(LifeSiteNews) — In a stirring open letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Palestinian Christians have desperately cried out for help as they face a “war of extermination” being waged against them by the “powerful apartheid state” of Israel which is “supported militarily and financially by the United States.”
Signed by the 16-member board of Kairos Palestine, which includes prelates, priests, ministers and community leaders representing Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches in the Holy Land, the letter seeks to shake the consciences of American Catholics who suffer from an erroneous societal narrative which “humanizes Israeli Jews while insisting on dehumanizing Palestinians and whitewashing their suffering.”
An initial March 25 letter from the organization to President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Archbishop Timothy Broglio sharply rebuked the USCCB for collaborating with the pro-abortion Zionist American Jewish Committee (ACJ) on a document they charged “distorts reality… equates Palestinian resistance (to Israel’s illegal occupation) with antisemitism” and serves “to silence voices advocating for truth and justice in the Holy Land.”
READ: Palestinian Christian leaders sharply admonish USCCB for collaboration with Zionists
Judging Broglio’s reply to this formal complaint as “unacceptable,” the April 14 Kairos response, titled “We Will Not Be Silent,” cited the archbishop who ironically emphasized “the imperative to stand with all who suffer and to combat hatred wherever it is expressed.”
“However, nowhere in the bishop’s letter is there any indication that the USCCB intends to ‘stand with’ their Palestinian siblings to prepare a document describing the extent of the suffering we are experiencing,” the Palestinian Christians protested.
“Today, the Palestinian people in Gaza and in the West Bank are enduring what can only be described as a war of extermination, a genocide and ethnic cleansing,” the Kairos board wrote. “Entire families have been annihilated. Homes, churches, and hospitals have been destroyed. Over 50,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, have been killed.”
“This is not a conflict between equals. It is a campaign of destruction carried out by a powerful apartheid state, supported militarily and financially by the United States and a number of European countries,” they clarified.
“As the Church in the United States remains silent about this devastation, it shares in the responsibility for our suffering,” the letter continued. “American tax dollars and weapons fuel the war machine that targets us. It is not enough to condemn hate. You must also condemn the systems and powers that perpetuate injustice.”
“We categorically reject the conflation of our legitimate struggle for freedom, dignity, and human rights with antisemitism. We are not anti-Jewish, anti-Judaism, or anti-Semitic. We are a people resisting occupation, apartheid, and dispossession. Equating this with hatred is both theologically and morally wrong,” the Palestinian Christians pleaded.
While they “heartily welcome” the USCCB’s interfacing with non-Christian communities, they pointed out that “not even a sentence” from the Conference has been “devoted to the voice of the Palestinian Christians” who are “not counted and invisible in your narrative.”
Signed first by former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Michal Sabbah, the president of the organization, the letter provides maximum clarity in stipulating the urgent requests from these most ancient Christian communities in the land of Jesus Christ’s birth, passion, death and resurrection:
We demand to be seen. We demand to be heard. We ask the USCCB to:
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Recognize the suffering of Palestinian people including Palestinian Christians and publicly denounce the illegal Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide against our people.
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Call for an end to USA military funding to Israel until it complies with international laws.
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Engage with us in creating a resource that reflects the experience of Palestinian Christians under the Israeli occupation and apartheid.
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Revisit our foundational document, Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth, and all our documents and statements and respond theologically and practically to our messages and calls.
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Come and see the reality for yourselves by visiting Palestine and meeting the Christian communities here. We will be happy to be your host.
Concluding the letter, the Christian leaders addressed Catholics in America stating, “We call on our brothers and sisters in Christ to act now, not only in prayer, but in prophetic witness. Christ is Risen! Let Justice and Hope Rise with Him!”
Also signing the letter His Grace Archbishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna representing the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the well-known Lutheran pastor from Bethlehem, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac who was interviewed by Tucker Carlson in April of last year.
The Kairos Palestine movement was initiated with its extensive 2009 document A Moment of Truth which was self-described as “the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine.” It was endorsed at the time by heads of all the churches in Jerusalem including all the Catholic and Orthodox rites, along with the Anglican and Lutheran denominations. Among these endorsements was head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mgr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa who is now the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, a member of the College of Cardinals and considered by many a front-runner to succeed the late Pope Francis in the upcoming papal election.
At that time this full union of Christians in the Holy Land explained the brutal reality of the 57-year Israeli occupation of internationally recognized Palestinian territory, calling it “a sin against God and humanity” which every Christian has a “duty” to resist. Throughout these decades the Vatican and scores of bishops from around the world have confirmed and maintained this same humanitarian and diplomatic perspective standing in support of international law as the pathway to ending the occupation and establishing a two-state solution which is supported by the overwhelming number of national governments of the world as well.
Israel reaffirmed ongoing blockade, Gaza becoming a ‘mass grave’
Since March 2, Israel has imposed a total blockade of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip depriving the approximately two million Palestinians, with one million children, all imports of food, water, medicine, energy and other supplies.
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz doubled-down on this war crime affirming the IDF would maintain this blockade while announcing his nation’s intention to permanently occupy captured territory in the Strip indefinitely, a measure consistent with the century-old goals of Zionism and the plan advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump for the ethnic cleansing of the entire Gaza population.
READ: Expelling the Palestinian people has always been a goal of Zionism
The U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA issued a warning on Tuesday that Gaza is experiencing its most severe humanitarian crisis to date, with a complete Israeli blockade on aid and all goods now lasting over 50 days.
Doctors Without Borders also reported last week that “Gaza has become a ‘mass grave’ for Palestinians and those helping them.”
Reliable reports of death tolls from Israeli massacres in Gaza since October, 2023 number at least 51,266 including approximately 15,600 children with many being decapitated by American-made 2,000 pound bombs and other explosives. The cumulative impact of these hundreds of bombings exceeds five atomic bombs the likes of which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
According to a rationale presented in a July Lancet study, one can conservatively estimate total deaths, including indirect fatalities due to causes like starvation, lack of medicine or proper medical care, by multiplying direct deaths (51,266) by five to arrive at 256,330 total fatalities. And with a November UN Human Rights Office report identifying fatalities in Gaza comprising of approximately 44% children, it is reasonable to estimate 112,785 total deaths of children.
Trump ‘fully supports’ Israeli genocidal bombing and starvation campaign against Gaza civilians
U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House has affirmed his full support for the Israeli-imposed starvation blockade along with its renewed large-scale bombing campaign which has taken the lives of hundreds of children.
In the short span of Trump’s current term, he has signed off on over $12 billion in new military aid for Israel and emboldened the religious Zionists who have taken power in that government by repeatedly calling for the expelling of the Palestinians from the land of their forefathers.
Last November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes,” including “starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
To quickly contact your members of Congress and implore their support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza click here.
Editor’s Note: Catholic readers are also encouraged to cordially contact their respective bishops, kindly pass along this article and ask them to please stand with our Christian brethren in the Holy Land, in speaking out against the horrendous U.S. / Israeli war crimes currently being inflicted upon them and implementing their requests above.
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