A Reno group called Sierra Interfaith Action for Peace has been holding a monthly Peace Presence Vigil in downtown Reno since the United States started bombing Afghanistan in 2001.
I remember those early weeks after 9/11 and how I shuddered when I heard the U.S. military was bombing extensively overseas. No one in Washington, D.C. – where I was living at the time – seemed upset except me. Yes, the Sept. 11 attacks had been devastating, but indiscriminate bombing didn’t feel like the answer. It wasn’t until I went to Quaker Meeting that weekend that I finally heard others expressing sadness and concern about the toll of the bombing. I knew then that I was a Quaker, and that the Quaker Peace Testimony was real for me.
On Oct. 6, Reno Friends Meeting will join SIAP and serve as host of the monthly Peace Presence Vigil. Our Meeting is taking this step to highlight an important development in the Quaker world: The American Friends Service Committee has formally denounced what is happening in Gaza as a genocide.
The American Friends Service Committee (or AFSC), is a world-wide Quaker organization that works for “a just, peaceful and sustainable world free of violence, inequality and oppression,” according to the AFSC website. Since the creation of the state of Israel, AFSC has worked to support nonviolent and humanitarian relief efforts among both Palestinians and Israelis to protect human rights, prevent violence, address the root causes of conflict, and promote peacebuilding.
“We still believe a peaceful future for all peoples is possible,” AFSC said in a statement. “However, through our decades of humanitarian work with Palestinian and Israeli communities, we have witnessed the relentless erosion of justice. This lack of justice and the current violence is rooted in the systemic and violent dispossession of Palestinians from their lands and decades of occupation, apartheid policies and the systematic denial of Palestinian rights.”
“We believe with moral clarity, and in line with the definition of the crime of genocide, that the current actions in Gaza perpetrated by the Israeli government, constitute genocide,” said AFSC. “Our peace and equality testimonies are clear: Apparent security for some, bought with the insecurity of others, tears at our shared humanity and cannot bring peace.”
If the Peace Testimony means something to you, please join us this coming Monday to make our testimony heard. The Peace Presence Vigil will be from 5:30 pm to 6 pm, October 6th, 2025, in front of the Thompson Federal Building, at the corner of Liberty and Virginia Streets in downtown Reno. The vigil will open with a reading of nonviolence guidelines, and close with a prayer for nonviolence. A representative of Reno Friends will present the Quaker Peace Testimony, along with AFSC’s statement about the war in Gaza, followed by a period of silence.
This 30-minute, permitted vigil is in a semi-shaded area with both a sidewalk and grassy area. Many folks stand for the vigil, but we recommend you bring a camping chair if you need to sit. Young children are also more than welcome with a guardian. In a commitment to standing as a presence for peace in these times, Friends that participate in the October vigil are encouraged to attend the November 3rd and December 1st vigils facilitated by others, as well.
By Wendy Swallow, Blog Editor, Reno Friends Meeting
The opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of Reno Friends Meeting