A dozen Palestinian Christian organizations have disseminated an open letter to Western Church leaders and theologians calling them “accountable for their theological and political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.”
The letter, disseminated on Change.org, sparked an outcry by the Western Church community, including one leader who said that “the petition will be dead on arrival.”
“Most Western Zionist Christians love Israel and know the history biblically and geographically,” said William Levi, founder and CEO of the Massachusetts-based Operation Nehemiah Mission. “We will not entertain this.”
This is not the first time such a letter has been disseminated. Still, the Christians who spoke on- and off-the-record to The Jerusalem Post said that it was a surprising approach after Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,400 Israelis.
Moreover, a dozen organizations, including the East Jerusalem YMCA, signed the letter.
In the letter, the Palestinian Christians said they were “profoundly troubled” by how Western Christians offer “unwavering support to Israel’s war against the people of Palestine.”
“We write to challenge Western theologians and church leaders who have voiced uncritical support for Israel and to call them to repent and change,” the letter reads. “Sadly, the actions and double standards of some Christian leaders have gravely hurt their Christian witness and have severely distorted their moral judgment regarding the situation in our land.”
The organization accused Western Christians of supporting Israeli attacks against Gaza, which have thus far killed several thousand people, and reiterated the false narrative that an Israeli missile struck the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
Independent evaluations by Europe and Israel have shown that a misfired Islamic Jihad missile hit the hospital.
“We categorically reject the myopic and distorted Christian responses that ignore the wider context and the root causes of this war: Israel’s systemic oppression of the Palestinians over the last 75 years since the Nakba, the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the oppressive and racist military occupation that constitutes the crime of apartheid,” the Christian Palestinians charged.
“This is precisely the horrific context of oppression that many Western Christian theologians and leaders have persistently ignored and, even worse, have occasionally legitimized using a wide range of Zionist theologies and interpretations.
“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 writers added.
“Finally, and we say it with a broken heart, we hold Western church leaders and theologians who rally behind Israel’s wars accountable for their theological and political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.”
The letter was signed by Kairos Palestine; Christ at the Checkpoint; Bethlehem Bible College; Sabeel Ecumenical Center for Liberation Theology; Dar al-Kalima University; Al-Liqa Center for Religious, Heritage and Cultural Studies in the Holy Land; The East Jerusalem YMCA; The YWCA of Palestine; Arab Orthodox Society, Jerusalem; Arab Orthodox Club, Jerusalem; The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches; and Arab Education Institute Pax Christi, Bethlehem.
REV. DENNIS Nthumbi, a faith, governance, diplomacy, and security expert who lives in Kenya and runs the local Christian Allies Caucus, told the Post that he was “appalled by the ignorance” of the letter writers. He said he was concerned that the letter was not only “unbiblical but supportive of the jihadist theory.”
“Every well-meaning Christian must speak peace and strength to Israel and desire to see the ultimate destruction of Hamas and their jihadism,” Nthumbi said. “We must all stand against the evil that is Hamas.”
Most Americans support Israel
A recent Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll published over the weekend by The Hill showed that more than 80% of Americans expressed their support for Israel in the ongoing conflict with Hamas. The survey revealed that 84% of respondents favored Israel, while only 16% sided with Hamas.
Regarding American Evangelicals, a letter released on October 11 by a large group of leaders condemned Hamas in favor of the Jewish state.
“In the wake of the evil and indefensible atrocities now committed against the people of Israel by Hamas, we, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the violence against the vulnerable, fully support Israel’s right and duty to defend itself against further attack, and urgently call all Christians to pray for the salvation and peace of the people of Israel and Palestine,” the letter reads.
“In keeping with Christian Just War tradition, we also affirm the legitimacy of Israel’s right to respond against those who have initiated these attacks as Romans 13 grants governments the power to bear the sword against those who commit such evil acts against innocent life.”
Levi, of the Operation Nehemiah Mission, concluded: “They [the Palestinian Church] are targeting the wrong people. They are just giving Hamas political and religious ammunition.”