STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Solidarity with the Suffering: Delegation to Palestine and Israel February 15-22, 2024 Our delegation was planned in response to a call from our Christian partners in Palestine-Israel. It is a Presbyterian Church (USA)  delegation, with a few ecumenical partners in attendance. The 35-member delegation includes a former moderator of the General Assembly, five mid council executives, and several Presbyterian ministers and elders from 19 different presbyteries. The purposes of the trip are to express solidarity with all who are suffering in Palestine and Israel during this time of immense violence, to demand an end to Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza and an end to Israel’s systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West bank and the release of all Palestinian prisoners held unlawfully by Israel, and to call for an end to Hamas’ acts of horrendous violence against civilians and the return of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas. We call attentio...