Sidebar Minutes

Proposed Minute to Boycott Chevron in support of Palestine

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The oppression and genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government (not the Israeli/Jewish people) continues. Since October, 2023, over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands are unaccounted for under rubble. The lives of over 17,000 children have been brutally ended. Hospitals and schools continue to be bombed. Since March, the Israeli government blockade has prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, a violation of international humanitarian law. Food and medical supplies are prevented from getting into Gaza. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are at ‘Emergency’ or ‘Catastrophic’ levels of food deprivation. (WHO)

American tax dollars aid Israel in its genocidal campaign. Many of us feel frustrated as the world looks on in silence, wondering what we can do. We look to national Friends organizations for guidance.

Olympia Monthly Meeting joins American Friends Service Committee in endorsing the campaign to boycott Chevron, which is complicit in this genocide due to its extensive natural gas network off the coast of Palestine/Israel, providing both energy and hundreds of millions in tax dollars to the Israeli war machine. That money helps fuel the bombardment of more than 90 percent of homes in Gaza and the violent displacement of Palestinians.

We have carefully deliberated and educated ourselves on the situation in Gaza, and we are taking this public stand, agreeing that as a Meeting we will boycott Chevron as long as it continues to fuel Israel’s war crimes.

We encourage all Quakers to join us in renouncing complicity in this genocide and take a moral stand in whatever ways they discern. This stance aligns with our Quaker testimony in support of peace, and against all war and the killing of human beings.

Suggested actions:

  • Don’t buy gas from Chevron
  • Write to Chevron CEO (Suggested message: Tell Chevron CEO Mike Wirth You’re Boycotting Chevron) “I am joining the growing global boycott of Chevron, demanding that your company no longer conduct business that gravely violates Palestinian human rights and benefits Israel’s genocidal regime of apartheid.”

Minute of Support for Lawsuit: PYM et.al. vs Department of Homeland Security (Approved February 9, 2025)

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The Olympia Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) stands in support of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and the individual monthly meetings in their 2025 lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security. As Quakers, we affirm that freedom to exercise religion is a crucial right of all people that is enshrined in the United States Constitution.

For decades, United States policy has prevented immigration enforcement, including arrests, investigations, and surveillance at sensitive places including houses of worship. The Trump-Vance administration’s new policy allows the government to conduct immigration enforcement in these areas. Fear of government enforcement may deter worshippers from attending services, infringing on their right to associate for religious exercise.

Quakers believe that a diversity of voices is essential to our spiritual experience and have a historic commitment to peace. When the government takes actions that reduce access to worship and potentially allows a violent encounter within a place of worship, it interferes with our ability to participate in our faith.

Minute Endorsing AFSC’s A different future is possible: Quaker organizations share a vision for peace in Palestine and Israel (Approved June 9, 2024)

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Olympia Friends Meeting has endorsed AFSC’s A different future is possible: Quaker organizations share a vision for peace in Palestine and Israel. (Also here in PDF format.)

We ask that our Members, Attenders and F/friends read it, consider it, and take the actions in it to support peace.