Today, Saturday, Nov. 29, is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The date commemorates the day in 1947 when the United Nations adopted Resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine.

In mid-November, Kairos Palestine released its new document, Kairos II: A Moment of Truth in a Time of Genocide. This document builds on the call to the international church of the first Kairos document from 2009, Kairos Palestine, A Moment of Truth: A Word of Faith, Hope and Love from the Heart of Palestinian Suffering.

Below are a few highlights from the call to the churches section of the new document:

Five things TO DO to support Palestine:

  • Clearly name genocide, settler colonialism, apartheid
  • Advocate for accountability and international law
  • Reject and expose theologies that justify oppression, e.g., Christian Zionism
  • Practice costly solidarity through public, active, engagement
  • Support creative nonviolent resistance, including BDS

Five things TO NOT DO:

  • Avoid “both-sides” framing; do not conflate oppressor and oppressed
  • Do not promote dialogue without justice
  • Do not spiritualize or depoliticize the struggle, reducing it to a “religious issue”
  • Do not accept or promote solutions that don’t include justice
  • Do not remain silent or passive in the face of genocide

Stay tuned, Pax Christi USA will have a further response to the new Kairos Palestine statement in the coming weeks.

Resources:

  • Sign up for the Red Candle campaign, a nonviolent movement for justice and peace in Palestine; the website has many resources for prayer, study and action. The Red Candle movement invites Christians around the world to stand in costly solidarity with Palestinians through prayer, action, and advocacy—rejecting apathy and theological distortions like Christian Zionism that sanctify violence
  • For those in the Washington, DC area, join us on Thursday, December 4 at the lighting of the national Christmas tree. We will walk to the ceremony with a Christ in the Rubble tableau while singing ceasefire Christmas carols. Join us anytime between 4:30-6:30 PM near the White House Ellipse at 17th and D Street, NW. Please share this flyer with your churches, organizations, networks, and neighbors.
  • Christ in the rubble toolkit – As we spend the next few weeks anticipating the arrival of the Christ Child, Palestinian Christians and their neighbors are enduring suffering and war. Use this toolkit to organize a “Christ in the rubble” creche.

On this day, we reaffirm our solidarity with all our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land. For it is only when every human being is valued as a child of God that justice and peace will prevail. We stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza as they continue to endure a nightmare of unthinkable proportion. We stand in solidarity with the people of the West Bank who are increasingly victims of settler and military violence and an on-going military occupation. We stand in solidarity with the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem as they call out for the protection of the Armenian Quarter and other Christian holy sites. We stand in solidarity with all those who have been displaced because of the war in Gaza and from the unhindered demolition of houses and land confiscation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We stand in solidarity with all those suffering from wounds of the body and spirit. We stand in solidarity with all those who are mourning the death of a beloved family member or friend. We stand in solidarity with all those whose cries for freedom, justice and peace go unanswered. — Adapted from Pax Christi International, 2023

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