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PDF versionPalestinian Christians urge nonviolent resistance
Israeli occupation must end, Christian leaders say
Jan. 27, 2010
Israeli soldiers scuffle with a protester during a protest against the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah Sept. 25. (CNS/Darren Whiteside, Reuters)
The leaders of the thirteen Christian communities serving in the Palestinian territories -- including Latin and Orthodox patriarchs -- have declared the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories a “sin against God and humanity” and urged Christians everywhere to nonviolently intervene to end its injustices.
“Today, we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people,” wrote the authors of the Kairos Palestine Document, which was issued last month.
“The decision-makers content themselves with managing the crisis rather than committing themselves to the serious task of resolving it," the document says. "The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the church.”
The prelates of all thirteen Christian communities in the Palestinian territories endorsed the document. The co-authors of the statement include Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem Munib Younan, and Archbishop Theodosius Attallah Hannah of Sebastian from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The 12-page call-to-action details the consequences of the Israeli occupation for Palestinians and advocates for a Christian response that reflects the church’s universal mission “to bear witness to God and the dignity of human beings.” Such a response, the authors wrote, includes civil disobedience, boycotts, and divestment campaigns.
“Resistance is a right and duty for Christians. But it is resistance with love as its logic,” they said.
A year and a half in the making, “Kairos Palestine” represents “an unprecedented collaboration” among Palestinian Christians, said Rifat Kassis, a Palestinian Christian who coordinated the “Kairos” initiative. While church leaders have issued ecumenical statements on the future of Jerusalem, this marks the first time they have written on the occupation, “so thoroughly and with such wide representation,” he said.
The statement is primarily intended to encourage and motivate Palestinian Christians. A small minority in the region, many are emigrating because of the hardships of the Israeli occupation.
But Kassis said the document is also addressed to the universal church, encouraging its members “to not be passive but to look with compassion on the conflict, to help the two nations. They should exercise as much intervention and pressure in order to bring a just peace.”
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“Kairos Palestine” opens with a bleak assessment of the Palestinian experience under Israeli occupation. The separation wall, the expansion of settlements and their acquisition of natural resources, the closure of Gaza, the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, and the emptying of Jerusalem of its Palestinian residents impede fair political solutions and contradict “the will of God for this land,” the authors wrote.
In contrast to the sectionalism that plagues the region, the statement emphasizes the land’s “universal mission” to be a place of “reconciliation, peace, and love” and the church’s prophetic mission to stand with the oppressed. Pointed words of criticism are levied at western theologians who give “theological legitimacy to the infringement” of Palestinian rights.
Publicly launched Dec. 11 at a gathering of religious leaders in Bethlehem, “Kairos Palestine” received coverage in the Arab media but scant attention, so far, in the Western press. The document did, however, evoke commentary from Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East, a pro-Israel, ecumenical organization based in New York city.
A member of that group's executive committee, Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis, said the Palestinian appeal failed to “acknowledge some fundamental truths.”
“I understand that it comes from a place of deep Palestinian suffering. But we will not advance peace by placing all the blame on Israel’s shoulders, or by promoting the false idea that boycotting Israel will solve this conflict,” said Mikulanis, who is also vicar for ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the San Diego, Calif., diocese.
Others have lauded the Christian statement for championing specific action. The national committee for the Palestinian Boycott and Divestment and Sanctions campaign said it “saluted the moral clarity, courage, and principled position conveyed in this new document which emphasizes that resisting injustice should ‘concern the church.’ ”
Several mainline Protestant churches have already begun to consider divestment from companies directly involved in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
In 2004, the Presbyterian Church USA passed a resolution calling for “phased divestment” from companies profiting from the occupation. In 2007, the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church identified 20 such companies and recommended individuals divest from them. Included in the list were Lockheed Martin, the biggest overseas supplier for Israel’s armament industry, General Electric, provider of parts for Israel’s AH-64 Apache Assault Helicopter, and Caterpillar, manufacturer of militarized bulldozers and mining equipment used to demolish Palestinian homes.
David Hosey, media coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and a missionary with the United Methodist Church, said members of the New England conference of that church are in correspondence with the targeted companies, the first step in “phased divestment.” The Methodists adopted a resolution in 2004 opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories. Various regional conferences are now debating whether or not to express that opposition with divestment campaigns.
In December 2008, the Church of England divested 3.3 million dollars from Caterpillar. Church officials said the withdrawal was purely for economic reasons. But it was not publicly announced until February 2009, a month after the Israeli invasion of Gaza and a day before the British newspaper The Guardian was scheduled to publish a letter signed by twenty-three Anglican clergy condemning the Church’s “unethical” investment policy.
As for action from the Roman Catholic Church, Hosey said members of the Sisters of Loretto, a U.S. order of Catholic women religious, were pushing for shareholder resolutions urging Caterpillar to stop its sale of militarized bulldozers to Israel.
Christian calls for divestment have sparked criticism from various Jewish organizations and, at times, strained inter-religious dialogue. But Hosey thinks that could change as more Jewish and Israeli groups endorse using economic pressure to change Israeli action in the Occupied Territories.
Among the religious leaders who spoke at the Bethlehem launch of the Kairos document were American Rabbi Brian Walt, a member of Rabbis for Human Rights and co-founder of the Jewish Fast for Gaza, and Dr. Mark Braverman, executive director of the Holy Land Peace Project. Both praised the Palestinian statement for its call to action. Braverman likened it to Martin Luther King Jr’s, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
“The bold claim in the document that action for justice for the Palestinian people will also bring liberation for the Jewish people struck me as particularly important,” Walt said.
Kassis has created a Web site for the ongoing collection of endorsements. He said the document is being circulated among the member churches of the World Council of Churches, and has also been sent to regional ecumenical bodies, Pax Christi, and Caritas International.
“Soon we are going to ask them about action,” Kassis said.
To read the entire document, please see: http://www.kairospalestine.ps/?q=node/1
[Claire Schaeffer-Duffy lives in Worcester, Mass., and writes frequently for NCR.]
The opening sentence of this
The opening sentence of this article is wholly mistaken. The heads of churches never said those things. Rather, they issued a reaction to the Kairos document in which they did not endorse it but stated their own opinion. In the meantime, Bishop Younan has withdrawn his signature from the Kairos document, emphasizing that he is committed only to the statement of the heads of churches. Everyone else, including your journal, should make the same distinction. Use your own link in this article to read the document on the kairospalestine web site and you will find that: a) Younan has vanished from the list of authors; b) the web site has misleadingly prefixed to the document the statement of the heads of churches, as if this were a prior endorsement, whereas it was a subsequent reaction (four days later) showing concern for their "children" but stating a moderate position that deliberately avoids the inflammatory language of the document. You should have commended the heads of churches for their pastoral wisdom instead of attributing to them controversial words that they never uttered, but which occur only in a document issued by others. You could also have made it clear that Attallah Hannah is known for being at variance with the Greek Patriarchate; check out what happened between him and the Patriarch in 2007. Neither does he speak for the Greek Patriarchate nor does Michel Sabbah, who retired two years ago, now speak for the Latin Patriarchate. Most of the other authors come from the minuscule local Protestant churches or are low level Latin Catholics. The heads of churches did not want to be seen as ignoring their feelings, but they also did not want this group of activists to seize leadership away from them and turn the churches into tools of political agitation. Hence the careful wording of their own statement, which you would have done well to print in full. That is the real story.
To answer the issues : 1-
To answer the issues :
1- Heads of Churches were consulted before the launching and were invited to the launch since some of them asked for more time to consider it.
2- Heads of Churches were not invited to sign the document as owners since most of them are not Palestinian Christians, This document is by Palestinian Christians
3- An endorsement annex to the document was signed 4 days later and it was added to the document as part and parcel of it.
4- The wording of the endorsement annex is self explanatory. When They say: We support them and stand by them in their faith, their hope, their love and their vision for the future.We also support the call ...........
Any attempt to criticize the document in this manner is deemed against it and against the Palestinian Christians..
The document was written by
The document was written by Christian Palestinians to Christian Palestinians; it is not an "official" document of the Heads of Churches.
Instead of attacking names (easy and convenient), read the document, it speaks for itself.
Freddy calls the language of the document "inflammatory". "Love of the enemy", "non-violence", "resistence in the logic of love", "universal mission of our land" ... is all this "inflammatory"? what about "military occupation", "separation wall", "humiliation at checkpoints", "violation of human rights"... you don't find those facts, lived daily by the Palestinians, "inflammatroy"?
If we defend ideologies, we will continue to argue. if we care about human life and human dignity, we may find something in common to discuss. All human beings, Palestinians and Israelis, have the right to life, dignity, justice, feedom, security, a life free from fear, lack of security and war. The Kairos document wanted to address those issues.
To answer the issues there
To answer the issues there :
1- Heads of Churches were consulted before the launching and were invited to the launch since some of them asked for more time to consider it.
2- Heads of Churches were not invited to sign the document as owners since most of them are not Palestinian Christians, This document is by Palestinian Christians
3- An endorsement annex to the document was signed 4 days later and it was added to the document as part and parcel of it.
4- The wording of the endorsement annex is self explanatory. When They say: We support them and stand by them in their faith, their hope, their love and their vision for the future.We also support the call ...........
Any attempt to criticize the document in this manner is deemed against it and against the Palestinian Christians..
Dear Claire, Salaam and
Dear Claire,
Salaam and greetings from Jerusalem. Thanks for the great article. I was in the opening of the Kairos Palestine document and Bishop Younan was one of the speakers at that event attended by many of the Jerusalem Church leaders who gave speeches too, including Patriarch Theofilus. I have heard Bishop Younan in several occasions speaking and praising and blessing the Kairos document and I am sure that he will respond himself too. Bishop Attallah Hanna, a well respected person in all the Arab world, and this person wants to say that he was forbidden by the church, because he stands for Justice, stands for freedom. The Kairos Palestine document comes in the time of Israeli attack on Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Just yesterday Israel announces confiscating more land to the east of Bethlehem at the places where the Shepherd;s field is, near my home. For the first time in history, Jerusalem and Bethlehem are isolated from each other by the Israeli wall of hatred. Again, Claire you are a true believer i n Justice and Peace, Non Violence is the way, resistance through love as the document calls for is the way, thanks Claire,
George Rishmawi
The South African Kairos
The South African Kairos Document in 1985 was also not signed by all the Church leaders at the time, but that does not take away from it the power and grace behind the document. Ultimately it is not either or, but prophetic AND pastoral working together for the greater good. It must be stated clearly that this is not merely a domestic agreement we are talking about but it is a situation that cries out to God for justice. The language of the Palestine Kairos Document could have been angry, but those of us who read it can see that is filled with tremendous grace and wisdom, and urges non-violent support for the Palestinian people. If not this approach, then what? We certainly do not want more violence and therefore, those who are against the violence whether from the Israeli or Palestinian side, should promote a non-violent approach. If we do not do this, then we have nothing to say if those who are living under the occupation resort to violence against the violence of removals, etc that they are experiencing.
I thank the National Catholic
I thank the National Catholic Reporter for finally reporting on the views of Palestinian Christians. I am a Palestinian Christian, Greek Orthodox on my fathers side, Greek Catholic on my mothers side. My family was forced out of Palestine as European Jews were immigrated in. My grandparents and parents spent most of their lives in a refugee camp.
Our land, our heart was stolen from us. I cannot return to Bethlehem or to Jerusalem. I cannot go to see the land of my Lord Jesus Christ. Simply because, I am not Jewish.
The whole concept of Zionism, of a pure Jewish state in the Holy Land is based on a twisted ideology. Any attempt to "purify" the land from Christians and Muslims is a genocide.
The only solution, the righteous solution that will bring peace, is to have ONE bi-national, democratic, and secular state in all Palestine/Israel. No one religion has preference over another. The Holy Land is for us all.
As a Palestinian, and as a Christian, it is my RIGHT to resist the injustice being done to my people. What does the Lord require of me but to do justice?
I hope the entire world will hear our cries and have solidarity with our people, especially the Churches of the world.
seems you burried the lead -
seems you burried the lead - Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis. for as long as you choose to keep this article in such a prominent place, you are on equal footing with those who do not really wish to solve a problem but keep it alive in order to inflame. when you decide to devote equal space to other reasons for christian problems in the region (treatement by their moslem "brethren", for example) you may be on the road to finding yourselves amongst those who truly seek a solution and not just cheap headlines.
"I have heard Bishop Younan
"I have heard Bishop Younan in several occasions speaking and praising and blessing the Kairos document..." Yes, but when he speaks to Jews he says that he disagrees with things in the document. "Heads of Churches were not invited to sign the document as owners since most of them are not Palestinian Christians." Three of them ARE Palestinians, but they did not sign it except Younan (according to the original statement on Kairospalestine), who later asked for his name to be removed and now assures Jews that he never did sign. Not "ïnflammatory"? To call the occupation a "sin against God and humanity" is to use pseudo-Christian rhetoric to whip up feelings on behalf of political aims. And the document has a section called "Love" which ends up calling for worldwide boycotts of Israel. This section starts with good intentions, but eventually drifts far away from the New Testament's teaching of love. Now, the well-known violence, religious fanaticism and high-level corruption among Palestinians are as sinful as anything done by Israelis. But the authors dodge around those issues; they do mention "terrorism" - but only in inverted commas! As if to murder people in the name of Allah were not a blasphemy. Whereas Jesus Christ told his disciples to repent of their own sins before judging others. And this is the basic fault of the document: the authors, like other Palestinian political activists, beg the whole world to come and help them, instead of realizing that if the Palestinians do not reform themselves, then all the help of the world will get them nowhere. The present Palestinian prime minister DOES seem to understand this. And how big is his party in their parliament? Just one, him alone, after the Christian Hanan Ashrawi - the only other member - split off from him. Let's see these "Palestinian Christian leaders" address such a document to their own people and politicians, starting with the confession "We have sinned with violence, fanaticism, blasphemy and corruption... and we beg God for help to make a fresh start as a nation..." That would be a truly Christian message. That could have an immense impact both locally and round the world. Whereas this document will circulate in previously sympathetic church circles, giving all concerned a false impression of having achieved something great, while the rest of the world continues as before.
The writer of this National
The writer of this National Catholic Reporter article, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, makes a significant error of omission which would most likely give the reader a false impression. Where she writes, "In 2004, the Presbyterian Church USA passed a resolution calling for “phased divestment” from companies profiting from the occupation." she is only partially correct. That PCUSA 216th General Assembly resolution only called for the initiation of a process that could lead to divesting from companies.
Even that language which featured only a possibility of divestment was too much for the majority of Presbyterians to accept and, as a result there was a large "grass-roots" movement of Presbyterian pastors and elders calling for the removal of the divestment policy. Their efforts resulted in major changes during the summer of 2006, (which was the earliest possibly opportunity to change the policy) when the PCUSA 217th General Assembly removed the negative "Israel-targeted" divestment language and replaced it with a more balanced and positive "investment" policy. That change was approved by a resounding vote of 483-28. The resolution also contained the following statement: "We acknowledge that the actions of the 216th General Assembly (2004) caused hurt and misunderstanding among many members of the Jewish community and within our Presbyterian communion. We are grieved by the pain that this has caused, accept responsibility for the flaws in our process, and ask for a new season of mutual understanding and dialogue." Since then, there has been no specific action to divest in companies that do business in Israel as part of the PCUSA's specific policies toward Israel. The PCUSA 217th General Assembly even went further in expressing their views when they passed another resolution which included the following opening statement, "We, the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declare that any suicide bombing, no matter who is the perpetrator or the target, constitutes a crime against humanity."
Clearly it would have been better for the writer, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy to have made no mention at all about the PCUSA in the context of having a policy supporting "divestment". By including it, she may have showed a bias in support of "israel-targeted divestment" policies by Christian denominations. In my opinion, such actions calling for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions directed agains Israel is not a reflection of the love of Jesus but rather an aggressive act that is intended to "demonize and delegitimize Israel and to the degree that it is successful in the polluting the minds of other Christians, it is also aligned with the objectives of anti-Semites.
I find Freddy's comments very
I find Freddy's comments very well articulated and correct. As a Catholic living in Israel, I am sickened by this document. It is a disastrously tendentious and biased statement putting all the blame on Israel for all the problems in the Middle East, while refusing to acknowledge any fault at all on the part of Palestinians. To make matters worse, it is wrapped in sanctimonious "Christian" language but really just points the finger in blame at others rather than humbly looking at the factors in Palestinian society that have played a large part in propagating the conflict. Anyone who knows the situation in the Holy Land and is genuinely interested in peace and justice can see that the title "A Moment of Truth" is a farce.
Understand me correctly: I do wish to support Palestinian Christians. It is true that they have greatly suffered and continue to suffer. True, Israel is not wholly innocent. But the one-sidedeness of the 'Kairos Document', sadly, speaks more of the moral short-sightedness of its authors than it awakens sympathy in me for their plight. They complain about the wall but do not say a word about the hundreds of deaths caused by suicide bombings that forced its construction. They lament the war in Gaza but ignore the 8,000 rockets and missiles that Hamas fired at Israeli communities which caused the war. They are concerned about Palestinian prisoners - but why did these people end up in prison in the first place?
I also wish that the Palestinians will be able to live in peace, freedom and dignity. But the publication of such propaganda, in my opinion, will take them backwards, not forward. Justice is based on truth and fairness. But quite contrary its title, "A Moment of Truth" has little to do with truth and fairness.
I totally support the
I totally support the contents of the Kairos Document. I commend the people who devoted their time and energies in preparing this plea for peace. The writers of the document are in reality relating their personal experinces in living under unlawful Occupation for most of their lives. Those offering disent to the peace document and support the continued and inhuman conduct of the Israeli governmentare blind to the truth,and their judgement day will be a sad experince as they must face their Maker and be asked to account for their efforts and their distorntion of the truth by supporting the enactment of sins against humanity by the Israeli government. We pray for them!!
Reading the comments on this
Reading the comments on this page encapsulates for me the lack of meaningful engagement with the Kairos document. Most educated people know enough by now about Israel-Palestine to grow weary of Israeli or Palestinian propaganda. It is time to admit, that almost all of the political class in Israel have never had any interest in making peace with what they see as a =defeated people=. Daily each Palestinian lives with the reality of being a =squatter= in her or his own land, denied free access to water, food, land, movement, housing....whether they resist or not. On the other hand Palestinians who insist on an absolute =right of return= to Israel are asking for what is =right= but for something which is =impossible=. The most important reason for this is the renewed wave of European Anti-Semitism from the late 19th century, which ended in the great tragedy of the Holocaust. In addition after the creation of Israel most Arab countries expelled their Jewish people. The political landscape has changed since my country (Britain) lied to the Palestinians in the First World War, and delivered them (with hands effectively tied) via the Mandate from the Ottoman Empire, to the western backed military Goliath of the Israeli Defence Force. The solution is =rights= for all Israelis and Palestinians; the ending of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; the West taking =real= responsibility for the welfare and integration of all Palestinians, refugee or not; and most importantly the strengthening of Israel so it has the economic and security space, to be free to live by the spirit of the great teachings of Judaism (remember the founding father of religious ethics Rabbi Hillel who said before both Jesus and Mohammed: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn."). Remember Europe created this conflict by systematically persecuting the Jewish people. Remember also that countries like Britain and the USA then refused asylum; we were also part of this system. After WWII the West then encouraged Israel as a proxy for it's oppressive foreign policy in the Middle East, part of which was the containment of Egypt and Syria, while it milked the vulnerable oil states. The people who have and continue to suffer from this history deserve that propagating the mistakes of the past stops now. The Kairos document has faults, which are vastly exaggerated by it’s detractors. The central message is =unity=. Jews, Christians and Muslims are serving the same God, and so are united in enacting his will. For God’s sake this is the moment of change.
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