Palestinian Christians slam Archbishop of Canterbury for failure to condemn Israeli 'genocide'

Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank have criticised the UK’s Archbishop of Canterbury for failing to "fully condemn" Israel's occupation and its bombardment of Gaza during his recent visit to Jerusalem.

Archbishop Justin Welby returned on Monday from a four-day pastoral trip to Jerusalem meant "to show solidarity to Archbishop Hosam Naoum and the whole Christian community in the region", after the massacre at the Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City last week that Palestinian authorities say Israel committed.

Welby met with various church leaders, including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III, the morning after Israel's bombing of the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Porphyrius, according to the archbishop’s website. 

The archbishop also visited hospitals and met the families of those killed or taken hostage in Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October, the website said.

But church leaders in the West Bank said that they were dismayed by the failure of the archbishop – who is the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion – to speak out against Israel’s occupation and the suffering of Christians. 

In an open letter addressed to Welby, the Ramallah Anglican Congregation and the Birzeit Anglican Congregation expressed their concern at what they said was a disregard for the Israeli atrocities being committed against Palestinian people. 

"What we would expect from our Church is to fully condemn the systematic denial of our rights and calls to annihilate our people, especially as these are being publicly expressed by the current fascist Israeli government, rather than attempting to create a balance between the oppressed and the oppressor," the letter read.

"Our continued presence means the existence of the Anglican communion in the birthplace of Christianity and therefore, we would expect that our existence and struggle for justice and liberation as Palestinians, Christians and Anglicans would be accurately portrayed and more publicly supported from your side."

Israel is deliberately trying to de-Christianise Jerusalem

✍ @emadmoussa https://t.co/SCkjM3Qu92

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 26, 2023

The authors of the letter, who speak for some 40,000 Christians in the West Bank, said they only became aware that Welby, the principal leader of the Church of England, was present in Jerusalem through social media. 

"It has become clear to us that our voices as Palestinian Anglicans are not being heard in Canterbury and our interests are being relegated."

With Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip having killed more than 6,500 people since 7 October, the churches urged the archbishop to call Israel's actions "what they truly are: a genocide of the Palestinian people and a serious threat to extinguish the Christian presence from Gaza for the first time in 2,000 years of Christian history."

Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been left reeling by Israel's relentless aerial bombardment of the territory and total siege that has cut off supplies of food, water and fuel.

With more than 17,000 people severely wounded and Gaza's entire healthcare system on the brink of shutdown, the UN is urgently calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Since the beginning of the war, the archbishop has been vocal in his condemnation of Hamas – and in a speech made Monday in the House of Lords, Welby called on the government to consider granting an accolade for the bravery of a British-Israeli killed while fighting for the Israeli army on 7 October during a Hamas attack on a kibbutz.

Archbishop @JustinWelby spoke in the House of Lords today, in a debate on the situation in Israel/Gaza.

The full video and transcript of his speech can be seen here: https://t.co/sgAQzn9PjP pic.twitter.com/Sa9nwXZuLD

— Church of England in Parliament (@churchstate) October 24, 2023

The archbishop came under scrutiny for comments he made to The Times of Israel while he was in Jerusalem, in which he said there was "no proof" of Israel’s role in the Al-Ahli hospital bombing.

"What I have said publicly to people is don’t assume it was Israel, you have no proof that it’s Israel. Many people have made a clear case it’s not. At the very best, do not start propagating another blood libel," he told the Israeli daily. 

But by Monday he was forced to issue an explanation on his website admitting that he regretted the "blood libel" remark. 

"I regret the use of the phrase 'blood libel' in that interview. There is so much suffering in this terrible war, and so many competing accounts of countless acts of violence, that two things are essential: that we do not rush to judgment, and that we choose our words carefully."

Last week's bombing of the Al-Ahli Hospital and the deaths of more than 500 civilians sheltering inside sent shockwaves across the world and triggered immediate condemnation from leaders. 

Israel has denied responsibility for the strike, placing the blame on Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants. The PIJ and other Palestinian groups say Israeli bombed the hospital.

In the Times of Israel interview, Welby even cast doubt on the number of civilian victims in Gaza, despite the widely reported death toll citing thousands of deaths.

"I have no idea how many civilians there were, I’ve heard so many different numbers," he said.