Southern African synod calls for ceasefire in Israel/Gaza

Provincial Synod has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of prisoners, the return of hostages and an unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.

In a resolution adopted on Thursday September 26, Synod also re-iterated an earlier call for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The Provincial Synod meets every three years and includes bishops, clergy and lay representatives from 25 dioceses in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and the island of St Helena. It began its sitting on Wednesday and will continue until Friday.

The resolution was adopted after the synod was addressed on a video link by Archbishop Hosam Naoum of Jerusalem, President Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

The full text of the resolution adopted by Provincial Synod follows:

Resolution on Palestine

This Synod Lamenting:

1. The on-going conflict in Gaza and the deaths of more than 38 000 people, at least two thirds of whom are women and children;
2. The use of starvation as a weapon of war;
3. The destruction of hospitals, schools and every one of 72 facilities for persons with disabilities in Gaza;
4. The environmental destruction wrought by military action in Gaza;
5. That since this Synod’s 2019 call for an end to the Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the situation on the ground has worsened and the violence of settlers and the military against Palestinian people has intensified; and

Confessing:

The church’s equating of Palestinian with Muslim, of Islam with terrorism and of the Zionist state of Israel with the Israel of the Bible, thereby paralysing the church and rendering too many Christians mute; and

Acknowledging and encouraging:

1. The work of the South African legal teams at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and prays for their work;
2. The continuing work towards the full establishment of the Global anti-apartheid movement for Palestine;
3. The role of Archbishop Thabo and the WCC in giving support to Palestine as a way to express South African Christians’ solidarity; now therefore:

This Synod resolves to:

1. Call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of prisoners, the return of hostages and an unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory;
2. Re-iterate its call for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories;
3. Respectfully request the Archbishop to convey our sorrow and the assurance of our prayers to Archbishop Hosam, Primate of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, on behalf of the Palestinian people;

4. Collaborate with an ecumenical team to, as soon as it is possible, send a delegation to visit the people of Gaza.
5. Respectfully request the Archbishop to convey our request to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the wider Anglican Communion that they take urgent action to condemn the on-going occupation of the Occupied West Bank Territories and Gaza.