“What is happening [in Palestine] today is the true face of Zionist ideology . . . turning Palestinian existence into an unbearable hell,” declares the recently released Kairos Palestine document, “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide.”
Israeli settler groups have begun bulldozing Palestinian lands in the town of Beit Sahour to make way for a new settler outpost. The settlement threatens the existence of the largest remaining Christian community in the West Bank, residents say.
“The fact that churches have not sufficiently taken up this moral responsibility is a damning indictment. To brazenly prefer their comfort, interests, connections, and desire to avoid embarrassment is moral bankruptcy,” says Jonathan Kuttab.
In a landmark announcement, the WCC’s Central Committee calls for targeted sanctions, divestment, and arms embargoes on Israel. Palestinian Christians are calling it “a turning point in the moral and theological witness of the global church.”
Palestinian Christians in Gaza remember Pope Francis and his daily calls to the Catholic church in Gaza. “Gaza was among his last words,” one member of the parish told Mondoweiss. “His voice made us forget the sound of the planes and the bombs.”
As both Eastern and Western Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, the divide between Palestinian Christians and those in the West has never been larger. The core of this divide is the racist theology of Christian Zionism.
Palestinian Christians are condemning the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for collaborating with the American Jewish Committee on an online resource that defines Palestinian resistance as antisemitic.
Palestinian Christians are criticizing a World Council of Churches statement for ignoring the context of the October 7 attacks and refusing to call out the unfolding Gaza genocide.
Palestinian Christians suffer from a crisis of representation, as some church leaders and community members disassociate from the Palestinian struggle and perpetuate the perception that they are a “minority.”
Palestinian Christians are viewed by the West as “bad Christians” because they refuse to act as a minority. To be considered a “good Muslim” or a “good Christian” in the Middle East, you must be aligned with Israel and the U.S.