Church of England votes to hear Palestinian Christians on Israeli genocide in Gaza

The Church of England has voted to hear Palestinian Christians, defying efforts by pro-Israel organisations to dismiss their testimony about Israel’s “settler colonialism” and “apartheid system”.

The General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, backed an amended motion on Monday urging congregations and institutions across England to “hear” and engage with testimonies produced by the group Kairos Palestine.

The Kairos document describes Israel as a “colonial enterprise” that has inflicted a “genocidal war on Gaza”.  

Synod members replaced the word “receive” with “hear”, making clear that the engagement did not require the Church to endorse every sentence. 

The motion also recognised the document as “heartfelt expressions of the lived experience of Palestinian Christians” and called on the Church to stand with Palestinians in non-violent resistance to Israel’s occupation.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

It also rejected antisemitism, anti-Muslim hostility and other forms of religious and ethnic prejudice.

The vote marks an important break from a pattern in which western religious institutions have often discussed Palestinians while excluding Palestinian Christians from the conversation.

The Kairos II document, formally titled "A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide", includes testimonies and calls for global campaigns of resistance, advocacy and popular pressure, including boycotts, divestment and sanctions.

Palestinian Christian clergy and lay leaders published the document in November in response to Israel’s destruction of Gaza and escalating violence and ethnic cleansing across the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

It also rejects Christian Zionism as a theology “produced by the theology of racism, colonialism, and ethnic supremacy”.

“Any genuine beginning must involve dismantling settler colonialism and the apartheid system built on Jewish supremacy, as codified in Israel’s racist Nation-State Law,” the document says.

The language used in the document echoes findings reached beyond Palestinian Christian circles.

A UN commission, Amnesty International and the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem have concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

'Document reflects trauma'

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally backed the motion after visiting the region in June.

“The fear was palpable among everyone we met, Palestinian and Israeli. From Gaza to the north of Israel, from southern Lebanon to the West Bank, people across the region are traumatised by ongoing conflicts,” she told the Synod.

On Kairos II, Mullally said: “This document reflects the pain and trauma of the Palestinian people.”

'The Church is simply being true to its calling: to engage seriously with what is happening in the world'

- Munther Isaac, Palestinian Christian pastor

She said the Church must hold difficult conversations “and take the risk of engaging across divides”.

“I am a pastor, not a politician. When I say the Palestinian people deserve their freedom, that is not a political statement, but a moral and spiritual one,” she said, adding: “Put simply, Palestine, which the British government recognised last year, is disappearing.”

Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian pastor in the occupied West Bank, told Middle East Eye that the decision represented “a very positive sign and an important step forward”.

“Kairos Palestine does speak of genocide, but it is hardly alone in doing so. We should not forget the many credible, extensive, and detailed reports that have reached the same conclusion or raised the gravest concerns about genocide in Gaza,” Isaac said.

“In this regard, the Church is simply being true to its calling: to engage seriously with what is happening in the world, with what its own members are wrestling with and speaking about, and with what its Palestinian Christian siblings are calling for,” he added.

The vote triggered an immediate backlash from pro-Israeli individuals and groups in the UK.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, called the motion “highly problematic” and said Kairos II contained “falsehoods and distortions”.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis described the decision as “shameful” and “a sad day for Jewish-Christian relations”.

Pro-Israeli factions who opposed the document focused on the report’s language about Israel without commenting on the events that produced it. 

Pastor Isaac said the opposition was “expected”.

“But it is shameful that they seem more concerned about the Church receiving and engaging with a document from Palestinian Christians than they are about the crimes and genocide itself. It is also very telling how easily they dismiss the entire question of genocide, despite the overwhelming body of credible reports and evidence,” he said.

The Rossing Centre for Education and Dialogue documented 155 attacks and incidents against Christians and Christian property in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem during 2025.

These included 61 physical assaults, 52 attacks on church property, 28 cases of harassment and 14 instances of vandalised signs. The centre warned that the recorded cases represented only the “tip of the iceberg”.

Israeli violence against Christian communities has also extended beyond Palestine. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces have damaged churches, bulldozed parts of a Catholic convent and filmed soldiers desecrating statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

“It is long overdue for church leaders around the world to listen more carefully to the growing number of Jewish voices who oppose the genocide and speak critically of Zionism and the State of Israel. These are important voices for genuine dialogue today,” said Isaac.

“Criticism of Israel must not be confused with antisemitism. Yet this remains a repeated tactic among some of those who opposed the vote, and I believe people are increasingly fed up with attempts to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Such accusations should not be used to silence legitimate moral, theological and political criticism,” he added.

middleeasteye.net