Scroll down this page to see Kairos Palestine Statements & News.
Kairos Palestine is the Christian Palestinian movement born out of the Kairos Palestine Document: A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering. The document was launched in Bethlehem in December of 2009; it is the word of Christian Palestinians to the world about what is happening in Palestine.
Since 2009, Kairos Palestine has galvanized a worldwide Christian movement for Palestinian liberation, with responses in denominations, institutional bodies, and grassroots organizations on six continents. Much of that global action can be found in the Global Kairos section of Palestine Portal:
SEE THE MENU ON THE LEFT.
The Kairos Palestine document is both a profound statement of faith and an urgent call to action:
“Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God. We address it first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace.”
“Are you able to help us get our freedom back? For this is the only way you can help the two peoples attain justice, peace, security and love.”
From the website of Kairos Palestine:
We declare that the military occupation of Palestinian land constitutes a sin against God and humanity. Any theology that legitimizes the occupation and justifies crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people lies far from Christian teachings.
We urge the international community to stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle against oppression, displacement, and apartheid.
We demand that all people, political leaders and decision-makers put pressure on Israel and take legal measures in order to oblige its government to end its oppression and disregard for international law.
We hold a clear position that non-violent resistance to this injustice is a right and duty for all Palestinians, including Christians.
We support Palestinian civil society organizations, international NGOs and religious institutions that call on individuals, companies and states to engage in boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli occupation.
Everything that happens in our land, everyone who lives there, all the pains and hopes, all the injustice and all the efforts to stop this injustice, are part and parcel of the prayer of the Palestinian Church and the service of all her institutions.
Visit the Kairos Palestine website: https://www.kairospalestine.ps
Kairos Palestine Statements & News
A Tribute to the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu from Kairos Palestine
26 December 2021 – The Christian Palestinian initiative Kairos Palestine, together with all conscious people, mourns the passing of the Nobel Peace Prize winner the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had inspired the entire world to fight for justice.
He was an ardent supporter of the oprressed, the poor, and the weak and has given us Palestinians a guiding wisdom in our struggle to end the colonization and occuption of our land. He was a great friend to the Palestinians in general and to Kairos Palestine in particular.
We in Kairos Palestine will continue to turn our eye to his life-long aspiration for a better world where everyone enjoys liberty, equality and equity and we will remember him as we march on in our path for self-determination and independence.
May his soul rest in peace as his legacy lives on forever.
See it at the Kairos Palestine website
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Statement by Palestinian Christian Organizations on classifying six Palestinian human rights organizations as ‘terrorist organizations’
October 2021
“We, the undersigned Palestinian Christian organizations, while reiterating the illegitimacy of this arbitrary decision and its grave implications to civil society organizations and human rights defenders, call upon countries, the international community, partners and donors in general and international Christian institutions in particular, to reject and condemn this decision, prevent the Israeli occupation state from moving forward with these arbitrary and illegitimate practices in violation of international laws, to pressure Israel to revoke the decision; and to continue to support the right of Palestinians to justice, freedom, and dignity.”
See the full statement, and download it.
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The Statement of Repentance and Hope
by Christ at the Checkpoint Young Adults
June 2021
Message from the authors:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This statement was written with urgency by Palestinian Christian young adults from all across the land, expressing repentance and hope regarding the ongoing injustices.
If you identify with this statement, it is yours to hold and share as well. We pray that the kingdom of God will be here on earth as it is in heaven.
We urge all the recipients of the statement to read and reflect seriously on its call.
In Christ,
Christ at the Checkpoint Young Adults
Download their statement, in English and Arabic
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Kairos Palestine call to The Holy See (Vatican), The World Council of Churches and Church Leaders Worldwide for Solidarity and Action
May 2021
The Christian Palestinian initiative, Kairos Palestine, urges the Christian community worldwide to act justly and speak the truth about Israel’s oppressive policies and practices, especially regarding violent attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and Israel’s deadly assault on the people of Gaza.
The latest cycle of violence began after Israeli security forces denied access to the Damascus Gate plaza, a popular gathering place for Muslims breaking their daily fast, and Israel’s subsequent violation of the status quo when security forces and settlers attacked fasting worshipers on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site for Muslims, allowing extremist Jewish groups to gather provocatively to celebrate the 1967 capture of East Jerusalem.
At the same time, Israel’s courts again ruled in favor of radical settler groups, threatening some 500 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem with forced displacement from the homes they have lived in for decades.
See the full statement on Palestine Portal, and download it
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An Easter reflection from the Holy City of Jerusalem
by Archbishop Atallah Hanna
April 2021
Jerusalem is the venerated city for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. No one faith or people has an exclusive right to claim Jerusalem as theirs alone. It is the City of Peace.
But peace is denied the people because there is no justice in the city. There is, instead, injustice and the
targeting of Christian and Muslim Palestinians regarding our holy sites, our endowment properties, and our historic, deeply rooted presence in this holy place. We Palestinians think of Jerusalem as our capital. But we are treated as strangers in the holy city, the cradle of Christianity’s most important holy sites.
See the full article at Mondoweiss
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Palestinian Christians Support The Rev. Frank Chikane, the Moderator of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
We give thanks for and come alongside our Christian brother, Frank Chikane, who suffered many years for his courageous anti-apartheid work in South Africa. Now, our friend is unjustly criticized for his solidarity with Palestinians suffering under the apartheid State of Israel.
Rev. Chikane has been the target of a vicious smear campaign that leveled the charge of anti-semitism, a false attack familiar to Palestinians and those around the world who speak out against the racist laws and practices of Israel and value the dignity and human rights of Palestinians.
Download the full statement
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Launching Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah film: “The People’s Patriarch”
December 2020
On Dec. 12th, 2020 and during a virtual launching event on zoom organized by Sabeel Ecumenical
Liberation Theology Center and with the participation of AL- Liqa’ Center for Religious and Heritage Studies in the Holy Land, Youth of Jesus Homeland – Palestine (YJHP), Kairos Palestine and many Palestinian national, religious and academic figures in the diaspora and the homeland , “The people’s Patriarch” film was launched. The film is a modest contribution made for the aim of honoring Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah and to shed light on some of the important milestones in his life, his thoughts and his passion with the consolidation of love, justice, and peace. The release of the film aimed to celebrate the person and heir of Patriarch Michel Sabbah and document his pioneering role in defending the Palestinian people, based on his Christian faith and spiritual message. The film was directed by Mr Mohammad Al Attar and produced by Dr Lily Habash.
Watch the film on Youtube
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Former Jerusalem archbishop: How long will Catholics keep ignoring the suffering of Palestinians?
by Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah
December 2020
Israel’s military occupation of Palestine continues in its 53rd year. In particular, Palestinians in Gaza are suffering under a callous siege. The U.S. administration has withdrawn aid for Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem and for the United Nations’ humanitarian work in the occupied Palestinian territory.
President Trump’s so-called peace proposal is little more than a justification for the occupation and a false promise of prosperity to Palestinians at the cost of their freedom and independence. In spite of promises to the contrary in recent peace deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel’s annexation of Palestinian land and resources continues with the recent approval of 3,000 new settlement homes in the West Bank.
See the full article at America Magazine
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Signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Kairos Palestine and the Palestinian Federation of Chile
November 2020
We are happy to announce that yesterday Nov. 5th, 2020 Kairos Palestine signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Federation of Chile to Join the Global Kairos for Justice Coalition. The Signing of the Memorandum had the presence of Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Rifat Kassis the General coordinator for Kairos Palestine, Rev. Dr Munther Isaac, Nidal Abu Zuluf; from Kairos Palestine board members. Joined from Chile by Anuar Majluf; head of Palestinian Federation of Chile, Maurice Khamis; President of the Palestinian Community in Chile, Monsignor Sergio Abad; Greek Orthodox Archbishop in Chile, Imad Jadaa; Palestinian Ambassador to Chile, and other representatives from the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Anglican Churches in Chile such as Father Marcelo Gidi and Father Georges Abed. Also, Marcelo Leitos Regional Executive of the WSCF LAC joined the signing of the Memorandum from Argentina.
The signing ceremony included several words and prayers by the representatives from the Palestinian Federation of Chile who expressed their support for the work of Kairos Palestine and the Global Kairos for Justice Coalition. Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah and Archbishop Atallah Hanna also blessed this new cooperation with prayers.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Palestinian Christians’ Open Letter to Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, Illinois
September 2020
Palestinian Christian leaders, clergy and laity, explain to the Roman Catholic bishop why the statement of satisfaction with the normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel is misguided and condoning that agreement is harmful.
“Some people call this accord the Abraham agreement. Here we say, enough exploiting of God and God’s prophets to side with the powerful. If we call on God and the prophets in this matter, we must then observe God’s commandments and the equality God has given to all peoples—including Israelis and Palestinians. Justice to all. Now on the ground, as the “powerful” take what is theirs and what is others, they are even supported by many churches. The weak are deprived of their rights while the powerful and the churches respond with words, but no action.”
See the full letter at the Kairos Palestine website
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Palestinian Christians issue a cry for hope, to end ‘exclusivity and apartheid’
July 2020
In a decisive document released earlier this month, Palestinian Christians insist that churches around the world bring their influence to what is happening in the cradle of Christianity, urging, “We cannot serve God while remaining silent about the oppression of the Palestinians.” Global Kairos for Justice, a community of human rights advocates—Palestinian Christians, their friends and supporters around the world—released “Cry for Hope: A Decisive Call for Action,” asking Christian supporters to sign onto the pledge and take actions to end Israel’s occupation, including boycotts against Israel.
See the full article at Mondoweiss
See more about “Cry for Hope” on Palestine Portal
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Black Lives Matter – A Declaration of Solidarity
June 2020
Love is seeing the face of God in every human being. Every person is my brother or my sister. However, seeing the face of God in everyone does not mean accepting evil or aggression on their part. Rather, this love seeks to correct the evil and stop the aggression. (Kairos Palestine: a confession of faith and call to action from Palestinian Christians, 4.2.1)
Kairos Palestine expresses its unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone working for racial justice in USA, the demands of which have resonated in communities around the world. The movement has opened an opportune moment—a kairos moment—for citizens in the United States and people of faith and civil society around the world to name and address places of systemic racism, economic inequality, food deprivation, lack of access to health care, and state-sanctioned violence that strip human beings of their dignity, equal rights and far too often their lives.
See the full statement at the Kairos Palestine website
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The Dire Consequences of Israel’s “Coalition Government”
April 2020
The board of Kairos Palestine raises an alarm regarding the consequences of the third failed Israeli election in less than a year. The resulting coalition entered on April 20, 2020, combines two of the most right-wing parties—Bennie Gantz’s Blue and White and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud—in a deal that directly threatens Palestinians’ freedom, health and human rights.
See this on Palestine Portal
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The American declaration on peace in the Middle East
January 2020
The position announced by the U.S. administration regarding what they termed as the ‘deal of the century’ was in fact an insult to history, humanity, the Palestinian people, and the American dignity itself.
The American-Israeli proposal is premised on consolidating Israeli control over all of Palestine’s land, making sure that the Palestinian people are subjected to this control, in return for economic promises that are closer to a deal for buying the people and their spirit with money.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Youth statement 2019
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
From the land of Jesus Christ there shone a new light seeking to break through the darkness. It is the light of faith, hope, and love that rise from the heart of Palestinian suffering. Such was the Kairos Palestine’s ‘Moment of Truth’ initiative. Today, we renew the pledge, a group of young women and men of this land, addressing the call to ourselves and all youth, to assume our role, accept our calling and mission in this land, right now and here.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Palestine’s statement on House Demolitions Perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Authorities
2019
Everywhere, and throughout the occupied Palestinian Territories, the Israeli authorities demolish the houses of Palestinians, which the international law stipulates that they be protected and preserved by the occupying authority. In violation to the said law and to implement colonial plans, the Israeli authorities demolish houses, confiscate lands and build settlements on their ruins.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Palestine on the statement made by His Holiness the Pope about peace in Palestine and Israel
January 2019
In his traditional speech on New Year’s Eve to accredited ambassadors to the Vatican, His Holiness Pope Francis tackled several international issues that require resolution. On the Palestinian problem, he stated that negotiations are the natural way to achieve the needed solution and to bring about a just peace between the two peoples.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Palestine 9th Anniversary Conference Statement
On December 6-7th, 2018, more than 300 people met in Bethlehem, consisting of Palestinian Christian church and organization leaders, Kairos Palestine leaders, people of faith, representatives of the Palestinian civil society, and around 100 international Christians representing the global Kairos for Justice movement and different church bodies.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Palestine letter of solidarity and appreciation
July 2018
Kairos Palestine has been following the recent work of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and its Palestine Israel Network with great interest and abiding appreciation. While the Episcopal Church has partnered with the Palestinian Christian community since 1922, we recognize that this is a kairos moment for the Episcopal Church as you meet in Austin, Texas, for the 79th General Convention.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Salute to Presbyterian Church USA
Jerusalem, 25 June 2018 – The board, staff and supporters of Kairos Palestine and the members of Global Kairos for Justice coalition celebrate the historic pro-justice actions taken by the Presbyterian Church(USA) at its 223rd General Assembly meeting just days ago. We offer our profound thanks to staff, commissioners and advisory delegates of the PC(USA), and to its mission network, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (www.theipmn.org) which worked tirelessly to bring a slate of resolutions to the church’s assembly gathered in St. Louis.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Statement on Gaza and Jerusalem
May 2018
On Monday, May 14th 2018, in Gaza, 60 people were killed and 2771 wounded among crowds walking unarmed towards their villages, from which they had been compelled to leave. They were killed in cold blood and posed no threat to anybody.
At the same time, the American embassy was relocated to Jerusalem in violation of international law. The transgressor is the great power that should call on others to respect international law.
Thus, the situation in which we are living is not one of rejoicing and the inauguration of a new embassy. We live in an inhumane situation that must be changed.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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The Palestinian people are committed to seeking freedom
[Statement on Gaza’s Great March of Return] April 2018We are a collection of Palestinian groups and civil society organizations. We address our call to the Palestinian Authority, all Palestinian leaders, Israel, the American administration, the Arab states, the international community, and to all those of good will who support us in seeking our freedom and independence.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Jerusalem in the wake of President Trump’s speech
December 2017
President Trump made a speech yesterday in which he said that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Prior to Trumps’s speech yesterday, Patriarchs and the heads of churches in Jerusalem addressed a letter telling Trump that: “We believe that this step will lead to more hatred, conflict, violence and anguish for Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and will hinder the aspired goal of unity and peace.” Many other leaders in the region and the world told Trump the same words but he did not listen to anyone.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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The Year of Painful Memories
2017
We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land (A Moment of Truth, introduction). …
Eight years ago, our message started with these words in Bethlehem on December 9th, 2009. Today we start our message with the same words that we address to Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, to the Israelis, and to the whole world. At that time we faced a closed door; today the door of peace is still closed.
This year, 2017, is a year of painful memories: one hundred years
See the full statement at the Kairos Palestine website
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The Future of Christians in Palestine: Presence rather than Existence
By Rifat Kassis
The title of this article may provoke some readers since it suggests, unintentionally, that Christians are a sector of society on the verge of extinction due to a variety of pressures and oppression. It reminds me of a statement by His Beatitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah during one of his many lectures. He said: “We as Christians do not face a special kind of threat; we face a threat and danger that covers everyone in our society. This threat is instability, and the absence of peace and justice.”
See the article at the Kairos Palestine website
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Open letter from The National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine
(NCCOP) to the World Council of Churches and the ecumenical movement
June 2017
As we meet this month in Bethlehem in occupied Palestine, we are still suffering from 100 years of injustice and oppression that were inflicted on the Palestinian people beginning with the unjust and unlawful Balfour declaration, intensified through the Nakba and the influx of refugees, followed by the Israeli occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza and the fragmentation of our people and our land through policies of isolation and confiscation of land, and the building of Jewish-only settlements and the Apartheid Wall.
See the full letter, a 9-point call to action, on Palestine Portal
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Dismantle ‘Dividing Walls:’
The Struggle for Justice and Peace in Palestine Continues
September 2016
Reflections on the occasion of the World Week for Peace, 18-24 Sept. 2016
EXCERPT:
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued anadvisory opinionin 2004, which was adopted as a UNSC resolution, declaring the illegality of the barrier being built on occupied Palestinian territory. It called for its demolition and compensation for those who suffer the consequences of its destruction. Yet the barrier (or Separation Wall) remains and with severe negative impact on the Palestinian economy, social fabric, human rights and environment.
The Wall does not only separate Palestinians from schools, fields, work, and neighbors but has been expanded to fully control the Jordan Valley on the Eastern front of the occupied Palestinian Territory. Together with expanding colonial settlements, closed military areas and a segregated road system, Israel provided itself with the full control of about 61% of total land areas in the West Bank richest in natural resources.
See this at the Kairos Palestine website
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Kairos Palestine Response to ELCA
THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH STANDS BY JUSTICE FOR PALESTINIANS
August 2016
Kairos Palestine (KP), the voice of Palestinian Christians welcomes the recent resolution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) calling on the US government to end aid to Israel until the latter freezes the construction of settlements on occupied Palestinian land and respects international law and human rights.
See the full statement the Kairos Palestine website
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A Letter to our Muslim Brethren
1. Shared History, Present, and Destiny
1.1 When we, Christian Palestinians, engage with our Muslim brethren, we are engaging with our people, our neighbors and colleagues at work, and our partners at all domains of life, whether social, economic, political, or cultural. We are one people, one country, one language,
with the same traditions, anxieties, suffering, and aspirations. This is how we forged our history as one society and one indivisible being.
1.2 If history wanted for us to be as such, then the Almighty God, the Lord of history, wanted that for us as well. Our shared lives are not a coincidence of history, a blind destiny, or a passing situation. Instead, it is God’swill for us, and we commit ourselves to him and follow His
in gladness. This is precisely what we emphasized in our Kairos Document: “Our presence in this land, at Christian and Muslim Palestinians, is not accidental but rather deeply rooted in the history and geography of this land, resonant with the connectedness of any other people to the land it lives in.”1
See the full letter at the Kairos Palestine website
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For more news from Kairos Palestine and all preceding years, see their website:
www.kairospalestine.ps