Palestinians rendered ‘invisible’, say Christian leaders

‘It is essential to affirm that our criticisms of Israel’s policies and the actions of its leaders are not directed at Jewish communities or Judaism itself.’

Pax Christi USA issued a statement to support Kairos Palestine after it criticised the decision of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to collaborate with the American Jewish Committee to create a Catholic edition of its online tool “Translate Hate”.  

Kairos Palestine said the tool “equates Palestinian resistance with antisemitism, a dangerous conflation that distorts reality and undermines legitimate criticism of Israeli racist laws and policies”.

In a letter sent late last month to the USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio, 16 Palestinian Christian leaders representing Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant denominations and church organisations expressed deep disappointment at the USCCB’s endorsement of the online resource.  

It said it was “adopted without any form of consultation with Palestinian Christians, rendering us invisible and non-existent in a discourse that directly impacts our lives and communities”. The document “claims that accusations of settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing in Palestine are ‘categorically false’, disregarding overwhelming evidence from organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International”.

The former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah was among the signatories, alongside the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate’s Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia.

“It is essential to affirm that our criticisms of Israel’s policies and the actions of its leaders are not directed at Jewish communities or Judaism itself,” the letter said. “Israel and its policies must not be conflated with Jewish identity, and our call for accountability is not an expression of antisemitism.”

Rifat Kassis, general secretary of Kairos Palestine, said that “at a time when Palestinian civilians are being massacred and starved to death, the USCCB has adopted a document that purports to counter antisemitism, but which is a thinly veiled attack on Palestinians.”

Patriarch Sabbah was also among the signatories of the first statement of a new ecumenical group Jerusalem Voice for Justice on 1 April, invoking the parable of the Good Samaritan to demand international support for Palestinians.

“We refuse to simply pass you by,” they said, addressing the people of Gaza and the West Bank. “We seek to make your cries heard in a world which needs to be shaken out of its complacency.”

They called on those around the world who “still hope, in your silence, that someone else along the way will stop to help” to see “that no one is stopping”.

“Now is the time to insist that Palestinians have the right to live in their homeland, and to join with those calling all over the world for equality, justice and peace for Palestinians and Israeli alike,” they said. “To expel the Palestinians from their homeland is not only an act of violence; it is sacrilege.”

Other signatories included the former Lutheran Bishop of the Holy Land Munib Younan, the Jesuit Fr David Neuhaus and Sawsan Bitar, the coordinator of the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre.

Gaza’s parish priest told Aid to the Church in Need that people in the territory were facing “extreme poverty” which his church was striving to relieve.

“Living in close quarters with 500 people isn’t easy, but even so, we consider ourselves lucky,” said Fr Gabriel Romanelli IVE of the Holy Family Parish, where he said about half of the Christians remaining in Gaza were sheltering.

“As we say, we live with Jesus, in his house, and despite everything, we manage not only to survive, but also to help thousands of other families with food, water and medication, though all of this is limited, as for the past few weeks the borders have been closed to humanitarian aid.”

He said that while some of his parishioners have left Gaza when they had the opportunity, others do not want to “because they were born here, this is their land, and they see themselves as the descendants of the first Christians”.

On Monday, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis was continuing to make regular calls to the Holy Family Parish as he convalesced in his Casa Santa Marta residence.

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