Board condemns Church of England event with ‘Zionism is supremacy’ Palestinian pastor

The Board of Deputies has criticised a decision by Lambeth Palace to host an event featuring a Palestinian cleric who describes Zionism as “an ideology of supremacy” and “having turned God into a racist tribal deity of their image”.

Munther Isaac, a Christian Pastor based in Bethlehem, is best known for his involvement in organisations which specifically try and identify the Palestinian experience with that of Jesus, such as ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’. In 2023, Isaac gave a Christmas sermon in which he claimed that if Jesus had been born today, it would have been under the rubble. He is believed to have joined the event at Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, via video link-up on Tuesday.

Last week, Isaac published a document which accused “many churches” of having “adopted the colonizer’s narrative or remain silent in the face of genocide” and accused Israel of “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing”, “settler colonialism”, “apartheid”, “Jewish supremacy…codified in the Nation-State Law”, “Environmental genocide”, “Christian Zionism as a theology of racism, colonialism and ethnic supremacy” and “the misuse of antisemitism to silence the Palestinian voice of truth”. The document, named “Kairos Palestine II”, also states that “We reject the very concept of conflict. The reality on the ground is colonial, oppressive tyranny…to call this a conflict is to participate in erasure. This language is not neutral; it is complicity…equally dangerous is the refusal to name settler colonialism — replaced with slogans of reconciliation or ‘dialogue.’ Kairos II exposes such avoidance.”

The event at Lambeth Palace comes after Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, returned from a trip to the West Bank, part of which was spent in the company of Isaac. In an interview with Church Times this week, Cottrell described what he termed as Israel’s “genocidal acts” in Gaza, and described the situation in the West Bank as amounting to “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing”

A Board spokesperson said:

“We are concerned to hear about Lambeth Palace’s hosting of Munther Isaac, whose theologically problematic rhetoric in relation to the conflict in Israel and Gaza is very disturbing. We are particularly troubled by his Kairos 2 declaration and its attempts to reframe a complex and fraught geopolitical conflict in polemical religious language.

“We are also concerned about recent remarks attributed to the Archbishop of York in this area, and will be in touch with his office to seek clarification.

Last year the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, initially declined to meet Isaac, having been advised that it would adversely affect the Church of England’s relationship with the UK Jewish community. However, after furious responses from Palestinian supporting Anglicans, Welby reversed his decision, publicly apologising for the “hurt, anger, and confusion” it has caused, and saying “I was wrong not to meet with my brother in Christ from the Holy Land, especially at this time of profound suffering for our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters. I look forward to speaking and praying with him next week.”

Last month, the Church of England announced Justin Welby’s successor: Sarah Mullally, who has previously served as Bishop of London. The official enthronement ceremony for the new spiritual leader of the Church of England will take place in the new year.

A spokesperson for the Church of England said: “The event hosted at Lambeth Palace was convened by British ecumenical church leaders and Christian agencies. It was an opportunity to hear a range of perspectives on the situation in Palestine and Israel. This included, importantly, the chance to hear from Palestinian Christians about the injustices, challenges and pressures they face.”