Oliver Waterhouse
Quaker Life

Hello everyone,

I am sorry for the delay getting these notes to you. I wanted to have what I had written about the conflict in Israel-Palestine read through and there is some additional information added which was not part of the discussion at the session.

Our theme for this discussion was controversial bookings AND warm spaces.

The next session will be in person on Tuesday, 14 November at Westminster Meeting House. There is a booking form linked below to book to attend in person.

https://forms.quaker.org.uk/mhm-23/

There will also be an online blended session on Tuesday, 14 November at 2.00pm. You do not need to register in advance to attend online, just turn up using the joining details below.

• Join Zoom Meeting: https://quaker.zoom.us/j/81586087624?pwd=VHk3MW9sTHJUVDdsMFlTMUN3WEpmUT09
• Meeting ID: 815 8608 7624
• Passcode: WT-online

Notes

Controversial bookings

We held a conversation in relation to controversial bookings following the experience of some Quaker meetings, including Friends House, Euston, cancelling bookings made by the Socialist Workers Party. The information below was not discussed at the online session but has been jointly written by BYM colleagues to help Friends discernment on whether a booking can go ahead.

Dear Friends,

We have been hearing from meetings receiving request to host events relating to Palestine and Israel. The Quiet Company has also been approached to host many such events at Friends House.

Here are some key principles we use to guide our room lettings in relation to Palestine and Israel and we hope this is useful to share with you, as you make your own decisions about lettings:

• One of the key principles of our room letting policy is not to give space to any group calling for violence in any form. This is because Quakers have a longstanding commitment to peace and nonviolence, and we therefore cannot host an event calling for any kind of violence or armed struggle.
• We support the right of the State of Israel to exist and the right to self-determination for Palestinians and we therefore cannot host any groups denying these fundamental rights.
• Quakers in Britain has made a commitment to become an anti-racist organisation. We believe that all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, are barriers to building a just and peaceful world. We abhor the history of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the UK and around the world and the current rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks. We therefore cannot host any event which uses racist language or hate speech, or might in any way build intolerance or prejudice.
• We are non-partisan. We are not pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. We are not, however, neutral in terms of international law and human rights. We are unwavering in our belief that any practice used to occupy territory or to resist occupation must comply with international law (we call this ‘Principled Impartiality’).

Overall we choose not share our physical resources – including financial resources and hired spaces – with those who advocate against the Quaker testimonies to peace and equality and the principles outlined above: nonviolence, anti-racism and respect for international law.

For more information on how you can take action, and support groups working for a just peace in the region, please refer Friends to our website: https://www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/international-work/responding-to-the-current-situation-in-israel-and-palestine.

BYM can and will offer support on difficult room bookings. Remember that it doesn’t have to be a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. You can ask an organisation what its position is and also engage with them on particular speakers or messaging that you find problematic. If there is a chance that challenging messages are going to be spread about Quakers on social media, BYM asks that meetings get in touch as soon as possible. This might be before a booking has got to the point of being cancelled as this helps prepare to respond if things get difficult. For support, contact the BYM communications team using media@quaker.org.uk.

Socialist Workers Party (SWP)

On the basis of the principles above, we have decided not to give rooms at Friends House to the Socialist Workers Party at this time. This is because, on the SWP website, there are many articles calling for increased militancy and stating that ‘we unconditionally support Hamas when it is engaged in military or non-military struggles against Israel’.

We have written to the SWP to explain our principles and why we cannot let rooms to them at this time.

We ask meetings to consider booking requests from the SWP carefully in the light of the Quaker commitment to nonviolence, and again, contact us if you would like support.

General notes from the discussion

• Trustees hold responsibility for premises and there needs to be a swift way for decisions to be made.
• Parameters which lettings clerks or wardens can make a decision within but also know when to escalate and who to escalate to.
• Simple messaging to the hirer, ideally taken directly from trustees. Pre-written text may be helpful if it can be written in a generic for that can then be adapted to new situations.
• You can refer to Quaker faith & practice 14.27 on use of premises and Quaker values. This is part of the picture and needs additional thought and discernment to help build a framework that decisions about hirers and bookings can be made within.
• Keep copies of hire agreements or terms and conditions up to date and publicly available on the AM/LM website so that they can be referred to easily by hirers and workers.

Due diligence and things that can help avoid difficult situations

• Have a contract with all hirers which is renewed annually.
• Don’t take bookings for more than a set period ahead and not past the contract renewal time.
• When checking new hirers:
• Do not confirm their first booking until you have checked then thoroughly;
• Ask for references;
• Check their website, if they have one, and follow links to umbrella or close partner organisations;
• Search the internet for the organisation’s name to see if there is any information about them from credible sources that helps with discernment;
• Speak on the phone instead of handling all communications by email;

Warm spaces

Is your meeting planning to offer a warm space again this winter or set one up for the first time?

The Warm Welcome campaign offers advice and support for organisations wishing to use their venue to hold a warm space. Visit, https://www.warmwelcome.uk/, to find out information for your Quaker community.

If your meeting wants to be involved but for some reason your meeting house isn’t the right place to hold a warm space there are opportunities to connect with other venues in your meeting’s locality.

Bullet points from the discussion at the meeting

• Some Local Councils are offering grant support for organisations willing to host warm spaces. The only national grant available appears to be offered by the National Lottery Community Fund and may not be one that meetings wish to apply to.
• Don't be disappointed if not many people come in the first few weeks.
• Even though in a good location could not get the volunteers so tried to work with others and host the space.
• Is your MH efficient enough that it makes it worthwhile heating it to run a warm space?
• If your meeting house is going to host a warm space be in touch with other local venues to ensure that you coordinate when each venue opens so not all on the same day / time.
• Meeting was open from November to March with a soup lunch. Needed people trained in safeguarding, food hygiene. Lots of training but few people came.
• Not got the human resource to open the meeting house but have got together with other churches via churches together.

Unexpected outcome

• Local community group contacted the meeting house to host the warm space. The MH was provided for free to this group. The group then have used the building on a paid basis through the rest of the year.

In friendship,

Oliver

Oliver Waterhouse (he/him)

Quaker Life Team Leader, Local and Area Governance

Quakers in Britain

020 7663 1007 (Direct)

oliverw@quaker.org.uk | www.quaker.org.uk

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