Chief Rabbi: Church motion on Palestine a sad day for Jewish-Christian relations

The UK’s chief rabbi has described as “shameful” a vote by the Church of England’s parliament to “engage” with a document which referred to a “genocidal war on Gaza”.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis called it a “sad day for Jewish-Christian relations”.

General Synod – known as the Church’s parliament – debated a motion to “stand in solidarity” with Palestinian Christians “and their fellow Palestinians in non-violent resistance to the ongoing occupation”.

The motion had originally asked Synod to “receive” various documents citing the experience of Palestinian Christians, but this was amended during debate at its meeting in York to say that members would “hear” the document contents instead.

It also included an encouragement for “the Church of England at all levels to engage with those documents as part of a quest for greater understanding of the situation” in the Middle East.

One document, known as Kairos Palestine II, entitled A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide, said: “Zionists do not want us to remain on our land. Their plan for us is displacement, death or submission.

“The genocidal war on Gaza is the continuation of the Zionist project to seize all of Palestine, emptied of its Palestinian people. Ethnic cleansing and the denial of the right of return to those forcibly displaced are ongoing policies practised in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the territories of 1948.”

Sir Ephraim had, ahead of the debate, criticised the document, saying it “presents a one-sided account of a complex conflict, downplays the historical experiences and legitimate concerns of Jewish people, and offers little more than political activism dressed up as theology”.

After the motion was passed on Monday, he said it was “shameful that the Church of England General Synod has recommended engagement with Kairos II”.

He added: “This is a document full of falsehood, which openly rejects dialogue, uses extreme rhetoric to challenge the very existence of Israel and objects to existing peace agreements in the region.

“Though it poses as a route to understanding, Kairos II in fact functions as an egregious barrier to it, reducing one of the world’s most complex conflicts to a single, warped narrative, which can only harm the cause of peace.

“This is a sad day for Jewish-Christian relations.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews had called on Synod to “reject the Kairos documents, especially Kairos II and its false and dangerous claims, just as the Church should distance itself from any initiative from either side that perpetuates demonising myths about the other”.

After it passed, the board’s president, Phil Rosenberg, described the motion as “highly problematic” adding that there “is also a clear tension between the incendiary wording of the (Kairos) document and the Church’s expressed aim of tackling antisemitism”.

Dame Sarah, addressing Synod during the debate, said: “To hear the heartfelt expressions of the lived experiences of the Palestinian Christians does not mean we agree with everything in these documents, but it does mean that we listen with compassion and stand in solidarity with them amidst the many injustices they face.”

She also acknowledged the concerns of the chief rabbi and others, noting that “the pain and trauma of the appalling 7 October attacks have not receded: they remain a daily reality for Jewish people in Israel and around the world”.

She added: “More than ever, we need critical and respectful dialogue – one that includes the voices of Palestinian Christians, as well as our Jewish and Muslim friends.”

The motion called on Synod members to “hear” the documents as heartfelt expressions of the lived experience of Palestinian Christians and encourage engagement at all levels of the Church with the documents.

In her address, Dame Sarah warned that Palestine “is disappearing” and spoke of the “palpable” fear of people in that area, which she visited last month.

She said: “From Gaza to the north of Israel, from southern Lebanon to the West Bank, people across the region are traumatised by ongoing conflicts.”

She spoke of settlements in the West Bank which had “expanded at unprecedented rates” with thousands of Palestinians “being forced from their land”, and told of “settler violence and social, economic, and political hopelessness”.

She added: “Put simply, Palestine, which the British government recognised last year, is disappearing.”

During her June trip, Dame Sarah had, in the first visit of an Archbishop of Canterbury to the Palestinian Christian town of Birzeit in the West Bank, told Palestinians she would use her role to seek “the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve”.

Her pilgrimage involved meeting, praying and worshipping with Palestinian Christians in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Israel.

In her Synod debate, she said: “I am a pastor, not a politician. When I say the Palestinian people deserve their freedom, that is not a political statement, but a moral and spiritual one.

“Both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live free from the horrors of war, terrorism, occupation, displacement, and oppression.

“International humanitarian law offers the best protection from all such violations of human rights and dignity – it must be upheld across Israel and Palestine.”

She said the motion “rightly notes that we lament – equally, without qualification – the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives” and affirms “our rejection of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hostility”.

She added: “More than ever, we need a critical, respectful dialogue – that includes the voices of Palestinian Christians, as well as our Jewish and Muslim friends.”

Christian Aid, Embrace the Middle East and Sabeel-Kairos UK, all members of the Just Peace Coalition, said: “We welcome the passing of the motion and urge churches, dioceses and individuals across the Church of England to engage seriously with the testimony of Palestinian Christians, to pray for all those affected by violence and injustice, and to commit themselves to the pursuit of justice, peace and reconciliation for all.”