The National Parliament of the Church of England, known as the General Synod, voted to express solidarity with Palestinian Christians and to officially consider their experiences, despite facing criticism from Jewish organizations. The decision, made on Monday following debates that began the previous day, involves engaging with the documents of the Palestinian churches Kairos Palestine and Kairos Palestine II.
According to a statement from the Church of England, the proposal was adopted to show solidarity with Palestinian Christians, “their fellow Palestinian compatriots in non-violent resistance to the ongoing occupation” and “to affirm our commitment to interfaith dialogue, including Christian-Jewish dialogue”.
The Kairos Palestine document, published in 2009, describes the experiences of Christians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and calls for an end to the Israeli occupation. “Our presence on this land, as Christian and Muslim Palestinians, is not accidental, but deeply rooted in the history and geography of this land, which resonates with the connection of any other people to the land on which they live”, the Kairos Palestine document states. “The West sought to atone for what Jews experienced in the countries of Europe, but it atoned for it at our expense and on our land. They tried to correct an injustice, and the result was a new injustice”, the document adds.
In 2025, the collective published a new document titled Kairos Palestine II – A Moment of Truth: Faith in Times of Genocide. In it, the authors describe Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocidal war” and mention ongoing attacks by both Israeli forces and settlers on occupied Palestinian territory. “In light of all this, we must call things by their names: Israel is a colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity, built on the displacement of the indigenous population and its replacement with new settlers”, the document states.
Reaction and Criticism
During the debates, the documents faced criticism for their language regarding the actions of Israel. In response, Ven Stewart Fife, Archdeacon of West Cumberland in the Diocese of Carlisle, who opened the debates on Sunday, acknowledged that some expressions are “difficult”, but emphasized that they were written in the aftermath of the war in Gaza. “If the language is difficult, it comes from a place of deep trauma”, he said. “Would we, under other circumstances, say to those who have experienced trauma: ‘You cannot use this language; you are wrong; it is not true?’ Would we not accept their testimony and seek to understand? That is what this proposal calls for”, Fife stated.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, since October 2023, at least 73,250 people have been killed in the Gaza war, and another 173,751 have been injured.
After the proposal was adopted, an open statement titled “Christian Declaration Against Kairos II”, which had been signed by 1,877 people as of Friday, called on churches to reject the document. Led by Reagan King, pastor of the Angel Church in Islington (London), the letter stated: “We are convinced that Kairos II does not serve the interests of Palestinian Christians and only hinders the cause of peace”. The authors also claimed that the document unjustly accuses Israel of genocide.
Last year, a commission from the United Nations concluded that Israeli authorities and forces had committed acts of genocide in Gaza, as defined by the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, including killings and the destruction of Palestinian life in the besieged territory.
The Chief Rabbi of Great Britain Ephraim Mirvis also condemned the Synod’s decision to engage with the Kairos II document. He stated that the document contains false claims, employs extremist rhetoric, and does not promote dialogue. According to Mirvis, Kairos II simplifies one of the world’s most complex conflicts into a distorted narrative that only harms the cause of peace.
Position of the Archbishop
Archbishop of Canterbury Sara Mullally told the Synod that engaging with the experiences of Palestinian Christians, as outlined in the document, does not imply that the Church agrees with all its statements. “The urgency of the situation in the Holy Land demands difficult conversations from us”, she said. “We must listen to what is hard to hear and risk engaging in dialogue through differences”, Mullally added.
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine welcomed the Church of England’s decision on Tuesday, stating that it carries special weight due to the Church’s influence on British public life. The committee emphasized that this decision reflects a growing desire among international churches to listen to the voices of Palestinian Christians.
It was also noted that Mullally recently visited the occupied West Bank, where she met with Palestinian religious and political figures and learned about the situation of local Christian communities.
