Church of England Synod to Discuss Palestinian Christian Report on Genocide and Occupation

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has expressed support for the Church of England’s consideration of a report by Palestinian Christian group Kairos Palestine. The report, titled “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide,” was released on November 14, 2025, and asserts that Palestinian Christians have gathered “after prayer and reflection on the suffering of our people under occupation” to declare: “We live now in a time of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement unfolding before the eyes of the world.”

The General Synod, the Church of England’s legislative body, is set to address a motion encouraging engagement with the report during its annual gathering in York. The motion proposes that the Church receive and reflect on the document as part of its understanding of the Palestinian Christian experience amid Israel’s actions in Gaza. The report characterizes Israel as a “colonial, settler, and exclusionary entity” and identifies Palestinians as “the indigenous people of this land.”

It urges churches to “distinguish between dialogue with Jews and dialogue with Zionism,” and states that “the genocidal war on Gaza is the continuation of the Zionist project to seize all of Palestine, emptied of its Palestinian people.” The document has already been formally accepted by the Methodist Church.

While the motion simply requests the Church to engage with the report, attempts by external groups and figures to prevent its discussion are described as deeply concerning. These efforts are seen as an attempt to silence Palestinian Christian testimony at a time of significant suffering and moral urgency.

Pro-Israel figures’ efforts to suppress debate within the Church contrast sharply with warnings from former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Hosam Naoum about the accelerating disappearance of the Christian community in Palestine. Archbishop Naoum has noted that Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem increasingly express concern that “in 15 years’ time, there’ll be none of us left,” a sobering reflection on the future of Christianity in the Holy Land.

Source: Read the original report