Call to action
We join the Christians and the members of the Churches in the UK and Sweden in the following
statement:
We are currently witnessing an escalation in violence in Palestine and Israel that has brought death,
injury, destruction and havoc to the lives of thousands of innocent people living there. We strongly
condemn the use of violence and military force against civilians on all sides and mourn with those
that have lost loved ones. The atrocities committed by Hamas militants inside Israel
–
the killing,
maiming, and kidnapping of civilians rightly invokes outrage and condemnation. Israel’s military
violence against civilians in Gaza, including the destruction of residential buildings that has wiped
out whole families, and now the cutting off of water, food, electricity and fuel which constitutes
collective punishment require equal condemnation.
Today the Israeli military has ordered 1.1 million
Palestinians in the Northern Gaza strip to evacuate to the South. There is nowhere for them to go. The
UN has said that this will be ‘“impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences”.
Both parties have potentially committed war crimes/crimes against humanity and should be held to
account for their actions. Ultimately violence will only beget more violence and will not address the
root cause of the problem or seek to find solutions and ways forward based on justice, equality, and
peace.
The events of the last few days have not happened in silo. For 75 years the Palestinian people have
suffered oppression, domination, displacement, dispossession, and denial of their basic rights. 56 of
those years have been endured under military occupation, with every aspect of their lives controlled
by Israel. In Gaza, the last 16 years have seen the imposition of a brutal blockade which has
devastated the economy, caused unimaginable suffering for the people of Gaza, and wrought
environmental destruction on the land.
In 2012 the United Nations warned the world that Gaza would be unliveable in 2020. We are now 3
years past that, and there has been no meaningful international pressure on Israel to lift its inhumane
blockade. 80% of the population rely on aid to survive, 50% are children, only 2% of the population
are estimated to be affiliated with military groups. International law is clear
–
collective punishment
of a population, held as responsible for the actions of Hamas, is illegal.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Israel continues to steal land, property, and natural resources from
Palestinians, increasing the number of settlements and settler outposts, and the settlers that live in
them. The election of far-right members to the Israeli Knesset earlier this year has emboldened
those settlers to the point that violence and attacks on Palestinians, their property, and their lands
has increased three-fold. Before this latest escalation over 200 Palestinians have been killed in the
West Bank this year so far
–
the deadliest year on record since 2005.
The occupation is illegal, both in its unprecedented length and permanency, and in how it is
imposed. But recent analysis by leading human rights organisations has moved us beyond
occupation to the conclusion that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians both
inside the Palestinian territories, and even within their own state.