The Church of England’s General Synod voted to formally hear a document titled Kairos Palestine II, authored by Palestinian Christian leaders including Father Fadi Diab of Ramallah. The report, published last year, calls for an urgent global Christian response to the war in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, using language including genocide, apartheid, and settler colonialism to describe Israeli actions.
The motion initially asked synod members to “receive” the report but was amended during debate so they instead agreed to “hear” it. Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally stated that hearing Palestinian Christians’ experiences meant listening with compassion and standing in solidarity with them regarding injustices they face, while clarifying this did not constitute endorsement of every aspect of the report. Mullally described having visited Palestinian communities during a recent trip and stated that Palestine, including Christian villages, was on the brink of disappearing amid unprecedented settlement expansion.
Jewish leaders, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, urged rejection of the report before the vote, arguing it went beyond criticizing Israeli government military campaigns and instead questioned Zionism and Jewish historical connection to the land. They contended the language contained antisemitic tropes and risked harming Christian-Jewish relations. However, Rabbi Charley Baginsky of Progressive Judaism acknowledged the church must engage with Palestinian Christian experiences while expressing concern the document was not an appropriate vehicle for this discussion.
Interfaith organizations offered nuanced perspectives on the outcome. Georgina Bye of the Council of Christians and Jews welcomed the amendment from “receive” to “hear” and noted the document presented one perspective among many needed to understand complex Middle Eastern issues. Richard Sewell, a canon in Jerusalem, described the report as a cry for help from suffering Palestinians and emphasized the Church of England’s duty to hear voices from the Anglican community in the region.
Diab defended the report’s terminology, stating it reflected findings from human rights organizations and described conditions in occupied Palestinian territories as the worst they had ever been. He urged more people to visit the region to understand the realities of military occupation.
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