking/tapping on the lyrics, and you will see that you can edit them. To edit, click on a word in the list, and edit.
• Step 5: Click “done”

3. To tag people and to add collaborators (this is important!):

• Know that you can only have 6 people be collaborators -
• Click on “tag people”
• For “add tags” - add any IG account for someone who doesn’t want to be a collab
• For “invite collaborators” - add (1) @ceasefirechorus, and (2) anyone who would like to be a collab, which means they are a ‘co-author’ of the post

• NOTE: you can only have up to 6 people for collaborators, and one needs to be CeasefireCarols so that it gets amplified!

• FINALLY, before publishing, if your IG account is not public, make this post public by going to ‘advance settings’ and changing the setting there

• If you are doing any graphic design for social media, you can find the dove and the holly image from our action art as images in this file.

***The video/reel is a critical component for your action to be amplified! Encourage everyone to follow the CeasefireChorus IG account, and #CeasefireCarols, and to amplify as people post their videos from across the country (by sharing in the Stories format on IG)! ***

XII. MATERIALS TO BRING

• Carol Sheet Music printed out
• Binders and scarves
• Banners and pickets/signs
• Water/ hot drinks
• Handwarmers
• A charged phone with a good camera
• Educational / How-to-take Action Fliers
• Anything additional for your action

XIII. CHRISTMAS SERVICES

• Are you part of a congregation? Are you a clergy person? Or just interested in gathering community in your living room to observe Christmas together?
• An additional way that you can take action is to bring ceasefire carols to your church or community, as part of a Christmas service.
• We recommend that you use the carols, as well as draw from these materials to shape your service, which were compiled by two Unitarian Universalist Ministers.

XIV. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS = below!

Twelve Days of Christmas: preparation

[Note: This version is from 2023 - feel free to adapt it yourself!]

~ How many actions can you take in these 12 days? ~