"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people." Isaiah 10:1-2
"وَيلٌ لِلَّذينَ يَشتَرِعونَ فَرائِضَ الإِثْم، والَّذينَ يَكتُبونَ كِتابةَ الظُّلْم،
لِيَرُدُّوا الضُّعَفاءَ عن إِجْراءِ الحُكْم، ويَسلُبوا حَقَّ وُضَعاءِ شَعْبي"
(أشعيا ١٠: ١-٢)
“But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” Amos 5:24
Jerusalem/ Bethlehem, Monday January 20th, 2025
In light of the recent ceasefire agreement between the Israeli occupation and Hamas, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to our Palestinian people for their steadfastness and resilient spirit during these challenging and bloody times. We deeply mourn for more than 47,000 Palestinians who have lost their lives and offer our sincerest condolences to their families and to the families who have suffered the devastating loss of their homes and properties. To the over 115,000 injured, we wish a swift and full recovery. The release of prisoners brings a moment of relief and joy; however, we emphasize that this is but a one step toward true peace and justice.
"لِيُرْفَعْ مِنْ بَيْنِكُمْ كُلُّ مَرَارَةٍ وَسَخَطٍ وَغَضَبٍ وَصِيَاحٍ وَتَجْدِيفٍ مَعَ كُلِّ خُبْثٍ. وَكُونُوا لُطَفَاءَ بَعْضُكُمْ نَحْوَ بَعْضٍ، شَفُوقِينَ، مُتَسَامِحِينَ كَمَا سَامَحَكُمُ اللهُ أَيْضًا فِي الْمَسِيحِ.”
رسالة بولس الرسول إلى أهل أفسس: 4:31-32
القدس، بيت لحم – ١٦ / ١ ٠ / ٢٠٢٥
إنّا نهنى نفسنا وشعبنا بانتهاء الاحداث الأخيرة المؤسفة في مخيم جنين، وانتهاء الاقتتال بين ابناء الوطن الواحد والتي راح ضحيتها العديد من الشهداء الابرياء، ونؤكد في المبادرة المسيحية الفلسطينية "كايروس فلسطين" على موقفنا الثابت بان الحوار الداخلي هو الطريق الوحيد للمصالحة الداخلية واستعادة الوحدة الوطنية.
“Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.”
Psalm 106:3
December 19th, 2024
We, members of the Global Kairos for Justice coalition, write this letter during a season commemorating God’s intervention in history to bring justice and peace to all nations and creation. The heavenly host proclaimed to the shepherds suffering under the heel of occupation, "Peace on earth!" (Luke 2:14). Yet, in the very land where peace was promised, a catastrophe is unfolding. The Israeli government’s actions against the Palestinians constitute an attempt to establish a false peace by eliminating the Palestinians—using the Hamas actions on Oct 7, 2023, which certainly violated international humanitarian law, as a pretext for genocide.
"أرسِلْ رُوحَكَ، يا رب، فَيَتَجَدَّدَ وَجهُ الأرضِ"
(مزمور ١٠٤: ٣٠)
بيت لحم – ١٦/ ١٢ / ٢٠٢٤
في الذكرى الخامسة عشرة لانطلاق وثيقة كايروس فلسطين "وقفة حق"، واقتراب موسم عيد الميلاد، نتذكر المظالم المستمرة التي تُفرَضُ على شعبنا في يومنا هذا. بدأت هذه الوثيقة، بكلمة إيمان وأمل ومحبة من قلب المعاناة الفلسطينية، ولا تزال يتردد صداها بعمق في حياة كل فلسطيني، وخاصة الذين تحملوا وطأة أكثر من سبعة عقود من الاحتلال الإسرائيلي والفصل العنصري، وممارسة الإبادة الجماعية. وبينما نتأمل في ميلاد ملك السلام، نتذكر أن رسالة العدالة والكرامة والمصالحة ما زالت مُلِحَّة أكثر من أي وقت مضى. وتظل وثيقة كايروس بمثابة إعلان لإرادتنا الجماعية من أجل العدالة والسلام والحرية للجميع..
القدس، بيت لحم – ١٦ / ١٢ / ٢٠٢٤
من قلب معاناتنا الفلسطينية، من جميع الفلسطينيين، ومن الفلسطينيين المسيحيين، من كل كنائس فلسطين والأرض المقدسة، ومن قلب كنيسة القيامة في القدس وكنيسة المهد في بيت لحم، قلب إيماننا ورجائنا ومحبتنا. إلى جميع إخوتنا في سوريا، وإلى جميع إخوتنا المسيحيين في سوريا، في هذه الأيام العصيبة، نوجه رسالتنا هذه، رسالة أخوة
ومحبة لكم جميعا. لقد شاء الله أن تنتهي في سوريا حرب طويلة نعرف كلنا معاناتها، لمن بقوا في البلاد ولمن اضطروا إلى هجرتها.
It is a very critical moment for the Palestinian people. Palestinians have no safe place in their land, threatened by killing and transfer.We therefore cry to God during this Advent season for the Palestinian people at 12.00 o’clock wherever we are in the world.
In the face of the ongoing Nakba—defined by further ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation, an openly racist apartheid regime, and an accelerated genocide of the Palestinian people, funded in large part by the U.S. administration and enabled by Western powers—we pause on this one-year anniversary of October 7th to acknowledge and mourn the suffering and devastating loss of life of our siblings in Gaza and all those who are victims of war and violence. And to call for an end to the State of Israel’s continued killing and excessive destruction of infrastructure, housing and all aspects of life, reaching increasingly into the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and now Lebanon and threatening to ignite a region-wide war.
The Nakba, or catastrophe, which culminated in the forcible displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians, between 1947-1949 continues today. During the Nakba, 90,000 Palestinian Christians were forcibly displaced. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Christian communities involved multiple documented cases of massacres and the desecration of various churches. See Kairos Palestine and Badil Center’s 2023 joint publication “Palestinian Christians the forcible displacement and dispossession continues” . Today, the Nakba has never been more evident in Gaza and the West Bank. The world has watched the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza which is housing around 900 Palestinian Christians being bombed and Christians being killed and displaced.
We call the Churches, international community and civil society groups, unions and all other groups and individual to:
Feb. 13th, 2024
Despite the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and despite the provisional measures the court issued—including the demand that Israel take all measures within its power to spare the lives of the civilians—Israel has intensified its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and is planning for a horrific assault on Rafah.
على الرغم من حكم محكمة العدل الدولية بأن إسرائيل ترتكب إبادة جماعية ضد الفلسطينيين في غزة، وعلى الرغم من التدابير المؤقتة التي أصدرتها المحكمة - بما في ذلك مطالبة إسرائيل باتخاذ جميع التدابير الممكنة، لإنقاذ حياة المدنيين - فقد كثفت إسرائيل عمليات الإبادة الجماعية في حربها على قطاع غزة، وهي الآن تخطط لهجوم مروع على رفح.
اقرأ البيان كاملا باللغة العربية
Nov. 1st, 2023
“Vindicate me in your righteousness, LORD my God” (Ps. 35:24)
Sisters and brothers:
We are witnessing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza unfolding in front of our eyes, not dissimilar to what happened less than 30 years ago in Rwanda and 80 years ago in Europe. Many in the West were complicit in those genocides. We cannot and dare not let it happen again. It must be stopped.
نداؤنا لكل صاحب ضمير، لكل يهودي ومسيحي ومسلم، لكنائس العالم، للعالم العربي والاسلامي لإسرائيل نفسها ولكل أصدقاءها المشاركين منهم في قتلنا والصامتين منهم عما يحدث في قطاع غزة. أوقفوا الحرب الآن. لم تعد الإنسانية تتحمَّل جنون الإنسان. أي دمار بعد هذا؟!!!
اقرأ نداء المبادرة المسيحية الفلسطينية كاملاُ
Our call to every person of conscience, to every Jew, Christian and Muslim, to the churches of the world, to the Arab and Islamic world, to Israel itself and to all its friends; some of whom have participated in killing us and others have remained silent about what is happening in the Gaza Strip:
Stop the war now. Humanity can no longer tolerate human madness. What destruction lies after this?!!!
We, at the undersigned Palestinian Christian institutions and grassroots movements, grieve and lament the renewed cycle of violence in our land. As we were about to publish this open letter, some of us lost dear friends and family members in the atrocious Israeli bombardment of innocent civilians on October 19, 2023, Christians included, who were taking refuge in the historical Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza. Words fail to express our shock and horror with regards to the on-going war in our land. We deeply mourn the death and suffering of all people because it is our firm conviction that all humans are made in God’s image. We are also profoundly troubled when the name of God is invoked to promote violence and religious national ideologies.
الحرب من جديد على غزة، لكنها انطلقت هذه المرة من غزة. وأحدثت دمارًا كبيرًا في إسرائيل. والكثيرون يرون أنها حرب ظالمة على إسرائيل. لكن السؤال الذي يجب أن يطرحه كل إنسان، وكل طالب سلام وعدل، هو: لماذا انطلقت هذه الحرب؟
اقرأ بيان المبادرة المسيحية الفلسطينية كاملاُ
The war on Gaza again, but this time it started from Gaza. It has caused great suffering and destruction in Israel. Many see it as an unjust war against Israel. But the question that every human being, and every seeker of peace and justice, must ask is: Why did this war start?
Read Kairos Palestine full statement in Engish
Read Kairos Palestine statement in Danish
Read Kairos Palestine statement in Dutch
Read Kairos Palestine statement in German
Read Kairos Palestine statement in Spanish
Read Kairos Palestine statement in Italian
بيت لحم - ٤ نيسان ٢٠٢٣
منذ تسلمت الحكومة الإسرائيلية الجديدة، تزايدت الاعتداءات على المقدسات المسيحية. وهي نتيجة طبيعية لتطرف القيادات الحالية وتحريضها الصريح على الفلسطينيين. منذ مطلع السنة وحتى اليوم، خلال أقل من ثلاثة أشهر، تكررت الاعتداءات؛ تدنيس المقابر المسيحية، وتحطيم تمثال السيد المسيح في قلب الكنيسة، في دير الرهبان الفرنسيسكان، في حي مراحل درب الصليب، والبصق على رجال الدين الأرمن في حارة الأرمن، وعلى الصليب الذي يحملونه.
اقرأ بيان المبادرة المسيحية الفلسطينية كاملاُ
We members of Kairos Palestine, the most extensive Palestinian Christian ecumenical movement,
and Global Kairos for Justice, the worldwide coalition of concerned Christians from diverse
churches and church-related organizations as well as other faiths-based and secular organizations,
have gathered in Beit Sahour, Palestine, together with leaders of Palestinian civil society and other
international advocates to pray, to discern, to receive and now to share a declaration of sumud
(resilience) and hope from the Holy Land.
On Sep 30th, 2022 The Provincial Standing Committee, the Anglican Church of South Africa top decision-making body between Provincial Synods, has passed on a resolution requesting parishes to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people at annual observances.
February 4th, 2022 Jerusalem
The board, staff and supporters of Kairos Palestine welcome Amnesty International’s momentous report, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity.
Dec. 26th, 2021 Jerusalem, The Christian Palestinian Initiative, Kairos Palestine, mourn, together with all conscious people, the passing of the Nobel Peace Prize winner the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had inspired the entire world to fight for justice.
25/10/2021
القدس، فلسطين. تشجب المؤسسات المسيحية الفلسطينية وتدين بأشد العبارات قرار وزير الأمن الاسرائيلي"بيني غانتس" الصادر بتاريخ 22/10/2021، بحق ست منظمات حقوقية فلسطينية ...
Jerusalem, Palestine - Palestinian Christian organizations condemn and denounce in the strongest possible terms the decision of the Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz issued on 22/10/2021 against six Palestinian human rights organizations
July 22, 2021
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
٢٧ حزيران ٢٠٢١ - تدين المبادرة المسيحية الفلسطينيّة - كايروس فلسطين، وبأشد العبارات، الجريمة النكراء التي أودت بحياة الناشط الفلسطيني نزار بنات. وإننا، كفكر فلسطيني مسيحي حرّ، يعمل مع سائر أبناء الوطن من أجل الحرية والاستقلال، وسائرون مع كل السائرين على طريق الحرية، سمعنا صوت فلسطين، صوت جماهير فلسطين، الرافضة لأي سياسة قمعية. حريّتنا تبدأ عندما نصون حريّة التعبير عن الرأي والمعتقد؛ إنها حريّة الكلمة والفكر، وتقبّل الاختلاف والنقد.
The Christian Palestinian Initiative, Kairos Palestine, urges the Christian community worldwide to act justly and speak the truth about Israel’s oppressive policies and practices, especially regarding violent attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and Israel’s deadly assault on the people of Gaza.
Read full English statement...
Your sisters and brothers in Palestine implore you to resist the State of Israel’s impending eviction of 15 families from their homes in the Israeli-occupied territory of East Jerusalem.
We give thanks for and come alongside our Christian brother, Frank Chikane, who suffered many years for his courageous anti-apartheid work in South Africa. Now, our friend is unjustly criticized for his solidarity with Palestinians suffering under the apartheid State of Israel.
جاء مرسوم الرئيس لإجراء الانتخابات التشريعية والرئاسية وانتخابات المجلس الوطني استجابة موضوعية لحاجة ملحة في المجتمع الفلسطيني، وفرصة للقيام بالإصلاحات المطلوبة، لكي نبدأ مرحلة جديدة في تاريخنا. نحن شعب تحت الاحتلال، يطالب بحريته واستقلاله. ولنتمكن من النجاح في صراعنا مع الخارج، يتوجب علينا أن نصارع أنفسنا أولا، كل فلسطيني، الراعي والرعية، المسؤولون والشعب، كل واحد يصارع نفسه، ليحرر نفسه من كل ما يعيق استرجاع حريته ممن سلبوه إياها.
Dr. Clint Le Bruyns, a much loved and respected South African theologian, intellectual and activist passed away at the age of 48 years on 7 January 2021 due to complications after contracting Covid-19. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his daughter, his mother, the rest of his family and all his friends, colleagues, students and fellow activists who suffer from this tragic and enormous loss of a human being who stood in service of humanity.
القدس – تتقدم المبادرة المسيحية الوطنية / كايروس فلسطين بأحر التهاني القلبية للدكتور ميشيل عبس بمناسبة انتخابه امينًا عامًا لمجلس كنائس الشرق الاوسط، وتتمنى له النجاح والتوفيق في هذه الشهادة الهامة. ونحن إذ نصلي وندعو له بالنجاح في خدمة وتمكين الحضور المسيحي في المشرق، نهيب به باستمرار الدفاع عن كافة القضايا العربية العادلة واعطاء الاولوية خاصة للدفاع عن القضية الفلسطينية والتي تعاني اليوم من خطر الاندثار والنسيان.
An Open Letter to
The Most Reverend David Malloy, Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, Chair
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on International Justice and Peace
They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
Jeremiah 8:11
The Indo-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) is a growing network of like-minded people drawn from all parts of the country committed to justice and freedom for Palestine. It seeks an end to the racist-colonialist-apartheid politics of Israel through which Israel’s Occupation of Palestinians and their lands have continued for the last 53 years. To enlarge our scope of influence we join with other organizations whose major concern is Palestine. We see the need to create consciousness and mobilize solidarity with the Palestinians on all issues of justice and equality and oppose the illegal annexation of their lands. We desire a just and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. IPSN is globally linked through thousands of Palestinian Christians and people of other faiths through Kairos Palestine and the Global Kairos for Justice Coalition.
Love is seeing the face of God in every human being. Every person is my brother or my sister. However, seeing the face of God in everyone does not mean accepting evil or aggression on their part. Rather, this love seeks to correct the evil and stop the aggression. (Kairos Palestine: a confession of faith and call to action from Palestinian Christians, 4.2.1)
Kairos Palestine expresses its unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone working for racial justice in USA, the demands of which have resonated in communities around the world. The movement has opened an opportune moment—a kairos moment—for citizens in the United States and people of faith and civil society around the world to name and address places of systemic racism, economic inequality, food deprivation, lack of access to health care, and state-sanctioned violence that strip human beings of their dignity, equal rights and far too often their lives.
The board of Kairos Palestine raises an alarm regarding the consequences of the third failed Israeli election in less than a year. The resulting coalition entered on April 20, 2020, combines two of the most right-wing parties—Bennie Gantz’s Blue and White and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud—in a deal that directly threatens Palestinians’ freedom, health and human rights.
The position announced by the U.S. administration regarding what they termed as the ‘deal of the century’ was in fact an insult to history, humanity, the Palestinian people, and the American dignity itself.
The American-Israeli proposal is premised on consolidating Israeli control over all of Palestine’s land, making sure that the Palestinian people are subjected to this control, in return for economic promises that are closer to a deal for buying the people and their spirit with money.
الموقف الذي أعلنته الحكومة الأمريكية في ما سموه ب"صفقة القرن"، كان في الواقع صفعة للتاريخ والإنسانية والشعب الفلسطيني، ويمكن أن نقول صفعة للكرامة الأمريكية نفسها.
الطرح الأمريكي والإسرائيلي مبني على تكريس السيطرة الإسرائيلية على كامل أرض فلسطين، وضرورة خضوع الشعب الفلسطيني لهذه السيطرة، مقابل وعود اقتصادية أقرب إلى عملية شراء الناس بل روح الشعب بالمال .
From the land of Jesus Christ there shone a new light seeking to break through the darkness. It is the light of faith, hope, and love that rise from the heart of Palestinian suffering. Such was the Kairos Palestine’s ‘Moment of Truth’ initiative. Today, we renew the pledge, a group of young women and men of this land, addressing the call to ourselves and all youth, to assume our role, accept our calling and mission in this land, right now and here.
Since the launch of A Moment of Truth ten years ago, life in Palestine has rapidly deteriorated under the illegal occupation by the State of Israel. The oppression is more aggressive and brutal. Our imprisoned and besieged sisters and brothers in Gaza, non-violently gathering in the March of Return, were the targets of a bloody and deadly response. Settlements continue to expand. Threats of annexation of the Jordan Valley and the settlements themselves grow without a word of condemnation from the major powers. We are experiencing the continued dispossession of our land, our freedom and our human rights.
Kairos Palestine expresses deep disappointment that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced—in a statement that disregards the Geneva Conventions, international law and widespread global consensus—a radical departure from U.S. policy regarding the illegal colonial activities of the State of Israel.
Everywhere, and throughout the occupied Palestinian Territories, the Israeli authorities demolish the houses of Palestinians, which the international law stipulates that they be protected and preserved by the occupying authority. In violation to the said law and to implement colonial plans, the Israeli authorities demolish houses, confiscate lands and build settlements on their ruins.
In his traditional speech on New Year’s Eve to accredited ambassadors to the Vatican, His Holiness Pope Francis tackled several international issues that require resolution. On the Palestinian problem, he stated that negotiations are the natural way to achieve the needed solution and to bring about a just peace between the two peoples.
On December 6-7th, 2018, more than 300 people met in Bethlehem, consisting of Palestinian Christian church and organization leaders, Kairos Palestine leaders, people of faith, representatives of the Palestinian civil society, and around 100 international Christians representing the global Kairos for Justice movement and different church bodies.
Kairos Palestine has been following the recent work of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and its Palestine Israel Network with great interest and abiding appreciation. While the Episcopal Church has partnered with the Palestinian Christian community since 1922, we recognize that this is a kairos moment for the Episcopal Church as you meet in Austin, Texas, for the 79th General Convention.
Jerusalem, 25, June 2018, The board, staff and supporters of Kairos Palestine and the members of Global Kairos for Justice coalition celebrate the historic pro-justice actions taken by the Presbyterian Church(USA) at its 223rd General Assembly meeting just days ago. We offer our profound thanks to staff, commissioners and advisory delegates of the PC(USA), and to its mission network, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (www.theipmn.org) which worked tirelessly to bring a slate of resolutions to the church’s assembly gathered in St. Louis.
We who live in a Europe of many elderly people join hands with you the many young people of Palestine and Israel, ensuring you that we will continue to raise our voices and to work with you and for your life, your rights and your dignity as long as we can.
Today, May 15, the people of Palestine mark the day when 70 years ago, they were uprooted from their homes into the status of refugees and statelessness, denied the right of return to their homeland. The South African Council of Churches (SACC), recognizes in sadness, the many lost opportunities since that day, for the creation of a peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine.
This is a letter to Kairos Palestine from an informal collective of civil society groups, churches, and individuals calling for justice on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba
" If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they" (Ecclesiastes 5:8).
Pray for and Express Solidarity with Palestinians
This year marks the 70th year of Nakba: Nakba Day , Yawm an-Nakba, meaning “Day of the Catastrophe” is generally commemorated on 15 May. The day was inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1998.
We are a collection of Palestinian groups and civil society organizations. We address our call to the Palestinian Authority, all Palestinian leaders, Israel, the American administration, the Arab states, the international community, and to all those of good will who support us in seeking our freedom and independence.
We, the undersigned, Justice and Peace-loving citizens in India, urge the US Adminstration to withdraw its recognization of Jerusalem as the Captital of Israel and the proposal to shift its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
President Trump made a speech yesterday in which he said that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Prior to Trumps’s speech yesterday, Patriarchs and the heads of churches in Jerusalem addressed a letter telling Trump that: “We believe that this step will lead to more hatred, conflict, violence and anguish for Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and will hinder the aspired goal of unity and peace.” Many other leaders in the region and the world told Trump the same words but he did not listen to anyone.
We, the undersigned, the justice and peace loving citizens of India, who met on the 1st August 2017 in New Delhi, have resolved to prefer the following Appeal to Govt of India and those who are concerned with the life, livelihood, freedom of Religion and the dignity of Palestinians:
När vi möts den här månaden i Betlehem i det ockuperade Palestina, lider vi fortfarande under 100 år av orättvisa och förtryck som åsamkats det palestinska folket. Det började med den orättvisa och olagliga Balfour-deklarationen 1917 och fortsatte med Nakba och flyktingströmmen 1949. Sedan följde den olagliga israeliska ockupationen av Västbanken och Östra Jerusalem 1967, splittringen och uppdelningen av vårt folk och vårt land genom isolationspolitik, konfiskering av mark och byggande av apartheidmuren och bosättningar för endast judiska invånare.
Wenn wir in diesem Monat in Bethlehem im besetzten Palästina zusammenkommen, leiden wir immer noch an 100 Jahren Ungerechtigkeit und Unterdrückung, die dem palästinensischen Volk mit dem Anfang der ungerechten und gesetzeswidrigen Balfour-Deklaration aufgebürdet wurde, intensiviert durch die Nakba und das Hereinströmen von Flüchtlingen und gefolgt durch die israelische Besetzung der Westbank, von Ostjerusalem und Gaza und der Zerstückelung unseres Volkes und unseres Landes durch die Politik der Isolation und Konfiskation von Land durch die Errichtung von Siedlungen „nur für Juden“ und die Apartheid-Mauer.
Nos hemos reunido este mes en Belén, Palestina ocupada. Llevamos 100 años sufriendo la injusticia y la opresión que se infligió sobre el pueblo palestino, empezando por la injusta e ilegal Declaración Balfour[1], intensificada a través de la Nakba que nos convirtió en refugiados/as, seguida por la ocupación israelí de Cisjordania, Jerusalén oriental y Gaza, y la actual fragmentación de nuestro pueblo y nuestra tierra mediante políticas de aislamiento, confiscación de tierras, construcción de colonias ilegales y del Muro de apartheid.
Wanneer we deze maand in Bethlehem bijelkaar komen, duurt het onrecht van 100 jaar onderdrukking nog steeds voort. Dit onrecht is het Palestijnse volk aangedaan door de onrechtvaardige en onwettige Balfour verklaring, geïntensiveerd door de Nakba en de stroom van vluchtelingen, gevolgd door de Israëlische bezetting van de Westbank inclusief Oost-Jeruzalem en Gaza en de fragmentatie van ons volk en ons grondgebied door het beleid van isolatie en confiscatie van land, en door de bouw van exclusief joodse nederzettingen en de Apartheidsmuur.
Alors que nous allons nous rencontrer ce mois-cià Bethléemen Palestine occupée, nous souffrons toujours des 100 années d’injustice et d’oppression qui ontétéinfligées au peuple palestinien, à commencer par l’injuste et illégale Déclaration Balfour, aggravée par la Nakba et l’affluxde réfugiés,suivie par l’occupation israélienne de la Cis jordanie, de Jérusalem-Estetde Gaza,par la fragmentation de notre peuple et de notre paysà travers des politiques d’isolationetde confiscationde terres,et par la construction decolonies réservées aux seuls Juifs, et du murd’Apartheid.
We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land (A Moment of Truth, introduction). “They say: 'Peace, peace' when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). These days, everyone is speaking about peace in the Middle East and the peace process. So far, however, these are simply words; the reality is one of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, deprivation of our freedom, and all that results from this situation.” (1-1).
As we meet this month in Bethlehem in occupied Palestine, we are still suffering from 100 years of injustice and oppression that were inflicted on the Palestinian people beginning with the unjust and unlawful Balfour declaration, intensified through the Nakba and the influx of refugees, followed by the Israeli occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza and the fragmentation of our people and our land through policies of isolation and confiscation of land, and the building of Jewish-only settlements and the Apartheid Wall.
The voice of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is being heard since April 17 when they announced an all-out hunger strike; around 1,500 prisoners have joined in this hunger strike.
The hunger strike is an appeal to humanity in Israel and worldwide to draw attention to the torture, deprivation and human rights violations faced by prisoners in Israeli political prisons.
On 17 April , 1500 Palestinian political prisoners announced a general strike, fasting until their rights and demands are met. Their demands are mainly an end to administrative detention that is totally illegal under international law. They demand adequate visiting time and conditions.
Christ is risen, he is risen indeed.
Our Easter message is a message of victory over death, a message of joy and hope, against all hopelessness.
Our land is the land of the resurrection for the whole world, yet it is still a land of death, prisons, tortures, demolition of houses, a people under occupation claiming their freedom and dignity, two peoples unable to see their proper place in the land of God.
By Rifat Kassis
The title of this article may provoke some readers since it suggests, unintentionally, that Christians are a sector of society on the verge of extinction due to a variety of pressures and oppression. It reminds me of a statement by His Beatitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah during one of his many lectures. He said: “We as Christians do not face a special kind of threat; we face a threat and danger that covers everyone in our society. This threat is instability, and the absence of peace and justice.”
Dismantle ‘Dividing walls’: The Struggle for Justice and Peace in Palestine Continues
Reflections on the occasion of the World Week for Peace, 18-24 Sept. 2016
Hind Khoury, Kairos Palestine
15 September 2016
THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH STANDS BY JUSTICE FOR PALESTINIANS
17 August, 2016
Kairos Palestine (KP), the voice of Palestinian Christians www.kairospalestine.ps welcomes the recent resolution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) calling on the US government to end aid to Israel until the latter freezes the construction of settlements on occupied Palestinian land and respects international law and human rights.
Pax Christi is the international Catholic peace movement. The regional chapter of Pax Christi Metro DC and Baltimore has just endorsed the Kairos Palestine Call and support of the BDS global movement!
Kairos Palestine welcomes this initiative with the following statement:
Bethlehem, April 22th 2016: In the Cremisan Valley, which neighbors the towns of Beit Jala and Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Israeli Ministry for “Defense” has started the construction of the Annexation Wall on the lands owned by 58 Palestinian Christian families, close to a monestary and its sister convent.
1. Shared History, Present, and Destiny
1.1 When we, Christian Palestinians, engage with our Muslim brethren, we are engaging with our people, our neighbors and colleagues at work, and our partners at all domains of life, whether social, economic, political, or cultural. We are one people, one country, one language,
with the same traditions, anxieties, suffering, and aspirations. This is how we forged our history as one society and one indivisible being.
1.2 If history wanted for us to be as such, then the Almighty God, the Lord of history, wanted that for us as well. Our shared lives are not a coincidence of history, a blind destiny, or a passing situation. Instead, it is God’swill for us, and we commit ourselves to him and follow His
in gladness. This is precisely what we emphasized in our Kairos Document: “Our presence in this land, at Christian and Muslim Palestinians, is not accidental but rather deeply rooted in the history and geography of this land, resonant with the connectedness of any other people to the land it lives in.”1
The assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries has issued a statement on the current situation in Palestine and Israel. Like Kairos Palestine and many civil society organizations call for an end to the violence, also the Commission for Justice and Peace clearly states that the recent uprising is the cry of Palestinian youth who lost their belief and hope in achieving a just and peaceful solution to the Occupation of Palestine. Justice and peace will come when the occupation ends, the wall falls and everybody is granted a life with dignity!
Sunday, 29th of November 2015, is the first day of Advent as well as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People initiated by the United Nations. Tragically in Palestine, this time of Advent is beginning at a very dark time. In Bethlehem, clashes erupt almost daily, Israeli forces have closed down Hebron completely and Palestinian Jerusalemites are facing another round of harsh discrimination and house demolitions. In fact, instead of preparing for Christmas, Palestinians are struggling with the consequences of the past weeks.
Kairos Palestine, representing the voice of Palestinian Christians suffering under Israeli occupation, strongly condemns the pursuit of the colonial settlement expansion in the West Bank and the ongoing construction of the Apartheid Wall. Contrary to Israeli propaganda, the Wall is not a security precaution, especially since 85% of it separates Palestinian Christians and Muslims from their land, and water resources and destroys the socio-economic fabric of Palestinian society. According to international law, these same lands are designated for an independent Palestinian state, a state whose creation will bring about a just and durable peace.
Global and local statistics confirm that around 80 percent of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in northern cities, while the remaining 20 percent live in four camps: Za’atari, Marjeeb al-Fahood, Cyber City, and Al-Azraq.
Since the start of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, northern Jordan has exploded with Syrian refugees fleeing the war. The Jordanian residents of this area – already poor themselves – responded with their natural hospitality, willingly hosting their Syrian brothers and sisters. Jordanian and Syrians alike thought that their problems would last for days or weeks at most.
In a Middle East region that continues to suffer from the consequences of violence, the people of Palestine continue to live under occupation and in exile. Palestinian Christians, the descendants of the first Christians, are an integral part of the Palestinian people, continue to suffer, just like our Palestinian Muslim and Samaritan brothers and sisters, we have been denied of our national and human rights for almost a century. From Jerusalem, our occupied capital, we send our urgent message to the whole world and particularly to Europe: We are yearning for justice and peace. Recognizing Palestine and defining Israel’s borders is a first step towards that goal.
The war in Gaza may be over for now, but unless a long term agreement based on justice and human rights for all in Palestine/Israel is agreed, the cycle of violence will continue. We call on all Christians to act NOW to ensure that this tragedy cannot happen again. Read the statement here.
What is going on these days in Gaza is not war. It is a massacre of civilians, men, women and children. More than 650 people killed and over 4000 injured, the majority being civilians; this cannot be justified as an act of self-defense!
PRESS RELEASE: Response to Gaza violence
Friday, 11 July 2014 11:00, Cape Town
Kairos Southern Africa believes that all lives have the same value, and that all violence is destructive. The current and ongoing situation between Israel and Palestine poses a critical test for the international community’s commitment to international law and human dignity.
In October 2012, Rifat Odeh Kassis, the General Coordinator of Kairos Palestine, wrote "A Word to the PC(USA) and the Course of Justice - On Divestment at the Presbyterian Church PC (U.S.A.) 220th General Assembly". As the PC (USA) 221st General Assembly is voting again on the same issue of divestment today, Mr. Kassis's letter is still spot on:
"People’s interpretations vary enormously in response to the recent decision made by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), during its General Assembly in Pittsburgh, not to divest from specific companies profiting from the illegal Israeli occupation. Some view the vote as a defeat for the pro-justice camp within the church. Others view it as a win-win for both parties: the vote was 333 to 331, after all, with such a thin margin that both sides could claim victory." Read the document here
BADIL issues a joint statement with more than 60 Palestinian (amongst others with Kairos Palestine) and international organizations and networks:
"66 years of ongoing Nakba – Back to Basics: The Right of Return is a national and inalienable right"
September 02, 2013
Bethlehem – Once again, the drums of war are sounding in our region. Once again, the US is leading the campaign for this war, this time on Syria. And once again, the US and some European and Arab countries are justifying it in the name of democracy, human rights, and humanity itself. We have heard all this before… Many American and European-led wars have been waged in these lands, and are still being waged, under the same pretexts. All of these wars have failed to bring about peace, security, and democracy. On the contrary: they have sowed political and social instability and encouraged more extreme movements to flourish and expand their reach.
June 19, 2013
On Tuesday 4th June, Kairos Palestine expressed in a press statement, its deep concerns about the 'price tag' - attack on Jerusalem's Dormition Abbey last Friday.
Overnight Friday, vandals attacked the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem by spraying graffiti on its walls with anti-Christian slogans saying "Christians are monkeys", "Christians are slaves" and "Havat Maon", referring to a settler outpost in the West Bank. Two days before this attack, Palestinian cars in Jerusalem were 'price tagged' with graffiti as well.
Kairos Palestine: A moment of truth
East Jerusalem
P.O.Box 19023
Phone: +970 (2) 277 0047
Fax: +970 (2) 277 0048
Email: kairos@kairospalestine.ps