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:
“Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Kairos Palestine welcomes with profound gratitude the courageous and prophetic initiative of PCMDCB endorsing the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against the illegal Israeli occupation and settler colonialism in Palestine.
In December 2015 we wrote to you a letter of support hoping that you will achieve your mission in endorsing BDS. And yes you did! On behalf of the Kairos Palestine Co-Authors as well as all members of Kairos Palestine, we want to say thank you! We are truly thrilled by your decision to join Pax Christi networks like Britain, the Netherlands or Germany in their Kairos commitment towards justice and peace in the Middle East. We believe that this step will be a signal to the American Catholic Church and may be a starting point to motivate other faith-based groups to join in our common path of justice.
Our creative resistance, like BDS, but also others (spreading the Palestinian Contextual Theology, promotion of “come and see’ pilgrimage, and empowering young people to stand up for their rights by culture and arts), is indeed bringing change at a time when international law and human values are being replaced by dehumanization and violence. Our beloved Patriarch Emeritus, Michel Sabbah, once said: “We can help our political leaders, and our people, to free themselves from fear, mistrust and to reach the so-long-desired peace. - The beginning of the Palestinian freedom is also a beginning of reconciliation between the two peoples, Palestinian and Israeli.” Let us take this wisdom as a motivation to promote our nonviolent action in our church communities, networks, political parties and even beyond until the occupation ends. It is very important to always remember the principles of a prophetic church; the church has to keep challenging, keep questioning and striving to change the world by liberating the powers from evil and proclaim good news to the poor and the oppressed.
Your response to our Kairos Palestine call dated 7th of May 2016 is a proof that the Global Church can be prophetic with the "...vocation as a living Church (is) to bear witness to the goodness of God and the dignity of human beings. We are called to pray and to make our voice heard when we announce a new society where human beings believe in their own dignity and the dignity of their adversaries" (Kairos Document 3.4.2). We are most grateful for your clear resolution and resolve to continue praying for a future with dignity to all in Israel and Palestine, to study and promote the Kairos Palestine document: A Moment of Truth, to commit to dialogue with the wider Pax Christi family on these matters and to affirm your engagement in diverse nonviolent witness and action.
As we pursue the appeal to the Global Church to be more vocal and active in translating the prophetic voice of the Church and its related branches into concrete actions, your response to our call is most encouraging and so much needed to help us face growing adversity and suffering that is extending beyond Palestine to the region and the world.
At this juncture, we also wish to extend our deep appreciation for the on-going support of the international Pax Christi movement for a just peace and creative resistance through nonviolence. Let us all together pray and take action that peace will triumph over evil – and that Palestinians and Israelis alike are able to live in dignity.
With gratitude, hope and solidarity,
Hind Khoury
General Secretary
Kairos Palestine