St Martin’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation group recently watched a talk on the current situation in Israel/Palestine by Rev Munther Isaac, Dean of Bethlehem Bible College. Given before the tragic loss of life that has occurred in both Jewish and Palestinian communities since the beginning of 2023 what struck me was the struggle he was having to hold on to a hope for a just future.
Two telling quotes from his talk were:
‘today it should not come as a surprise that more and more human rights organisations, legal organisations, including Israeli ones, are using the word apartheid to describe these Israeli policies of control, and segregation
‘So today we are struggling to be honest… from churches who are silent, churches who take neutral positions or churches who just pray for peace and don’t want to be political. Because… I believe they are enabling the oppressor.’
In 1933, the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared that the Nazi regime’s denial of the rights of Jews placed the church in ‘status confessionis’ (‘a confessional state’). To describe an issue as status confessionis means that taking a clear stand on that issue is essential to the nature of the Church – that the Church’s position either affirms or denies the truth and meaning of the Gospel.
In 1977, the Lutheran World Federation declared that apartheid in South Africa created a status confessionis for the church and later a wider alliance of churches declared apartheid incompatible with Christian belief. The community of St Martin’s was active in the anti-apartheid movement.
The clear message from Rev Isaac and many others is that the current plight of the Palestinian community requires a response from churches around the world.
Jim Sikorski
