A Call to Action For Israel and Palestine

Peace Catalyst International unreservedly calls for a ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, the return of all hostages, secure humanitarian corridors, and an end to the widespread killing and destruction in Gaza. In doing so, we join our voice with many of our peacebuilding partners and friends, including Telos, The Global Immersion Project, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Friends of Sabeel North America, Jewish Voice for Peace, Christ at the Checkpoint, Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East, Churches for Middle East Peace, Islamic Relief USA, and Musalaha. 

We are particularly concerned about the gross loss of civilian life and the severe impact of violence on women, children, individuals with disabilities, and those in need of medical care in Gaza. The killing and abduction of children, the use of and damage to hospitals and schools by combatants, and the limited humanitarian access to the region constitute grave violations of human rights that have been perpetuated by both Israelis and Palestinians. As followers of Jesus and fellow members of faith in the Abrahamic religions, we further state that violence against the vulnerable is contrary to the concept of a just and merciful Creator God; this violence deserves our deepest outcry and our most passionate calls for justice. 

We believe it is possible to cultivate a peace in which everyone—including both Israelis and Palestinians—can have their needs met, experience safety and justice, and flourish together. We also believe that retaliatory and indiscriminate violence will never lead to peace, only to deeper hatred and further aggression. 

We do not take this stance lightly. We recognize the shock, pain, fear, and grief experienced by Israelis and Jewish people across the world in the wake of Hamas’s horrific attack on October 7. The symbolic date of the Hamas attack, 50 years after the Yom Kippur War, is a reminder of Jewish historical trauma and amplifies present-day fears and needs for safety and security. The Jewish people have experienced centuries of antisemitism, exclusion, expulsion, and genocide, leaving deep collective wounds and an ongoing sense of danger and vulnerability. We believe the people of Israel deserve safety from attack and the security of a place and community that they can call home. We also believe that this safety and security depends upon Israel pursuing policies that seek the peace, equity, and flourishing of both Palestinians and Israelis. 

We recognize the violence and trauma of displacement and occupation experienced by the Palestinian people.  Palestinians who had called the land home for many generations saw their land and right to self-determination slip away with the creation of the state of Israel. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes, crowding into shrinking Palestinian territories or fleeing as refugees. In the decades since, those in the Palestinian territories have endured poverty, destruction, and imprisonment through bombing, occupation, and blockade. We believe the people of Palestine deserve the opportunity to live freely and fully in the land of their ancestors, in safety and with every chance for a flourishing life. We also believe that they have a right to equality, dignity, and liberation, which will only come through nonviolent action. 

We recognize that we are complicit in the history of this war. Western European nations, especially the United Kingdom, played an integral role in colonizing the Palestinian region, establishing the state of Israel, and marginalizing the Palestinian people. The United States has long been a staunch ally of Israel, supplying the country with American weaponry and turning a blind eye to harmful actions by the Israeli state. As such, we believe that the United States and European nations must play a role in healing harms in the Middle East. 

As followers of Jesus, we recognize and lament the role that the Church has played in contributing to this violent history, and we call for the Church to advocate for a just and peaceful solution. Both historically and in the modern era, the Church has long played a role in persecuting Jewish people through scapegoating, theft, expulsion, and massacres. Today, the theology and politics of many Western Christians leads to both unquestionable support for the state of Israel as well as cultural and religious biases against individuals from majority-Muslim populations. We believe the Church must repent of the ways that we have allowed a politically-oriented theology to fuel the conflict in this region and take responsibility for the work of repair.

We recognize how the effects of this war reach far beyond the Middle East. Across the world, both Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise. Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Arabs, and Muslims have experienced verbal and physical violence because of their identities, and many more are living with ongoing stress and fear. We believe that, in seasons such as this, peacebuilders and Jesus-followers are called to care for and stand with their Muslim and Jewish neighbors in the midst of increased prejudice. 

Since the October 7 attack, Peace Catalyst staff have leaned into their individual and communal relationships to better respond to the current conflict and its historical context. We check in with our Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, and Jewish friends who are being impacted; we sign petitions and attend rallies; we amplify voices of those close to the violence; we cultivate understanding and empathy through constructive conversation; and we seek opportunities to educate and to advocate. We believe peacebuilding begins with connections and collaborations that help form just communities. We also believe that these partnerships show us that peace really is possible. Right now, peace requires a ceasefire and the courage to forge a new path forward, toward sustainable justice for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

WILL YOU JOIN US?

Pray and Repent

• Pray weekly with Friends of Sabeel

• Sign “An Open Letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Church Leaders and Theologians”

• How to Pray for Gaza and Israel guide from Tearfund

Learn About the Current Conflict and Historical Context

• Discover many other Faith Statements and Faith Actions Regarding a Ceasefire collated by Fellowship of Reconciliation USA

• Learn from Palestinian peacemaker and pastor Munther Isaac:

• In his Sojourners article, “God is Under the Rubble in Gaza”

• In an interview The Global Immersion Project 

• Learn about the impact of Israel’s blockade of Gaza since 2006, by Gaza Unlocked

• 9 Christian Palestinian Theologians and Biblical Scholars You Should Know

• Israeli Palestinian conflict explained: an animated introduction to Israel and Palestine by Jewish Voice for Peace

• An in-depth video series on Israel/Palestine from For Critical Thinkers 

• A Palestinian Christian’s Perspective on the Israeli - Palestinian War with Daniel Bannoura 

• Peacebuilder and scholar Lisa Schirch’s article on finding the space for grief, compassion, and peace in the war, “Scaling the Wall of Grief in Israel and Palestine”

• Learn about Christian Zionism from Telos

Take Action

• Sign Ceasefire Now petitions:

• Ceasefire Now

• American Christian Leaders Demanding: Ceasefire Now

• Council on American-Islamic Relations

• Advocate:

• Jewish Voice for Peace

• US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

• Telos

• Friends of Sabeel North America

• Have constructive conversations across differences about the war:

• “How to talk with family and friends about the situation in Israel and Palestine” from the American Friends Service Committee

• “10 Ways to Have Conscientious Conversations on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” from the Anti-Defamation League

• Care for friends and neighbors:

• Check in and be present with impacted family, friends, and neighbors

• Be ready to offer empathy and emotional first aid to those feeling the weight of the war

• Learn Bystander Intervention skills from Right to Be to counter antisemitic and Islamophobic harassment