PASSOVER SEDER OF FREEDOM AND LIBERATION

The Monthly Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice vigil outside the ICE building in Portland Oregon was led by Havurah Shalom, a member organization.  About sixty people gathered on a sunny morning to sing, to pray and to ask for freedom for detained immigrants.  Rabbi Benjamin Barnett led the singing.

WE SANG:  GO DOWN MOSES, LET ME PEOPLE GO; OH LORD, PREPARE ME TO BE A SANCTUARY AND LO YIS GOY EL GOY CHEREV/AND EVERYONE SHALL LIVE IN PEACE AND UNAFRAID.  AT THE END OF THE 10 PLAGUES RECALLING SUFFERING AND AFFLICTION, DAYENU, BASTA, HALAS, ENOUGH!

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RABBI BENJAMIN LEADING US SINGING AS WE MARCHED AROUND THE PASSOVER TABLE.

THE PASSOVER ELEMENTS THAT WE SHARED

At the end of the seder, we said:  "Next year in a just world."  And through our actions from this Passover to the next, let us make this dream a reality.

VIACRUCISMIGRANTE 2018- JOURNEY FROM CENTRAL AMERICA TO THE U.S. BORDER

TO MIGRATE IS NOT A CRIME. BANNER AT THE VIACRUCIS.

In the Christian tradition, Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter is a time of the Way of the Cross.  This year 1200 pilgrims from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are walking from their countries to the U.S.-Mexico border ending in Mexicali.  Here is a story of their journey told be one of the participants.  

Day 3 of the #ViacrucisMigrante2018 - News coverage in the Diario del Sur:
Blanca, 20 years old, traveling on foot from El Salvador with her 2-year-old daughter: "If Trump were here, he'd forget about the wall. He has never been poor, and that is why he acts this way towards the rest of the world; he would need to walk here with us in order to understand our reality."
We are Pueblo Sin Fronteras, 1200 families heading north on foot to denounce the repression of the corrupt governments of Central America, and the cruel treatment of migrants by the governments of Mexico and the United States. We began walking this morning at 5am from the southern Mexican town of Mapastepec, preparing to all cross the third immigration checkpoint, without permission, together.
 
Day 5 of the #ViacrucisMigrante2018, families washing clothing and bathing in the Novillero river in San Pedro Tepanatepec, while others in the caravan prepare rice and beans. A group of 350 men just arrived after walking all night from Arriaga. On the last stretch 2 truckers stopped on the side of the highway and all 350 climbed onto the truck beds to arrive together at dawn.

90 of us arrived last night on a bus after negotiating with the bus company in Arriaga. The border police stopped and boarded us, but we insisted that we are Pueblo Sin Fronteras, 1500 families without passports but with permission from God to pass freely; the police backed off and we made it to San Pedro, where we found the town fair and played foosball before falling asleep exhausted.

We are strong, we are impatient, we are beautiful and fun and we have dignity, and there are a lot of us. Of the 150 people who flee political repression in Honduras each day, more than a thousand are with us, roaring "Fuera Joh!" as we march. We struggle against the corrupt governments of Mexico, Centroamerica, and the USA, an end to violence and repression in our countries, and respect and freedom of movement for all migrants.  www.facebook.com/PuebloSF/

WHAT IS YOUR COMMITMENT OR NEXT STEP THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE TO ASSIST IMMIGRANTS AND TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF THE UNJUST IMMIGRATION SYSTEM?  i WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

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