United Church of Canada sends factfinding delegation to Jerusalem

The United Church of Canada is taking another look at its position on Israel/Palestine. It has circulated among its members a document prepared by Kairos Palestine, a "cri de coeur" from 13 different Christian organizations in East Jerusalem. The document calls for Western churches to bring economic and political pressure on Israel to defend the rights of Palestinians. The UCC is also sending a fact finding delegation to see the situation on the ground. 

The United Church of Canada, Canada's second largest religious organization, is sending a high-level delegation to Jerusalem this month to inquire into the situation of Palestinans - particularly that of the dwindling number of Christian Palestinians.


The decision to send a fact-finding delegation arises out of a big debate at the UCC's General Council in 2009 at which the Church first seemed to approve a statement criticising Israel, and then backed down under a barrage of criticism by the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). The delegation includes the Moderator, the former Moderator, the General Secretary, and a number of church officials from across Canada.


In preparation for their visit, the UCC delegation visited several cities in Canada and met with a variety of organizations including the CJC, Independent Jewish Voices, The Palestinian Canadian Congress and many others. 


It has also taken the dramatic step of circulating within the United Church a document entitled "A moment of Truth". Developed by a group of 13 Palestinian Christian leaders rallied under the name Kairos Palestine, the text has been in circulation in other denominations in Canada and elsewhere for some time but was not officially presented to the United Church until last November’s meeting of the General Council Executive in Toronto. 


Echoing an appeal issued by South African churches in the mid-1980s during the height of the apartheid regime. "The problem, say the authors, “is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the Church.”

Much of the 8,000-word document is devoted to placing the Palestinian “catastrophe” in a theological context, couching a case for justice based on “faith, hope and love” in often dense religious language. The authors are more straightforward as they assail Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza, and criticize conservative theologians in the West for imparting “a biblical and theological legitimacy” to the occupation. 



Now that it is widely available, the document will no doubt raise the profile of the Israel-Palestine issue across the church. The importance of that is not lost on longtime activists. 


“It is the first document of its kind from brother and sister Christians in Palestine that clearly notes both non-violent methods of overcoming injustice and a commitment to the same,” says Rev. Brian McIntosh of the Holy Land Awareness task group. “It’s really a moral call to the churches around the world.”  


It is expected that the issue of the United Church's position on Israel and Palestine will come back before the General Council in 2011. We can also expect that the report of the factfinding delegation, no matter how they carefully they couch it, will be immediately attacked by the Israel lobby in Canada.


For more information, see the UCC newsletter at http://www.ucobserver.org/faith/2011/02/palestine/