Palestinian Christian Leaders Call Israeli Occupation a 'Sin Against God'

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Sunday December 13, 2009 11:26 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

A group of Palestinian Christian leaders released a document on Friday calling on Christians around the world to join them in calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

The 12-page document, entitled “The Kairos Palestine Document”, highlights the urgent need for peace with justice in the Palestinian Territories, “because today we have reached a dead end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people.”

In the document, the church leaders ask, “The hearts of the faithful are filled with pain and with questioning: What is the international community doing? What are the political leaders in Palestine, in Israel and in the Arab world doing? What is the Church doing?”

They state “The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be of concern to the Church.”

Palestinian Christians make up less than 2% of the population of the West Bank and Gaza. Although the number used to be much higher, many Christians moved away due to enticement programs in which European nations offered them citizenship.

Many of the Christians in the West Bank and Gaza can trace their ancestry in the region back dozens of generations, and some have maintained the Aramaic language of Christ and have passed it through the generations through prayers and song.

In the document, the church leaders state, “God created us not to engage in strife and conflict but together build up the land in love and mutual respect. Our connectedness to this land is a natural right. It is not an ideological or a theological question only.” In addition, they call Israel’s occupation a “sin against God”.

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