New Israel-Palestine resource created to enhance Jewish-Christian discussion

The Council of Christians and Jews has published a new written resource in partnership with the Methodist Church, comprising the perspectives of prominent Jewish and Christian leaders on Israel-Palestine after their annual study visits to the Holy Land.

CCJ director Elisabeth Harris-Sawczenko said it would be distributed across Jewish and Christian institutions in the hope that it better enabled a conversation about the conflict and its origins.

Among the Jewish commentators are Rabbi David Mason of Muswell Hill United Synagogue, UJIA director Robin Moss, Board of Deputies director Phil Rosenberg, university chaplain Rabbi Alex Goldberg, and Rabbi David Mitchell from the progressive West London Synagogue.

Most writers reflected on their recent study trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories, where they are exposed to the narratives of politicians, activists and West Bank residents, including Jewish settlers and Palestinian families.

Others such as JCoSS headteacher Patrick Moriarty, who is Christian, reflected on the meaning of Zionism, while others such as former Jewish Leadership Council campaigns officer Judith Flacks-Leigh wrote about the Balfour Declaration.

CCJ chair Michael Ipgrave described the resource as “a roadmap for a kind of virtual pilgrimage to explore this holy land in all its beauty and sorrow, its struggle and its hope”.