from Christian Today
A coalition of Christian pastors, theologians and lay leaders has launched a public declaration rejecting a controversial Palestinian Christian document that the Church of England’s General Synod voted to “hear” and engage with despite strong opposition from Jews.
The “Declaration Against Kairos II” calls on Christians worldwide to reject what it describes as theological distortions that are damaging Jewish-Christian relations. It invites Christians to add their names in support.
It has been published in response to a document called “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide”, also known as Kairos II, which was produced by the Palestinian Christian movement Kairos Palestine. The document characterises Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide and Israel as a colonial, apartheid state.
The coalition opposing Kairos II accused it of “inaccurate, one-sided, and dangerous rhetoric”.
“Upon reading and consideration, we simply cannot receive Kairos II or endorse any hearing of it in a Christian context, and we explicitly reject it and denounce the same.
“God commands ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour’ (Exodus 20.16). It is our conviction that Kairos II is not in the interests of Palestinian Christians and only serves to hinder the cause of peace, failing to acknowledge or recognise the root causes of pain in Gaza and the region of Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to as the West Bank.
“Its language is acerbic and even seems to rationalise and justify the heinous atrocities of Palestinian terror factions on October 7 2023 which have had devastating consequences.
“The document falsely and without substantiation accuses Israel of genocide in relation to its war on Hamas and terror factions in Gaza to rescue hostages and destroy Hamas’ capabilities.”
The General Synod, meeting in York, voted by a wide margin on Monday morning to “hear” the document, rather than “receive” it as the original motion stated. Following strong opposition from Jewish leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, told Synod that hearing documents like Kairos II “does not mean we agree with everything in them”.
Read and sign: We reject and denounce any hearing of Kairos II.