Synod debates paper on Israeli 'Genocide'

Concerns over Church of England's consideration of controversial Palestine document

Christian supporters of Israel and the Jewish people have expressed their concern over a motion to be put before the Church of England General Synod (parliament) meeting in York today.

The Kairos II document purports to express solidarity with Palestinian Christians while accusing Israel of genocide, colonisation, and ethnic cleansing. It even appears to justify the October 7, 2023, massacre of Jews due to “decades of injustice, oppression and displacement” in Gaza.

It reflects on “the suffering of our people under occupation” and declared: “We live now in a time of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement unfolding before the eyes of the world.”  The document describes Israel as a “colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity” and says Palestinians are “the indigenous people of this land”. It calls on churches “to distinguish between dialogue with Jews and dialogue with Zionism”. It also says, “The genocidal war on Gaza is the continuation of the Zionist project to seize all of Palestine, emptied of its Palestinian people.” The report is to debated at Synod on Mon 13th July.

Concerns from Church’s Ministry among Jewish People (CMJ)

The Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ), founded in 1809 as the second-oldest Anglican missionary society, has written a letter to the Synod saying the voices of Jewish believers in Jesus and many others, including Anglicans, have not been represented. While acknowledging the motion’s commitment to peace and justice, they say the voices of suffering Palestinian Christians are being heard in isolation from other faithful Christian perspectives.

Co-founded in London by slave abolitionist William Wilberforce, CMJ have been established in Jerusalem itself for over two centuries, during which time they have consistently reached out to both Jews and Arabs, witnessing true reconciliation as the two often become one in Christ.

We expect this [Kairos Palestine document] to be a barrier to such engagement that will be interpreted as a threat to the Jewish community. 

CMJ General Director Rev Aaron Eime, with support from the mission’s trustees, wrote: “Many Anglicans affirm God’s continuing purposes for the Jewish people while equally supporting justice, dignity and security for Palestinians.

“Our historic vocation has been to strengthen understanding between the Church and the Jewish people… but we expect this [Kairos Palestine document] to be a barrier to such engagement that will be interpreted as a threat to the Jewish community.”

Calling for a broader Anglican consultation on Israel, Palestine and the Jewish people, they held out the hope of further dialogue on the issue.

This document purports to seek peace but instead sows division and furthers hatred.

“We respectfully suggest that, if General Synod is encouraged to study Kairos Palestine, it should also be invited to engage with the significant body of theological reflection offered by Jewish believers in Jesus, Israeli Christians, Anglican theologians of differing convictions, and others whose scholarship presents complementary and contrasting perspectives. A process intended to deepen understanding should not inadvertently narrow the range of Christian perspectives from which the Church seeks its discernment.

“This document purports to seek peace but instead sows division and furthers hatred.”

Chief Rabbi calls on Church to reject Gaza ‘genocide’ document

The CMJ are not the only group to express their deep concerns.  Now Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has warned the Church of England’s General Synod that it risks damaging Christian-Jewish relations if it proceeds with a motion encouraging engagement with the document. He says that the document reduces a complex political and historical reality to a one-sided account, that it downplays Jewish historical experience and that it presents “political activism dressed up as theology”.

Other Jewish groups in Britain – including the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain, the Movement for Progressive Judaism and The Board of Deputies of British Jews – also urged the Church to withdraw the document.