On Christmas Eve, congregants gathered at the New Birth Missionary Baptist church for a service unlike any other: the church choir wore keffiyehs, Palestinians shared stories of the Nakba, and the pastor’s call was clear: a ceasefire in Gaza.
Now is the time for U.S. church leaders to raise their collective moral voice — as they did during the civil right movement, the Vietnam War, and South African apartheid — against Israel’s settler colonial apartheid.
Gathered for their biennial General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the U.S. and Canada overwhelmingly adopted a resolution affirming “many of the laws, policies and practices of the State of Israel meet the definition of apartheid as defined in international law.”
Ten months ago, the World Council of Churches agreed to study the question of Israeli apartheid “and for its governing bodies to respond appropriately.” There is no sign that process has started.
A shady property deal threatens to transform part of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City into a luxury resort. “It will change the status quo and the entire picture of Jerusalem,” says Armenian activist Hagop Djernazian.
A new report from BADIL and Kairos Palestine seeks to activate the Western church in opposition to Israel’s colonial-apartheid system.
Recent attacks on Christian and Muslim worshipers in Jerusalem reflect Israeli efforts to consolidate control over the holy city. “The occupation, through such policies, claims that Jerusalem is theirs,” Archbishop Atallah Hanna tells Mondoweiss.
Church leaders denounced Israel’s “heavy-handed restrictions” limiting access to Jerusalem for Orthodox Easter. “All who wish to worship with us are invited to attend,” they said. “With that made clear, we leave the authorities to act as they will.”
Palestinian armed confrontation continues to spread across the West Bank, while the Israeli settler movement, backed by hardline extremists in government, push for more settlements.