THE Archbishop of York has joined other church leaders and charities to demand urgent action from the UK Government to end the “illegal” occupation of Palestine by Israel.
The “Time to Act” campaign was launched on Monday. The coalition plans to lobby MPs and pressure the Government to act for a “just peace”.
Its demands include suspending UK arms sales to Israel; banning trade and investment in illegal Israeli settlements; suspending the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement until the illegal occupation is ended; imposing wide-ranging sanctions; and calling for accountability for war crimes.
Supporters of the campaign include All We Can; Amos Trust; CAFOD; Christian Aid; Christians for Palestine; Commitment for Life; EAPPI UK and Ireland; Embrace the Middle East; FaithJustice; the Iona Community; Justice and Peace Scotland; the Methodist Church; Pax Christi England and Wales; Quakers in Britain; Sabeel-Kairos UK; SCIAF; the Union of Welsh Independents; the United Reformed Church; and the Church in Wales.
Archbishop Cottrell said that the campaign “provides us with the opportunity to come together as Christians and to advocate for a just peace in Israel and Palestine — a peace characterised by the active promotion of justice and the nurturing of equitable relationships within and between communities so that everyone can live life in all its fullness. I encourage all Christians to join this campaign and to seek this peace and to pursue it with all the urgency that it requires.”
The Revd Dr Munther Isaac
The Palestinian theologian, the Revd Dr Munther Isaac, who is director of the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice, and pastor of Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ramallah, is also in support.
Dr Isaac said: “We need churches in the UK to speak up because we are one body. When one member suffers, all suffer together. Solidarity is not optional; it is part of our calling as followers of Christ.”
He continued: “There is also a particular responsibility. Given Britain’s historical role, both through its colonial legacy and its support for Zionism, and given the ways Christian theology has at times been used to justify injustice, churches in the UK have a special moral obligation to speak with clarity and courage.”
A spokesman for the campaign, the Revd John Plant, from Christian Aid, said: “Until our leaders act, the violence, displacement, detention, and fear will carry on. Communities will be decimated, whole families wiped out, along with the possibility of a Palestinian state.”