A Moral Call for Ceasefire

Our conscience and hearts compel us to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. We fear unless there is an immediate ceasefire by both Hamas and Israel, the conflict in Gaza will escalate into a regional war resulting in the continued death and injury of countless Palestinian and Israeli civilians, particularly children.  We mourn the loss of over 1,200 Israeli deaths by Hamas in the October 7th attack. We mourn the loss of what is reportedly over 10,000 Palestinian civilians, including 4,000 children, having been killed in this current war at the time of this petition.

We, the undersigned Black Christian Faith Leaders, implore President Biden to use every leverage available to him as President of the United States to call for an immediate bilateral ceasefire in the Middle East for the sake of our shared humanity and our collective security. We see the deaths and hear the cries of both our Palestinian and Israeli siblings whom all deserve to live safe from harm. We call for the safe and immediate return of all hostages still held in Gaza, the restoration of water, electricity, and urgent humanitarian relief to Palestinians commensurate with the scale of need created by this war. 

As people of moral conscience, we seek and pray for the President and the Congress to use diplomacy and peaceful negotiations to reverse the course of a war that has the potential to escalate and draw other forces, including the United States, into another extended conflict resulting in even more deaths. 

We must do what we can to stop the killing of Palestinians and Israelis and respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza!!

Rev. Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner, National African American Clergy Network

Pastor Michael McBride, Black Church PAC

Pastor Traci Blackmon, Black Church PAC

Dr. Iva Carruthers, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale, Ray of Hope Christian Church

Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Thompson, Allen Temple Baptist Church

Pastor Jamal Bryant, New Birth Church

Dr. Freddy Haynes, Friendship West Baptist Church

Dr. Otis Moss, III, Trinity United Church of Christ

Bishop Talbert Swan, Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ

Bishop Darin Moore, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Pastor Tony Lee, Community of Hope AME Church

Bishop Frank Reid, African Methodist Episcopal Church 

Rev. Dr. Leslie Callahan, St. Paul's Baptist Church

Bishop Vashti McKenzie, National Council of Churches of Christ, USA

Bishop Leah Daughtry, The House of the Lord Churches

Rev. Terri Hord Owens, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev Dr.  T. DeWitt Smith, Trinity Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart, Christ Missionary Baptist Church, NAACP Religious Committee

Bishop Monte Norwood, Bibleway Christian Ministries

Rev. Stephen Green, St. Luke AME Church

Rev. Dr. Brianna Parker, Black Millennial Cafe

Rev. Dr. Zina Pierre, Bethel Restoration Church

Rev. Mark Thompson, Black Church PAC

Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King, The King Center

Bishop Timothy Clarke, First Church of God

Rev Dr. Gerald Durley, Providence Missionary Baptist Church 

Rev. Cece Jones-Davis, Cece Jones-Davis, LLC

Bishop Noel Jones, City of Refuge Church, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

Rev. James Lawson, Stanford University King Institute

*Organizational References for Identification Purposes Only