Agencies-Gaza post
WCC: “Discrimination against Palestinians is overt and systemic”
Summit before this month in Geneva, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) published a statement charging that Israel’s “discrimination against Palestinians is overt and systemic, and the continuing half-century-long occupation persists to oppose the equal human dignity and human rights of Palestinians living under this system of control, while the reaction of the international community resumes reflecting egregious double standards.”
The WCC’s governing body stated, “recent actions in Israel and Palestine have highlighted the mounting obstacles to a just peace in the region.”
The committee said its “deep concern” regarding the “rapidly deteriorating situation,” citing Israel’s recent disruption of Christian religious adherence, the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision that gave Israeli settlers the right to confiscate church properties near the Jaffa Gate, the impunity enjoyed by Israeli extremists, and the threat of forced displacement which has begun in many West Bank Palestinian districts.
The statement also said, “the lack of accountability for the IOF personnel considered most likely responsible for the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” contrasting it with Israel’s “response to recent attacks on Israelis, in which Palestinians responsible for such attacks were killed, their homes destroyed and their families displaced.”
In addition to calling upon the government and authorities of Israel “to provide equal human rights for all people living under their responsibility, and to provide accountability for attacks and violations against Palestinians, against the holy places, churches, Christian communities, Muslims and other groups…,” the Central Committee appealed to the international community “to speak out against the looming evictions in Masafer Yatta and other threatened displacements of Palestinian communities in the occupied territories.”
The World Council of Churches is a company of 352 churches from over 120 countries meaning over 580 million Christians worldwide.
With this drop, over 4,000 participants are predicted to gather in Germany for the WCC’s General Assembly which meets every eight years for prayer, conversation, and celebration. Observers will watch to see if the General Assembly will affirm the Central Committee’s report, name Israel’s bias, and call on its member churches to work in concrete forms to end Israel’s occupation.
