Seeking peace in Israel/Palestine

God of all people

God of all people,
we come with hearts heavy from war,
and souls longing for peace.

Bless the footsteps of those who march for justice
and the voices that rise in song and prayer
against violence and hatred.

Let our unity be a witness
that love is stronger than fear,
that faith can be a bridge, not a barrier
and that every human being is sacred in Your sight.

Grant us courage to keep walking and marching,
wisdom to keep speaking,
and compassion to keep reaching across every divide.
Lord in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Amen

(c) Sabeel Wave of Prayer

People going about every day life in the Gaza Strip.
Credit: Hosny Salah

How are we promoting peace through justice in Israel/Palestine?

The Iona Community hears and seeks to amplify the voices of Palestinian Christians, most recently including:

• Kairos Palestine – A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide (Nov. 2025)
• A Jerusalem Voice for Justice: an ecumenical witness for equality and a just peace in Palestine/Israel. They have published two important letters: (Easter 2025 and Pentecost 2025)
• Cry for Hope (2020)
• Kairos Palestine Document (2009)
• An appeal from “A Jerusalem Voice for Justice” Aug 24, 2026.
  https://conquestorleaven.org/an-appeal-from-a-jerusalem-voice-for-justice/
• An Urgent Message and Call to Prayer from Rev. Munther Isaac , Jul 28, 2026
  https://bipj.substack.com/p/an-urgent-message-and-call-to-prayer
• A Jerusalem Voice for Justice:Letter from church leaders on anniversary of the Nakba
  (May 14, 2026) https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/55003
• A Statement from the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem, March
  2026 https://sabeel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/A-Statement-from-the-Sabeel-Ecumenical-Liberation-Theology-Center.pdf

The Iona Community has joined in a range of public campaigns calling for justice in Israel/Palestine. We have signed various letters, including:

• Friends of Sabeel North America  –   Christians Stand against Forced Displacement and False Doctrines (March 2025)
• Campaign Against Arms Trade- halt all arms transfers to Israel, including the F-35 jets (Feb 2025)
• Christian Aid – ceasefire now (December 2023)
• Christian Aid – call for peace (November 2023)
• Network of Christian Peace Organisations (October 2023)
• Pax Christi open letter to the UN (July 2025)
• Just Peace Coalition and the ‘Time to Act’ campaign https://justpeacecoalition.com/ (June 2026)
• Apartheid Free Communities https://apartheid-free.org/ (January 2026)

We welcome:

• The Global Kairos for Justice response to the Kairos Palestine document A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide
• the statement from the Quakers, minute 30 of the 2025 Yearly Meeting (26 May 2025)
• the statement of the House of Bishops of the Church of England (22 May 2025)
• the WCC minute on Gaza (15 May 2025)
• The United Methodist Church statement (2025)
• The Church of England’s General Synod motion to stand in solidarity with Palestinian
  Christians and ‘hear’ their voices, July 2026
  https://www.churchofengland.org/media/news-and-press-releases/synod-votes-stand-
  solidarity-palestinian-christians-and-hear-their-voices-amended-motion
• UK Methodist Conference, ‘receiving the Kairos [Palestine] II document’ July 2026
  https://www.methodist.org.uk/about/news/voices-of-christians-in-palestine/
• 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) resolution RIW-04 June
  2026 https://pres-outlook.org/2026/07/assembly-declares-israels-war-in-gaza-a-genocide/

The Iona Community’s position on Israel/Palestine is as follows:

• August 2025 Position paper
• why we updated the position paper
• Report to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland – sections 4.2.3 to 4.2.6 on
  Israel/Palestine: page 256:
  https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/154765/Volume-of-
  Reports-2026-Blue-Book-.pdf, May 2026

We offer the following resources:

• Top Ten Tips Israel Palestine (list of recommended actions and books)
• Advent Advocacy (with a list of recommended videos) (November 2024)
• Learn, Pray, Act (25 April 2024)
• Israel/Palestine Common Concern Network update (March 2024)
• Common Concern Update (26 October 2023)
• Prayers for Israel/Palestine – Iona Community (October 2023)
• Israel/Palestine public position statement. (July 2023) (updated in August 2025 – see above)

We draw attention to the following Christian resources:

• Sabeel https://sabeel.org/ and Kairos Palestine https://kairospalestine.ps/

Supporting organisations including:

• Sabeel-Kairos https://www.sabeel-kairos.org.uk/,
• FOSNA, https://www.fosna.org/
• KairosUSA. https://kairosusa.org/
• Guides for groups studying Kairos Palestine II:
  • from US churches – https://www.kairosresponse.org/kp2guide.html
  • From Pax Christi International  –https://paxchristi.net/kairos-ii-and-pax-christi-international-from-reflection-to-concrete-action/

• Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice https://bipj.org
• Musalaha: A Vision of Reconciliation https://musalaha.org/
• Response to ‘Christian Zionism’: https://www.christianzionism.org/
• Conquest or Leaven: blog and resources: David M. Neuhaus S.J., https://conquestorleaven.org/
• Tent of Nations, https://tentofnations.com/

Pray

Pray and keep on praying for a just future, when human rights and international law will be observed, for all in Israel/Palestine.
Our Common Concern Network regularly finds inspiration in Sabeel’s Wave of Prayer.
Join Christian Aid’s Prayers for Peace on the 24th of each month. Sign up at their website for more information.