Pax Christi England and Wales, Cafod and the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales have endorsed an international letter, signed by 140 Christian leaders and organisations urging an immediate Gaza ceasefire and the halt to arms sales to Israel. Coordinated by Churches for the Middle East and dated 26 March, the letter notes that as of 25 March 2024, at least 32,333 people in Gaza had been killed and more than 74,694 injured, the majority of them women and children.
And on 29 March, more than 115 British Parliamentarians from all political parties wrote to the Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron, on Palestinians facing starvation in Gaza. They demanded that Israel stops using starvation as a weapon of war, that UK funds to UNRWA be restored and that the UK government to put pressure on Israel to allow full access for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
The letter urges Israel to abide by the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice. A full list of signatories – only open to backbenchers – is available on the website of the Council for Arab-British Understanding.
Other initiatives calling for peace included a three-hour peace pilgrimage in Coventry for a ceasefire in Gaza, beginning and ending at Coventry Cathedral.
Organised by local members of the Passionist Community and Pax Christi England and Wales, the ecumenical group included Catholics, Quakers, Methodists and Anglicans.
Carrying placards, they walked in silence through the city to sites of peace and reconciliation. Final prayers were at the font, the boulder brought from the hills near Bethlehem, and at the global candle stand where candles were lit as signs of hope. Members of the group signed letters to local councillors, MPs and church leaders asking them to take action for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, free access of aid to all parts of Gaza, the return of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages and an end to the occupation so that talks can start working towards justice, peace, freedom and equality for everyone in the Holy Land.
A Christian bloc, which gathered at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in London, walked behind a Jewish bloc in Saturday’s “Ceasefire Now” National March for Palestine, the eleventh such march in London over the past five months, involving at least 200,000 marchers. One banner in the Christian bloc read: “It’s still Good Friday in Gaza”.
On 26 April, Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza is due to visit Glasgow for a meeting with Church leaders in the city. These include Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow, ecumenical partners and representatives from Sciaf and Justice and Peace Scotland. Mass will be celebrated at St Andrew’s cathedral in Glasgow.
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