Leeds Minster rector calls history ‘complex’ when questioned about murdered Bibas children
Canon Paul Maybury was challenged about the Israeli family during a Gaza tapestry exhibition running at the church until Sunday
The rector of Leeds Minster said the “history is complex” when questioned about the murdered Bibas children during an exchange over a controversial Gaza memorial being hosted by the church.
Canon Paul Maybury was challenged by campaigners from Stop the Hate Leeds after the Minster agreed to display Stitch Their Names Together, a huge tapestry bearing the names of Palestinians reported killed in Gaza.
In footage posted online, Maybury is questioned about the Bibas family, including young brothers Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped with their mother Shiri from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks.
When challenged over the family, Maybury said the “history is complex”.
Sharing the footage, campaigner Heidi Bachram wrote: “A church in Leeds hosted a tapestry with the names of dead Gazan terrorists on, and Canon Paul Maybury couldn’t even bring himself to condemn the murder of the Bibas children. He replies, ‘The history is complex’. This is DISGUSTING.”
Deborah Lipstadt, the former US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, also responded, writing: “The killing of the Bibas children is ‘complicated’? From a man of the cloth???”
In separate footage from the exchange, Maybury was asked: “What’s your view of Hamas?” He replied: “No comment.”
Sharing the clip, journalist Nicole Lampert wrote: “Here the Minster’s Rev Paul Maybury finds himself unable to condemn Hamas.”
She added: “The acquiescence of the Anglican Church to the new antisemitism has been one of the things that has shocked me the most. Has the Church learned nothing?”
The exchanges follow a report by The Times that the wider Stitch Their Names Together project appeared to include the names of at least 12 members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and one member of Hamas. Both are proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK.
The newspaper said social media posts from Palestinian Islamic Jihad announcing the deaths of members, in some cases alongside images of them in the group’s uniform, matched names stitched into the project.
Project organiser Mary Evers told The Times that the panels containing the names identified by the newspaper would not be displayed at Leeds Minster because the complete work was too large for the venue.
She said: “The complete body of work is too large to be accommodated in any single venue. Leeds Minster will therefore display only part of it.
“The absence of these names from the Leeds display is a consequence of those practical limitations; no deselection of individual names has taken place.”
Evers said the names were taken from the Gaza health ministry’s death register and that she had been unaware of claims that some belonged to members of proscribed organisations until contacted by The Times.
She added: “The appearance of a name records a reported death. It does not endorse that person’s conduct or beliefs, celebrate any organisation, or express support for any alleged affiliation.”
Maybury previously defended the decision to host the work, saying: “This building permanently commemorates the lives of many hundreds of people and it is appropriate that we host a travelling exhibition poignantly commemorating the many lives of adults and children killed in Gaza since October 2023.”
The Stitch Their Names Together exhibition opened to the public at Leeds Minster on 11 September and is due to remain on display until Sunday, 20 September.
Jewish News has approached Leeds Minster for clarification on Maybury’s remarks.