Michael Freeman

Israel strongly condemns the shameful decision of the Church of England @Synod to grant legitimacy to the extremist Kairos Palestine document. This hateful document undermines the right of the world's only Jewish state to exist, and seeks to justify the atrocities of October 7 by blaming Israel for causing it. Even more disturbingly, it urges churches to boycott dialogue with “Zionist voices,” in practice excluding the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community in the UK from Christian-Jewish engagement unless they renounce Jewish self-determination. The irony is striking. The Church of England has itself adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, including all of its examples without qualification. So by the Church’s own standard, its decision to delegitimize Jewish self-determination falls under the definition of antisemitism. At a time of unprecedented hatred against Jews, and after centuries in which Christian institutions contributed to the persecution of Jews, the Church had a special responsibility to exercise moral clarity. Instead, it has chosen to reward extremism, damage Christian-Jewish relations, and bring profound shame upon the Church of England. And on a personal note: The Church of England had an opportunity to promote understanding by engaging the full diversity of Christian voices from the Holy Land. It did not. I say this as an Arab Christian whose family has lived in this land for centuries. Instead, the Church opted to elevate one of the most radical and divisive theological and political manifestos produced in recent years. The consequences of that decision will echo far beyond the walls of the General Synod.