PCAP - Winter/Spring 2025
After a Deceptive “Ceasefire” in Gaza, the US Green-lights Israel’s Continued Genocide
It goes without saying that there have been several impactful events that have taken place in Palestine, the surrounding region, and the United States over the past three months. In Gaza, a ceasefire between the Palestinian Resistance and Israeli armed forces, which held very shakily for two months, was broken unilaterally by Israel on March 17. Since then, more than 1000 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them children, have been killed by Israeli fire. This is not to mention the grave humanitarian situation that exists due to Israel’s draconian blockade of food, medical necessities, and electricity during the so-called ceasefire.
Despite initial hope from some that Donald Trump’s election signaled a change in US Middle East policy, whatever optimism there was has fallen flat as he has endorsed the forced displacement of all of the 2.3 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. This decision has been met with defiant rejection by the Palestinian people and the Arab World, fueling serious tensions even with the Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel. Egyptian and Israeli analysts, for example, have speculated that a forced expulsion of Palestinians into Egyptian territory could result in a war between the two countries, something that nobody considered possible a year ago. Several of our posts in this Newsletter address this criminal plan of ethnic cleansing.
As the descendants of the first Christians in the land where Jesus walked and preached his message of peace and justice for the oppressed, we raise our voices in opposition to any U.S.-Israeli plans to remove our Palestinian people from their land. Several of our posts in this Newsletter address this criminal plan of ethnic cleansing.
FOSNA: Christians Stand against Forced Displacement and False Doctrines
Call for Signatories and Affirmations
Over 3000 “Christian Zionist” leaders affiliated with American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI), a project of the extremist International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ), recently issued a deeply immoral statement calling on President Trump to declare Israeli sovereignty over the entirety of the Holy Land. That statement can be accessed here. Trump is expected to make an announcement on the topic of annexation within the coming weeks, if not days.
The ACLI statement is wholly inconsistent with the God witnessed to in the pages of scripture and with our moral and ethical obligations as followers of Jesus and the Biblical prophets. We must publicly renounce such efforts and make it clear that those affiliated with ACLI do not speak on behalf of Christians or Christianity. Moreover, we must categorically reject any thinly-disguised plan to annex Palestinian land and engage in continued violence against innocent civilians in the occupied West Bank, in Gaza, and beyond. For the full statement and next steps you can take, please visit the FOSNA website.
Church Leaders in America Must Speak Out against Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
Despite repeated pleas from Palestinian Christians for church leaders to stand boldly and publicly with the Palestinian people and in opposition to Israel’s genocidal war, the leaders of most U.S. Christian denominations have failed to do so. Of course, Christian Zionists, like Pastor John Hagee, stood solidly behind Israel during its 15-month killing spree. But some mainline Christian leaders also made more subtle statements that indicated bias in favor of the Israeli narrative.
At best, the majority of the church establishment in the U.S. did not go much farther than expressing sympathy for the Palestinian victims on humanitarian grounds and calling for a ceasefire. Few had the courage to condemn Israel’s terror against the Palestinian using terms like “genocide” and “ethnic cleaning” and call on the Biden Administration to stop the weapons shipments enabling the slaughter.
Notable exceptions, for which Palestinian Christians are eternally grateful, have included the prophetic statement by the African Methodist Episcopal Church leadership which “called on the United States government to cut funding for Israel,” which it accused of committing "mass genocide" in Gaza. [See AME Church accuses Israel of 'mass genocide' in Gaza | Church & Ministries.] Similarly, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ condemned Israel’s genocidal war and called on the U.S. government to stop arms shipments to it. [See A pastoral letter for peace and justice from leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Global Ministries and A Prophetic Call for Justice and Peace in Palestine - United Church of Christ.]
In contrast, some mainline protestant leaders actually showed bias against the Palestinians while the genocidal onslaught against them was raging. The case of the Episcopal Church is particularly illustrative. While there was a groundswell of outrage among Episcopalians against Israeli atrocities, as evidenced by many excellent proposed resolutions put before the Episcopal General Convention of 2024, the House of Bishops defeated a proposed resolution to express “solidarity with Palestinians as indigenous people.” More recently, Diocese of Washington Bishop Mariann Budde, received accolades for her great courage in calling for compassion for refugees during the Trump inauguration at the National Cathedral. Yet Bishop Budde basically accepted the Israeli narrative regarding the events of October 7th, reserving the harshest language to condemn “Hamas terrorists.”
In her statements on Gaza, Bishop Budde acknowledged that “hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Palestinians are on the brink of starvation [and that] entire families have been destroyed. She said that, “like many Christian leaders, I have remained largely silent on the war between Israel and Hamas.” But she really did not persist in her alleged silence, quickly adding that the Palestinian perpetrators who “brutally attacked [Israel] on October 7… must be held accountable for the atrocities they committed.” Nowhere did Bishop Budde mention who was responsible for the “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Palestinians [who] are on the brink of starvation,” nor that those who are responsible ought to be held accountable for their genocidal crimes.
How much more proof do church leaders need that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, when overwhelming evidence has been gathered and reported by the most respected international organizations, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, especially when the evidence is fully backed by the public pronouncements of top Israeli leaders. There is also the alleged excuse that church leaders do not wish to offend Jews. This excuse rings hollow given that over 350 rabbis have acted with integrity and courage in a NYT full page ad denouncing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians [See ‘No to ethnic cleansing’: over 350 rabbis sign US ad assailing Trump’s Gaza plan | Trump administration | The Guardian.]
Perhaps the blatantly racist and crue language of the leaflets dropped en masse over Gaza can provide further proof-- as if more is needed-- of Israel’s genocidal disregard for the lives of Palestinians.
Church leaders can no longer be silent. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”
Christian Leaders in Jerusalem and Jewish Leaders in US Condemn Trump’s Plan to Remove Palestinians from Gaza
Two recent statements from heads of churches in Jerusalem and hundreds of rabbis in the US have strongly condemned US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to have the US take over Gaza and force the Palestinian people in Gaza to go to other countries.
A joint Statement strongly denouncing Trump’s proposal for Gaza was issued by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem–signed by leaders of the Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches in addition to Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and other leaders on February 14. It decries the immense suffering of Gaza’s people and firmly rejects the idea of forcibly relocating Palestinians in Gaza to other countries. Noting that they are the “...custodians of the Christian faith and conscience in this sacred land,” the leaders wrote, “We raise our voices in sorrow and steadfast resolve in the face of the ongoing suffering in Gaza.” Their criticism was echoed by many in the US and world leaders, including human rights experts at the United Nations, who have noted that forcible transfer is a grave war crime.
Also, on February 13th, a full page ad in the New York Times signed by more than 350 American rabbis and other prominent Jewish public figures stated that, “Jewish people say no to ethnic cleansing.” One signatory of the ad, Rabbi Yosef Berman of New Synagogue Project in Washington, D.C., told the publication Common Dreams (Feb. 13) that "Jewish teaching is clear: Trump is not God and cannot take away Palestinians inherent dignity or steal their land for a real estate deal. Trump's desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza is morally abhorrent. Jewish leaders reject Trump's attempts to wring profit from displacement and suffering and must act to stop this heinous crime."
PCAP Board members join and amplify these voices and others in strongly denouncing President Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza and call for a substantive increase in the flow of humanitarian aid.
Show Christ’s Compassion for Palestinians
…As a child, I grew up in Jerusalem and faithfully attended every church service, Sunday School class, and weekday meeting. I learned from my mentors that God’s love is universal. I was taught that the most popular verse in the Bible, John 3:16, includes me and my people. It took me a long time to realize that most Christians do not mean what they say when they teach and preach God’s love for all people. But I have no doubt that Christ did indeed mean all people--including Palestinians. Since October 7, 2023, this tragic disparity between what Christians teach, and practice has become more obvious.
How many more innocent children in Gaza must be killed before the church acts with compassion? How many more hospitals, schools, churches, colleges, universities, bakeries, and homes in Gaza must be destroyed before our Christian compassion kicks in? How long will we continue to let our racism against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims prevent us from heeding the command of Jesus to love our enemies? When will we stop trusting end-time theologies that prevent us from seeing the Gazan people as humans loved by God and deserving our compassion?…Read more