Marking our 100th Action Hour for Palestine

For 100 weeks—two years—AFSC’s Action Hour for Palestine has brought together nearly 200 people every week. Together, we take action for Palestine. Every Friday, we gather online to receive updates from Gaza, learn from experts, hear about actions being planned, and call our elected officials together. 

This milestone brings up a stream of mixed emotions. Our U.S. Palestine Activism team is proud of what we’ve created. We feel connected to people in communities across geographies and political boundaries at a time when divisions and isolation can fuel despair.  

One Action Hour participant wrote to us:  

I live in a rural community. I feel less alone by participating in the Action Hour and get more motivated to talk about Gaza, post on social media, etc. Your staff there has become family whom I care deeply about. Bearing witness is so important. It gives me hope and a community, even if online.  

Turning desperation in to action 

In October 2023, we were feeling desperate. Horrified by Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza, we were searching for a way to bring our constituents into the wider mobilization around the country demanding a ceasefire. Elected officials needed to hear from their constituents about stopping the bloodshed and flow of U.S. weapons to Israel.  

Following a model used by Jewish Voice for Peace, we set up a weekly “action hour” where everyone gathered online to take action together. This routine allowed us to hold each other accountable for taking regular action. Since then, we have tallied over 18,000 calls on Friday Zooms, with thousands more making calls during the week with scripts we provide to guide their conversations. 

One Action Hour participant told us, “I would not have known that you could advocate by calling your Congressperson if it was not for AFSC. I look forward [to] this meeting [each week] because it reminds me that I am not alone in wanting this nightmare to end.”  

We know that our efforts have made a difference in moving our members of Congress. Today, an unprecedented 83 members support limiting arm sales to Israel.  

We get excited when elected officials support good initiatives. But other weeks, it feels impossible to be anything other than disappointed when congressional members remain silent, continue supporting weapons sales, or undermine attempts to get humanitarian aid to Gaza. Though regularly interacting with Congress leaves us perpetually frustrated, we know that we cannot cede electoral politics to those working against justice.  

Building analysis  

In early 2024, we were heartbroken. The genocide showed no signs of ending, and mainstream media coverage of Gaza continued to ignore historical context and realities on the ground. So, we evolved our approach to the Action Hour.  

By that time, human rights organizations, international law bodies, lawyers, and those in the diaspora with family in Gaza were coordinated and speaking out effectively against what was happening. We built space during the Action Hour to highlight human rights reports and analyses, equipping people to speak with congressional staff as well as their neighbors, friends, and family members, many of whom were still wary of being vocal.  

Together, we have succeeded in shaping a narrative more supportive of Palestinians and their human rights. A New York Times/Siena poll released on Sept. 29, 2025 showed that, “American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks.”  

Connecting with our colleagues in Gaza 

Our strong relationship with our colleagues and others in Gaza has helped strengthen our resolve and steadfastness. The Palestine Activism Program has long had a focus on Gaza; in fact, AFSC has had a presence in Gaza since 1948. Before the genocide, our connection to Gaza helped bring an often-overlooked part of Palestine into the conversation. Now, it helps our Action Hour audience feel more personally invested in this work. 

Despite facing grave personal losses themselves, AFSC staff in Gaza have provided lifesaving assistance to over 1 million displaced Palestinians. Our staff have provided food, drinking water, hygiene kits and other critical supplies across Gaza.  

Whenever we can, we share personal messages from our Gaza-based staff Serena and Firas. These updates can be both uplifting and devastating, especially when conditions worsen for all still alive in Gaza. On weeks where we omit a staff update, Action Hour participants write to us to ask if Firas and Serena are okay. We have long given up on saying “they are safe,” although we are thankful each week they survive genocidal violence. 

Each week, our colleague Yousef, who is a Palestinian from Gaza, also prepares a summary of news from Gaza for the Action Hour – including an account of those killed each week by Israeli airstrikes. At times Yousef’s sharing becomes personal. Sometimes his updates contain news of his family facing hunger or the killing of his siblings and nieces. At these moments, our online community has become a space for collective grieving.  

One Action Hour participant wrote, “I find Yousef's reports heartrending–and a spur to action. He is so strong and brave to keep telling the slaughter of his people. It breaks my heart.” 

Highlighting creative resistance  

While we routinely make time to hear the pain of those directly impacted by U.S. weapons and policies, we also make space on the Action Hour to be inspired by those around the world who are engaging in creative acts of resistance. These actions have prompted people to engage in ways they had not previously considered.  

One participant had been afraid to attend protests until he saw examples of effective, nonviolent actions in Washington, D.C. Another participant shared: “[The Action Hour] has given me a sense of camaraderie with other activists, as well as up-to-date information on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank. It has introduced me to other activists, and offered wonderful programs that I have attended.”  

Many in our Action Hour audience tell us that the Action Hour has helped them build in-person community as well. One participant wrote, “There was no real organizing in my community around Palestine, and I was having a hard time getting guidance on where to focus as I tried to do some organizing. Our local group is now campaigning our house rep to co-sponsor Block the Bombs, have met with her office, and are sending an open letter today with over 100 signatures from our small community.” 

Moving forward 

The Action Hour for Palestine has existed for more than two years now. Over that time, we’ve co-created something that is more than the sum of its parts and strong enough to withstand the difficulty of continued witness.  

To us, this is the moment when organizing begins to feel like magic. All the parts of our movement are working together. Congress is changing. Public opinion is changing. For the first time since the founding of the U.S. Palestine Activism Program, it feels normal to encounter people sympathetic to our work.  

This hope comes with a constant awareness of all that Gaza has lost, all that we have lost. Some weeks, just reading out the updates from our staff or the news brings tears to our eyes. And while the Action Hour is a balm, we’re also grateful for the in-person community and support networks we’ve built.  

If you haven’t joined the Action Hour, welcome! We look forward to taking collective action with you. If you’ve been with us since the beginning, we’ll continue to be there for you. We remain eager to hear how you engage and build your local community to sustain our collective work for freedom, justice, and equality.