From Nakba to now
May 15th commemorates 76 years of the Nakba (the catastrophe).
When the state of Israel was being established (1947-1949), about 15,000 Palestinians were killed and some 750,000 Palestinians dispossessed and displaced. Many became refugees, and some 500 villages were razed. This process of ethnic cleansing has continued ever since.
In 2023, we drafted a Position Statement explaining our commitment to peace in Israel/Palestine. We were seeing the increasing violence of soldiers and settlers in the Occupied West Bank – settlements that are illegal in international law. In 2023, before 7th October, some 400 Palestinians (around 40 children) were killed in the West Bank. From Gaza we heard of the 17 years of blockade, with bombings frequent throughout. “People in Gaza don’t have PTSD, but CTSD – continual traumatic stress disorder,” a friend from Gaza told us in September 2023.
The Secretary General of the UN said there was context, not justification, for the attack on Israel on 7th October. Some argue that in two days Israelis experienced with intensity the reality of life for Palestinians. That is not a justification however. We condemn violence. There should not be, and should never have been, civilians held hostage in Gaza, nor thousands of Palestinian civilians (including women, children and from Gaza, healthcare workers) being held without trial by Israel. All actions on and since October 7th should be tested against international law.
The collective punishment, to an extent described by the ICJ as plausible genocide and which now includes starvation and disease, dwarfs the catastrophe, the “Nakba” of 1947/8.
- more than 34,000 people have been killed (including over 10,000 women)
- around 1.7 million people have been displaced
- two thirds of homes, all universities, civic infrastructure are destroyed
We are called to learn, pray and take action
Learn
- Understanding decolonisation
What would decolonisation look like? What does it mean? How would decolonisation give Israelis as well as Palestinians a future that is graced? - Commitment to international law, and the UN and its agencies.
Our Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation commitment commits us to the UN as a conflict-resolving organisation. In its place worldwide we see the law of the jungle.
Act
We continue to take actions for and with our sisters and brothers in Israel/Palestine. These include:
- demanding an immediate ceasefire and release of all hostages and detainees by protest and letters to politicians
- demanding restoration of UNRWA funding, flooding of Gaza with aid, and ending the export of arms to Israel
- signing and sharing this petition against extremists’ horrific plans for Jerusalem
Pray
In this season we pray with and for those living amidst genocide and we reaffirm our commitment to Community.
We believe that God is present
in the darkness before dawn;
in the waiting and uncertainty
where fear and courage join hands,
conflict and caring link arms,
and the sun rises over barbed wire.
We believe in a with-us God
who sits down in our midst
to share our humanity.
We affirm a faith
that takes us beyond the safe place:
into action, into vulnerability
and into the streets.
We commit ourselves to work for change
and put ourselves on the line;
to bear responsibility, take risks,
live powerfully and face humiliation;
to stand with those on the edge;
to choose life
and be used by the spirit
for God’s new community of hope.
Amen.
