Responding to Genocide and Occupation
“We say that our option as Christians in the face of the Israeli occupation is to resist. Resistance is a right and a duty for the Christian. But it is resistance with love as its logic. It is thus a creative resistance for it must find human ways that engage the humanity of the enemy.” – Kairos Palestine Document, 2009
Responding to Genocide and Occupation
In the context of genocide, morality has become a casualty. “There is competition for our compassion. The tendency is to make the world very binary; therefore, our morality becomes binary as well. But our message as moral agents is this: ‘God loves everyone!’”
These are words spoken by Shadia Qubti at CFOS’ annual James Graff Memorial Lecture (JGML) on November 4, 2024. Shadia and Daniel Bannoura were the guest speakers at the event, entitled “One Year Later: Our Response to Genocide and Occupation in Palestine.” Both Palestinians now living North America, Shadia and Daniel expressed the agony of witnessing the genocide of their people, while trying to remain actively engaged and hopeful from afar.
Daniel and Shadia were highly critical of some Western Christians who dehumanize Palestinians and use the Bible to support genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. The West has always named some peoples as its “savages,” Daniel said, noting that “the Palestinian is the new savage.” Shadia spoke about how a decolonized faith enables her to imagine a reality different from the present.
Both speakers expressed deep gratitude to Canadians who show up in support of the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation – whether by writing to their MPs, by reaching out to people with opposing views, by nurturing a new generation of passionate advocates, or by continuing to listen to Palestinians.
Thank-you to those who attended the lecture in-person or online. A recording of the event is found here. If you did not purchase a ticket to the JGML, we invite you to make a donation so that we can continue to provide this kind of programming.
CFOS is hiring!
Do you care about justice for Palestinians? And do you have expertise in communications, social media and database management? Then perhaps CFOS is the place for you!
CFOS is eager to hire a part-time (5 hours per week) person in the role of Communications & Outreach Coordinator. This independent contractor will help to implement CFOS goals and build the profile and membership of the organization, primarily through social media and regular outreach to our donors and supporters.
Information on the position and the qualifications is available here. Please share!
Best wishes to Kairos Palestine on its 15th birthday!
Fifteen years ago, in 2009, a group of Palestinian Christian leaders united to write and release a letter that came to be known informally as the Kairos Palestine Document. Fashioned after a similar document issued by South African Christians in 1985, the letter was entitled, “A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.” If you have never read the letter, now is the time!
The Kairos Palestine Document expressed the profound cry of Palestinians living for decades under a brutal Israeli occupation. It named the occupation and its apartheid system as a sin and it urged local Christians, the worldwide church and the global community to rise up in nonviolent resistance to the occupation and to work for its dismantling.
Kairos Palestine is the movement, born out of the Kairos document, which advocates for ending the Israeli occupation and achieving a just peace. For 15 years, together with Sabeel Palestinian Liberation Theology Center, Kairos Palestine has been the word of Palestinian Christians calling for an end to suffering, humiliation and degradation. Given the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing Israel is perpetrating against Palestinians, that message is needed more than ever!
So we at CFOS send our best wishes to Kairos Palestine on its birthday! Thank-you for your prophetic proclamation of a vision of justice and peace for all people in the Holy Land.
A video of Kairos Palestine story is available here.
The full Kairos Palestine Document is here.
Advent and Christmas resources
The approach of Advent and the Christmas season turn our hearts and minds to the place of Jesus’ birth – the Holy Land. How do we teach and preach and meditate on the Christmas story, in light of the atrocities being committed in that land? Here are some important resources.
Our partner, Friends of Sabeel North America, is hosting a webinar on November 22, 2024 that will assist preachers in speaking about the Christmas story as a story of unspeakable violence – namely, the story of the slaughter of the holy innocents. Register for Preach Palestine 2024 here.
The Mennonite Church Canada Palestine Israel Network has provided a collection of six short meditations which connect the biblical Christmas stories with the contemporary situation in Palestine, including the current war on Gaza. This collection is useful for personal, group or congregational reflection. Find Bethlehem Then and Now here.
Ecumenical hub of denominational resources
Are you interested in finding out what the various Christian denominations in Canada have produced since October 7, 2023 – whether statements, calls to action, stories, prayers or worship resources? Check out the Just Peace in the Middle East Ecumenical Hub, hosted by Kairos Canada.