Kuveykırlar ve İsrail-Filistin Çatışması/Quakers and the Israel-Palestine War

Abstract

The war in Gaza, which started with the attacks of Hamas on October 7, 2023, and continued with the disproportionate use of force by Israel, has reached frightening levels. Although protests took place in many Western cities, mainly with the participation of immigrants, it can be said that the Western public generally remained indifferent to the brutality caused by Israel in Gaza. This article aims to examine and try to understand the attitudes of the Quakers, as a religious group with an exceptional stance, towards the Israel-Palestine War in particular and ‘war-violence’ in general. In accordance with this purpose, the article will first give a general introduction about the Quakers and its founder, George Fox, and then analyze the Quakers’ understanding of “Inner Light” and “Peace Testimony” principles. Finally, the article will try to ground the argument of the exceptionality of the Quakers within Western civilization by focusing on the actual attitudes and activities of the Quakers regarding the war in question for nearly a century.

Keywords

• quakers
• inner light
• peace testimony
• israel-palestine war
• history of religions
• sociology of religion