A handful of groups ostensibly speaking for Palestinian Christians have issued an open letter addressed to western church leaders and theologians decrying western Christians’ support for Israel amidst its war with Hamas.
“We watch with horror the way many western Christians are offering unwavering support to Israel’s war against the people of Palestine,” the statement reads. It is signed by Kairos Palestine, Christ at the Checkpoint, Bethlehem Bible College, the Sabeel Ecumenical Center for Liberation Theology, and the liberal Catholic group Pax Christi’s Arab Education Institute.
The October 20 letter, framed as a Change.org petition, makes no direct reference to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the actual intended targets of Israeli strikes, instead issuing an umbrella denunciation “condemning all attacks on civilians, especially defenseless families and children” without mention of who is conducting such attacks. The more than 1,400 Israelis killed and 3,400 injured in Hamas’ attack on southern Israel are unmentioned, as are the more than 200 hostages believed to be held in Gaza.
Western Christians need to read these statements with grace, understanding that Palestinian Christians (especially those in Gaza) lack the freedom to openly criticize their governing authorities and Islamist forces. These are vulnerable communities made vanishingly small by migration elsewhere. My understanding is that of the 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip, fewer than 1,000 are Christians.
That said, statements in the letter are deeply problematic and cannot be met with credulity. Signatories blame the Israeli military for “the heinous massacre at Al-Ahli Anglican-Baptist Hospital” that has been established by independent analysts to have been a rocket fired from Gaza at Israel that broke up mid-flight and fell into the hospital parking lot.
Even when Israel isn’t alleged to be directly at fault, the letter’s authors still lay blame at their feet:
“The brutal and hopeless living conditions in Gaza 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,” the letter reads.
It goes on to claim “how some Christians have legitimized Israel’s ongoing indiscriminate attacks on Gaza,” and allege “The Israeli military has utilized tactics that target civilians.”
Cognitive bias is on display: Israel is always wrong and incapable of virtue, western church leaders are guilty of “political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians” and, as if that wasn’t enough, if a militant Islamist group’s own rocket falls on Gaza, well, Israel and the West made them do it.
The letter reads as if it was penned not by Palestinians, but employs terminology en vogue within a leftist faculty lounge, sometimes descending into hysterics.
Authors allege a double standard valuing Israeli lives over Palestinian ones that “reflects an entrenched colonial discourse that has weaponized the Bible to justify the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples,” the statement lectures. “We are aware of the western Christian legacy of Just War Theory that was used to justify dropping atomic bombs over innocent civilians in Japan during World War II, the destruction of Iraq and the decimation of its Christian population during the latest American war on Iraq, as well as the unwavering and uncritical support for Israel against the Palestinians in the name of moral-supremacy and ‘self-defense.’”
“Many western Christians across wide denominational and theological spectra adopt Zionist theologies and interpretations that justify war, making them complicit in Israel’s violence and oppression,” letter writers insist.
I remain unconvinced that these appeals matter. Just who are these groups?
Sabeel, once ubiquitous at mainline Protestant governing conventions, has a tiny budget and is now kept at arm’s length by some senior mainline Protestant officials who regard it as a fringe caucus group without much of a constituency in the pews.
Sabeel’s anti-Israel message is “often intertwined with theological antisemitism,” according to Analyst Sarah Chin of NGO Monitor: “The group intertwines Palestinian nationalist ideology with its narrow interpretation of Christian theology. Through Sabeel, [Anglican Priest Naim] Ateek pushes liberation theology to justify attacks on Israel. Whether it is stripping Jesus of his Jewish heritage and referring to him as a Palestinian or disparaging Judaism and its texts, calling it ‘tribal,’ ‘exclusionary,’ and ‘primitive.’”
Christ at the Checkpoint represents a wider movement, but still mostly confined to Evangelical elites, to neutralize a key pro-Israel constituency in America. The conference is organized by Bethlehem Bible College in the West Bank, also a signatory of the open letter.
NGO Monitor said of the 2014 conference that CATC “seeks to advance the Palestinian nationalist agenda within Evangelical Christian churches, while simultaneously reviving theological anti-Semitic themes such as replacement theology.”
Kairos Palestine sees Israel as an apartheid state much like South Africa condemned in the 1985 South African Kairos declaration. Kairos Palestine’s statements are characterized by one-sided condemnation of Israel as an aggressor, legitimization of terrorism, and anti-Semitic biblical interpretations.
As the pro-Israeli group CAMERA concluded, Kairos Palestine reflects a longstanding Arab Christian “intellectual environment where anti-Zionism is an ever-present aspect of Christian peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.”
Most American churchgoers won’t directly encounter these above organizations, but should be savvy in understanding who is trying to reach their seminary officials and prominent pastors and with what narrative they are being presented.
More:
Just War Theory and the War against Hamas
Church Banality on Mideast Terror
Comment by David on October 24, 2023 at 3:26 pm
To paraphrase Martin’s Niemoller’s poem, “First they came for the Palestinians and I did not speak out as I was not Palestinian…”
https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-753659
Comment by Different Steve on October 24, 2023 at 4:44 pm
The literal title of the article is “Palestinian Christian Letter Chides Israel, Ignores Hamas”. So the actual facts involves hypocrisy in failing to speak out regarding Jews/Israelis. Plus, the letter implicitly endorse Hamas’ butchery, or why wouldn’t they deplore it as well?
Niemöller literally wrote “Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Jew. ” That quote is on point, David’s messed up trolling version is not.
Comment by David on October 24, 2023 at 8:18 pm
My point was that Evangelicals should wake up to the fact that their friendship with Israel is not reciprocated. After purging the area of Muslims, Christians will likely be the next target. Intolerance is the evil of religion-based states and this applies to Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist states too.
Comment by David on October 25, 2023 at 7:35 am
It is unfortunate that people cannot debate without resorting to ad hominems and name-calling. The second might be considered a sin (Mat. 5:22). I stand for justice in the Middle East and not religious bigotry. The fact that Israel is better in some ways than the Arab states does not protect them from criticism. The possibility that Israel may become a sort of Jewish Iran is of great concern to the roughly half the population that is secular. The high birthrates of the ultra-orthodox will likely tilt the politics there permanently. Remember that Israel has no written constitution and change can happen quickly. Changes to their Supreme Court were in the works prior to recent events. While Israel may enjoy wide support among Jews, it does not equal true Judaism.
While there are things I would enjoy seeing, I have never had a desire to visit the Middle East. I have, however, visited the camp at Dachau near Munchen.
Comment by Jeffrey Walton on October 25, 2023 at 8:56 am
Folks, please feel free to criticize ideas/organizations/governments, but refrain from personal slander. Comments that attack others will be deleted.
Comment by Different Steve on October 25, 2023 at 9:01 am
No, David, I do not find it remotely plausible that Israel might “come for” Christians. But there is no history of death destruction terrorism and war between Israel and Christians as far as I know. Best argument you can come up with for that is that Israel could always go through major political changes. A saying comes to mind: if wishes were horses, beggars might ride. Also Marvel’s multiverses, original Star Trek’s visits to parallel Earths, and Planet of the Apes.
Comment by Corvus Corax on October 25, 2023 at 10:42 am
Guys, I think a lot of nuance is lost when this question is framed in solely religious terms. There are small minorities of Christians living in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel proper. Most of them are ethnically Arab. Many of them face hardship and death as a result of fighting between the Israeli state and Palestinian insurgents. They all face discrimination and abuse living as minorities in their respective homelands. Yes, this includes Christians living in Israel (see, e.g., https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-attacks-on-christians-become-more-frequent-a-crisis-looms-for-israel/).
Israel’s future is precarious (as it has always been) as a cultural and political outlier in a region surrounded by hostile populations. But it is primarily a secular state protecting the national self-interest of ethnic Jews, whether observant, conservative, liberal, or otherwise. Given their situation it is understandable if they protect their interests ruthlessly, but it is unclear to me why western Christians should feel it necessary to “endorse” Israel’s “absolute right” to do so.
Keep in mind that this endorsement (by, e.g., evangelical church leaders in America) presently extends to the siege and bombardment of 2 million civilians. There is a persistent rumor that the conflict will eventually include a grueling invasion and occupation with the threat of escalation by Iran/Hezbollah via Lebanon, further roiling the geopolitical situation. These may all be legitimate geopolitical concerns, but what does any of it have to do with Christ’s mission?
Comment by David on October 25, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Perhaps the Secretary general of the UN summed it up better than myself.
“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” Guterres said. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.”
Comment by Different Steve on October 26, 2023 at 7:14 am
Responding to Guterres at the U.N., Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said, “As we meet here today, young babies, children are held in Gaza. This is beyond imagination. A living nightmare.”
“They are victims of evil,” he added. “Mr. Secretary-General, in what world do you live? Definitely, this is not our world.”
Then U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Where is the outrage? Where is the revulsion? Where is the rejection? Where is the explicit condemnation of these horrors? We must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such horror from repeating itself.”
“We call on all member states to send a firm, united message to any state or non-state actor that is considering opening another front in this conflict against Israel or who may target Israel’s partners, including the United States,” Blinken also said. “Don’t, don’t throw fuel on the fire.”
Erdan later said at a press conference that “The U.N. is failing” and “you, Mr. Secretary-General, have lost all morality and impartiality because when you say those terrible words that these heinous attacks did not happen in a vacuum, you are tolerating terrorism. And by tolerating terrorism, you are justifying terrorism.”
“I think that the secretary-general must resign because, from now on, every day that he’s here in this building, unless he apologizes immediately – today we called [on] him to apologize. There is no justification to the existence of this building,” Erdan continued. “This building was established to prevent atrocities. How can the secretary-general, with his words, justify in any way the terrible atrocities that happened to our civilians, innocent civilians?”
“It is a disgrace to the UN that the secretary general does not retract his words and is not even able to apologise for what he said yesterday. He must resign. The secretary general once again distorts and twists reality. He clearly said yesterday that the massacre by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Every person understands well that the meaning of the words is Israel has guilt for the actions of Hamas or at the very least it shows his understanding of the ‘background’ leading up to the massacre that Hamas perpetrated.”
Comment by Different Steve on October 26, 2023 at 7:16 am
Israel Or Palestine – Which Should Actors Support???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dNbmSPb_gQ
Comment by David Gotthelf on October 26, 2023 at 10:25 am
Israel’s Christian community grew by 2% in 2021 to 185,000 people, representing 1.9% of the state’s total population. Israel, the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community is actually growing. most Israeli Christians are determined to stay and make Israel a better place to live for people of all faiths actively integrating into Israeli society while maintaining their unique Christian heritage and faith.
The Hamas started this round so they should have prepared their civilians for Israel’s response – bomb shelters, food, water, medicine, fuel, etc. The Hamas prepared all this for themselves leaving the population exposed. This is their secret weapon against Israel – suffering and dead civilians. Look at all the Hamas ONLY underground tunnels and then tell me they didn’t have the means to protect their citizens.
Comment by +Aidan Wilson on November 21, 2023 at 9:41 am
It’s clear that American Evangelicals have no connection with Jesus or the early Church when they view actual historical Christianity as “Leftist.” Sola Scriptura produced a Bible worshiping cult with no connection to historic Christianity.
Comment by Gaby on December 18, 2023 at 7:26 pm
Our Palestinian Brothers are calling us, and we heard them loud and clear, Here we are, we see your oppression, its brutal, and you have been speaking for years helping us to keep our moral compass afloat. Thanks, Brothers you are not alone and to miss the spirit of the letter and smear it with political games is nothing but disgraceful
Comment by Ibhrahim Bhara on June 21, 2025 at 2:26 pm
I am Palestnian Christian and I am indeed alarmed by this. No true Christian can talk of this without mentioning What these Extremists did in Israel but what’s actually worse is the fact they did so with full knowledge of OBVIOUSLY Israel responding which they knew would come and which they knew would bring a hard response and obvious harm to Palestinians
I don’t want to question their Christian faith as I said no True christians but I truly do not see how possibly anyone can say such things Without a very dark and selfish motivation. Especially since you said this not long after oct 7th. Maybe if they said 4 months after but even then no critical of Hamas and Islamic JIHAD for not just doing the most evil pre meditated literal Islamist extremist attacks on Israel INCLUDING ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVISTS WHO FOUGHT FOR CO EXISTENCE and even Muslim Arabs amongst others but also as I said did so with the full knowledge that Palestinians would get hit hard on Gaza. It’s very sick .. Don’t be fooled. Yes you can support Palestinian christians but do so carefully. And yes you can support Israel if you want. I’m not going to be an activist and screech at you to tell you what to do. I was quite shocked to see Tucker Carlson not overly long after oct 7th go to interview a Christian clergyman from the west bank who literally supports Hamas. The guy told fibs. I was surprised. Tucker doesn’t have to love Israel and I have my critisms of Israel as I do of the US and most countries but to reach out to try hard to delegitimize in such a way to me feels evil and Truly bad motivations and not from heart and not out of some care
Yes Christians are caught up in conflict but I’ve personally in my over 30 years ever been persecuted FOR being Christian. Often we get caught up bcos of being Palestinian Arabs not bcos we Christian except maybe some occasions but it’s a lie to say it’s a big problem and if you want to see true oppression of Christian look at Iran, coptics in Egypt,Nigeria , Bangladesh, Pakistan,Armenia , China, North Korea , Iraq, Algeria etc etc etc. The persecution there is VERY REAL and wide spread. I mean true TRUE persecution. Israel doesn’t make it on top 50 of places of persecution .. Israel itself we have far extended family who live there and truthfully I can’t say they are doing bad. They are doing very well especially for the middle east. Gaza christians are targeted by Israel for being Christian obviously but are being caught up in war. And west bank we get caught up in occasional conflict and disturbance but not really where we from. Be very careful what you look up and etc. I hope the terror stops bcos that truly is a huge step to Peace