Palestinian Christians Cry Out, Part I

In 2009, The Palestinian Christian Ecumenical Initiative issued the Kairos Palestine Document – “A word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.” In the next two VJP newsletters – December 5 and December 12 – we will feature the new Kairos Palestine document issued in November 2025 – “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide.” The document is linked here, and I strongly urge our readers to engage it and absorb its wisdom.

Much has happened in sixteen years, most notably the Al Aqsa Flood attack by Hamas on October 7th, 2023 in which some 1200 Israelis were killed, an untold number by Israel’s own military, due to the invoking of “the Hannibal Directive,” and 250 hostages taken. Israel, backed by U.S. and Western European government military and diplomatic support, responded over the next two years with a savage obliteration of Gaza and the killing and wounding of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. In addition, the West Bank and East Jerusalem has been subjected to intensified settler attacks and escalating ethnic cleansing. The new Kairos Palestine Document (2025) takes stock of the devastating genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and reflects theologically on the colossal suffering of the Palestinian people in this historical moment.

The new Kairos Palestine document is divided into four parts – 1) The Reality: Genocide, Colonization, and Ethnic Cleansing, 2) A Moment of Truth for Us, 3) A Call to Repentance and Action, and 4) Faith in a Time of Genocide. This week, we’ll look at part 1, and next week, parts 2, 3, and 4.

The Palestinian Christian Initiative states very clearly, as it has in the past, that Israel remains firmly committed to its decades-long Zionist settler colonization project. Israel’s aim continues to be the forcible displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population and replacing them with Jews. The goal from the beginning has been to create a majority Jewish state in historic Palestine with as few Palestinians as possible. What has changed is that this long-standing intention has become clearer than ever before:

• “Exposed today is the true face of Zionist ideology: a system that over decades has entrenched an organized and sophisticated regime of apartheid, supported by advanced technologies, exercising total control over every aspect of Palestinian life – fragmenting the land, dividing its people, and turning Palestinian existence into an unbearable hell….The genocidal war on Gaza is the continuation of the Zionist project to seize all of Palestine, emptied of its Palestinian people {1.3}.”

While Israel’s policy of abduction and imprisonment of Palestinians is nothing new, the new Kairos Palestine document calls attention to ever-more-aggressive attacks on the human rights of Palestinians in detention (estimated as many as 12,000):

• “Since October 7, 2023, Israel has dramatically expanded its policy of abduction and imprisonment. Today thousands of Palestinians – male and female alike – are being held in Israeli prisons, roughly one-third are detained without charge or trial under administration detention. Among them are many children. Numerous deaths have been recorded in prisons since the war began. Human rights organizations have documented systematic practices of torture, sexual violence, starvation policies, and the denial of medical care. Prisoners, especially those from Gaza,…are subjected to complete isolation from the outside world under Israeli military law – resulting in large numbers of enforced disappearances, loss of legal representation and total absence of communication [1.13}.”

Another troubling sign of Israel’s accelerating military domination over the entire region is its belligerent attacks on many countries in the Middle East, violating their sovereignty and that of their peoples, “flouting international law, and entrenching itself as an aggressive, bullying state above all laws and conventions – pushing the region and indeed the world to the brink of catastrophe {1.19].” Israel has bombed Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, Gaza, and Palestine with impunity. These are egregious violations of international law, and yet Israel faces no consequences for their crimes.

The 2025 Kairos Palestine document also calls attention to the “normalization agreements” between Israel and some Arab states under the name, “the Abraham Accords.” This is a disturbing new development since the first Kairos Palestine document in 2009.

• “These accords have instead normalized occupation and apartheid in Palestine, rendering them acceptable, normal realities. A new phenomenon has also emerged – “Zionist Islam,” a recent movement among certain Arabs and Muslims who, for religious, economic, or geopolitical reasons, support Zionism and regard Israel as a potential ally [1.21}.”

The emerging trend of Israel and its western allies openly defying international law, or worse, ignoring it as not applying to Israel, while not new, has further entrenched a backsliding toward fascism and a dangerous ethos of “might makes right.” The American 20-point “peace plan” lets Israel off scot-free. They face no accountability for two years of genocidal violence – the gravest of the crimes against humanity under international law.

• “We are now living in a new era – an age in which “might makes right” and peace is imposed through military power in defiance of international law and the rulings of legitimate international courts. We reaffirm our commitment to the respect and authority of international law, which guarantees human rights and global peace among nations and peoples. This moment in human history demands a faith-based stance – one that speaks truth to power and tyranny without compromise or evasion. This goes beyond any particular Palestinian dimension; it is truly a moment of truth [1.23].”

Next week, we delve into the creative responses of the Palestine Christian Ecumenical Initiative to these immensely challenging new realities.