EPF PIN becomes EPF Palestine Justice Network
Effective May 15, 2025 (Nakba Day), the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network will change its name to the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network (EPF PJN). The name change was approved by majority votes in two consecutive meetings of the EPF PIN core membership group.
Changing the organization’s name was first prompted by a similar action taken by EPF PJN’s ally organization, the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church, which became known as the Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church in November 2024. In light of an imposed famine and the demolition of Gaza that some human rights analysts have characterized as ethnic cleansing, accelerated West Bank violence, and disheartening silence of some churches about events in Gaza, EPF PIN determined that circumstances likewise dictated its own consideration of the way its name represents its work. Similar to the rationale of the Presbyterian group, EPF PIN members expressed two primary reasons for the change: first, to emphasize in its identity the importance of the concept of justice in its work; and second, to express the reality that the overwhelming preponderance of injustice, oppression, deprivation, and violence afflicts the Palestinian people, not the people of the state of Israel.
The effective date of the change, May 15, is Nakba Day for Palestinians. Arabic for catastrophe, Nakba refers to the time in 1947 – ‘48 that saw the dismemberment of Palestinian society and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people caused by the forceful establishment of the state of Israel. Choosing this date for the name change reflects the analysis of some that recent events in Palestine and Israel comprise a second or ongoing Nakba for the Palestinian people. For EPF PJN, the day this year is a call for more focused, specific advocacy on behalf of Palestinian liberation.
An important point of consideration among members was whether the name change might be misconstrued as ignoring or abandoning advocacy for the Palestinian citizens of the state of Israel. The majority view, however, was that because Palestinian citizens of Israel commonly self-identify as “Palestinian” rather than “Israeli”, their interests will continue to be represented within the organization’s name.
At the time of its origin in 2012, Palestine Israel Network seemed a suitable name. There was then at least some promise, however slim or elusive, of autonomy and possible independent statehood for Palestinian people alongside the state of Israel. Sadly, recent events have put those possibilities on the brink of collapse. Becoming the EPF Palestine Justice Network is our organization’s statement of steadfastness and determination to continue striving for justice as the prerequisite for a genuine peace.
EPF PJN invites readers to visit its new website at epfpjn.org and direct inquiries to info@epfpjn.org.