The Kairos Document, The Bethlehem Call & the 220th GA of the PCUSA

This posting is meant to help those who will be voting on Middle-East issues in the 220th Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly. For instance ovt-021 "On Recognizing that Israel’s Law and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against Palestinian People" and in particular, ovt-068 On Responding to the Call from Palestinian Christians for Economic Solidarity.

In 2009 a paper entitled The Kairos Document was written and signed by various Christian leaders in the Middle East. It was voted on at the 219th GA of the PC (U.S.A.) but only one section was emphasized and it was received as a document for study.[1] The document is clearly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, I wrote about it at 'Presbyterian Middle East Study Team & "The Kairos Palestine Document" no longer a Jewish Nation?." It is not a fair document even insisting that Israel should not be a Jewish state.

In December of 2011, another document, connected to the Kairos one, was published entitled, “The Bethlehem Call.” In this document the Israel occupation is referred to as lasting sixty years, meaning that the writers consider all of Israel the occupation. In this second document the derogatory comments toward Israel, the West and religious organizations are indefensible:

As witnessed with our own eyes, the treacherous conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation on Palestinians and their land have reached a level of almost unimaginable and sophisticated criminality. This includes the slow yet deliberate and systematic ethnic cleansing and the geo-cide of Palestinians and Palestine as well as the strangling of the Palestinian economy. The brutality in the “violence of silence” internationally provides an almost impenetrable shield for the Israeli government to implement its evil designs in blatant disregard for human rights and international law. Silence is an opinion. Inaction is an action. We witness decidedly spineless cowardice in failure to resist the Israeli government by the majority of governments, political parties, media outlets, businesses, most of organized religion -- including Christianity -- and the silence of prophets worldwide.

The Bethlehem Call which is heavily involved in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement and looks for connections to South American also has this statement in its text:

We pray and plead for a radical change of hearts, policies and practices of the Israeli government and those governments that support it. If this does not happen, we pray in trembling and hope if it is God’s will…. for these governments to fall.

I am writing this to point out that much of this has influenced the attitude of the PCUSA toward the Jewish State of Israel. The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the PCUSA has pushed the first document, even writing their own study guide, and linked to and advocated for the Bethlehem Call when it was released.

As a counter to both of these documents I am linking to a paper published by the Council of Centers in Jewish Christian Relations in 2010. The paper is entitled “Cautions to US Churches Regarding the Kairos Palestine Document.” The paper points out where the Kairos Document is correct but where it is also faulty because of what it leaves out or misstates. For instance:

The Kairos Palestine document states that “[the Palestinian] connectedness to this land is a natural right.” (Sec. 2.3.4) We agree . . .


• But the Jewish connectedness to the land is also a natural right. Both Jews and Palestinians have legitimate claims to the land which can and must be accommodated through a negotiated two-state solution.

And:

The Kairos Palestine document professes that “an end to Israeli occupation . . . will guarantee security and peace for all.” (Sec. 7) . . . But is that true?


• There was no security or peace prior to the occupation. During the British Mandate period, Arabs responded to Jewish immigration with violent attacks.

• More violence broke out after the November 29, 1947 U.N. partition plan which separated the British Mandate into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Increasingly violent attacks by Arabs against Jews were followed by violent Jewish reprisals. This was twenty years before the occupation and prior to the creation of the state of Israel.

• One day after Israel declared independence, five Arab states attacked the new Jewish state. The 1948/49 war ended with Armistice Agreements. But there was no peace. All of Israel’s borders were closed and every Arab country boycotted Israel. Hundreds of Israelis were killed and wounded in terror attacks launched mostly from bases in Jordan and the Syrian Golan Heights.

• In 1964 — three years before the occupation — the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded. The PLO established a Palestine Liberation Army in order “to attain the objective of liquidating Israel.”

• There is no reason to believe that ending the occupation alone would bring security and peace to Israel and Palestine.

It is important for any person involved in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 220th General Assembly to be aware of all of the facts of the history of the Jewish State of Israel as well as the needs of the Palestinians. The article I have linked to is extremely helpful because it does not leave out either side’s story. Please read-“Cautions to US Churches Regarding the Kairos Palestine Document.”

[1] What was mainly rejected was the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.