London, 10th July 2026 – The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) welcomes the Church of England’s discussion of a report by Palestinian Christian group Kairos Palestine.
The report, ‘A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide’, was issued on 14th November 2025 and says Palestinian Christians gathered “after prayer and reflection on the suffering of our people under occupation” and declare: “We live now in a time of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement unfolding before the eyes of the world.”
The General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, is due to consider a motion encouraging engagement with the document at its annual gathering in York. The motion asks the Church to receive and engage with the report as part of its understanding of Palestinian Christian experience amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The document describes Israel as a “colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity” and says Palestinians are “the indigenous people of this land”. It calls on churches “to distinguish between dialogue with Jews and dialogue with Zionism” and that “The genocidal war on Gaza is the continuation of the Zionist project to seize all of Palestine, emptied of its Palestinian people.” The document has already been formally accepted by the Methodist Church.
Although the motion merely asks the Church to engage with the document, attempts by external groups and figures to prevent even its discussion are deeply concerning and should be recognised as an effort to silence Palestinian Christian testimony at a moment of profound suffering and moral urgency.
Efforts by pro-Israel figures to suppress debate within the Church stand in sharp contrast to repeated warnings from former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Hosam Naoum about the accelerating disappearance of the Christian community in Palestine. As Archbishop Naoum has observed, Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem increasingly say, “In 15 years’ time, there’ll be none of us left” – a sobering warning about the future of Christianity in the Holy Land.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at [email protected].
Image: Bukvoed via Wikimedia Commons