We want to share with you the powerful statement from Palestinian Christians to western churches, having heard the truth and love it expresses. We lament with them the ongoing unfolding tragedy in the Holy Land. We pray that our faith may be as strong and clear as theirs. We recognise the terrible history of European Christian anti-semitism and the catastrophe of the Holocaust which mean Europeans can never self-righteously stand in judgement on the Jewish people, but only hang our heads in shame and penance and pray for the wisdom, perception and courage to do everything we can to stop such things from ever happening again to anyone. The letter has been edited for reasons of space. For the full version see: indcatholicnews.com/news/48298
Open letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Christians
We, the undersigned Palestinian Christian institutions and grassroots movements, grieve and lament the renewed cycle of violence in our land... some of us [have] lost dear friends and family members.
Words fail to express our shock and horror with regard to the on-going war in our land. We deeply mourn the death and suffering of all people because it is our firm conviction that all humans are made in God’s image. We are also profoundly troubled when the name of God is invoked to promote violence and religious national ideologies.
Further, we watch with horror the way many western Christians are offering unwavering support to Israel’s war against the people of Palestine. While we recognize the... voices that have spoken... for the cause of truth and justice in our land, we write to challenge western theologians and church leaders who have voiced uncritical support for Israel and to call them to repent and change.
We come alongside fellow Christians in condemning all attacks on civilians, especially defenceless families and children. Yet, we are disturbed by the silence of many [Christians] when... Palestinian civilians... are killed. We are horrified by the refusal of some western Christians to condemn the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine, and [their] justification of and support for the occupation. Further, we are appalled by how some Christians have legitimized Israel’s... indiscriminate attacks on Gaza... These attacks have resulted in the wholesale destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the forced displacement of over one million Palestinians. The Israeli military has target[ted] civilians [by] the use of white phosphorus, the cutting off of water, fuel, and electricity, and the bombardment of schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
We categorically reject the... distorted Christian responses that ignore the wider context and the root causes of this war: Israel’s systemic oppression of the Palestinians... since the Nakba, the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the oppressive and racist military occupation that constitutes... apartheid.
Moreover, Israel’s cruel blockade of Gaza [for] 17 years has turned the …. Strip into an open-air prison for more than two million Palestinians—70% of whom belong to families displaced during the Nakba... The brutal and hopeless living conditions... under Israel’s iron fist have regrettably emboldened extreme voices of some Palestinian groups to resort to militancy and violence as a response to oppression and despair. Sadly, Palestinian nonviolent resistance, which we remain wholeheartedly committed to, is... reject[ed], with some western Christian leaders even prohibiting discussion of Israeli apartheid as reported by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and B’Tselem, and as long asserted by both Palestinians and South Africans.
Time and again, we are reminded that western attitudes... suffer from a glaring double standard that humanizes Israeli Jews while insisting on dehumanizing Palestinians and whitewashing their suffering. This is evident in general attitudes towards the... Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip that [has] killed thousands of Palestinians... and the killing of more than 300 Palestinians including 38 children in the West Bank [earlier] this year.
Although many Christians in the West [continue] the theological legitimization of war, the vast majority of Palestinian Christians do not condone violence—not even by the powerless and occupied. Instead, [we] are fully committed to the way of Jesus in creative nonviolent resistance (Kairos Palestine, §4.2.3)... We reject all theologies and interpretations that legitimize the wars of the powerful. We strongly urge western Christians to come alongside us in this... God is the God of the downtrodden and the oppressed... Jesus rebuked the powerful and lifted up the marginalized.
Finally… with a broken heart, we hold western [Christians] who rally behind Israel’s wars accountable for their... complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians... remembering that God “will judge the world in justice” (Acts 17:31). Our... steadfastness is anchored in our just cause and our historical rootedness in this land. We... continue to find our courage and consolation in the God who dwells with those of a contrite and humble spirit (Isa 57:15) [and] in the solidarity [of] the crucified Christ... We find hope in the empty tomb. We are... encouraged and empowered by the costly solidarity and support of many [Christians] around the world... We refuse to give in... steadfast in our hope [we] continue to be committed to the Gospel of faith, hope, and love, in the face of tyranny and darkness. “In the absence of all hope, we cry out our cry of hope. We believe in God, good and just. We believe that God’s goodness will finally triumph over the evil of hate and of death that... persist in our land. We will see here ‘a new land’ and ‘a new human being’, capable of rising up in the spirit to love each one of his or her brothers and sisters” (Kairos Palestine, §10). Your Kingdom come!