CHRISTIANITY: Introduction to Kairos Palestine

Church leaders sign the Kairos Palestine Document at its launching on December 15, 2009 in Bethlehem

Kairos Palestine is an organization made up of Christians who gathered in Bethlehem in 2008 to create a statement about Palestinian Christians. In December 2009, the Kairos Palestine document (full title: "A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering") was issued as a call by a number of Palestinian Christians to Christians around the world to help fight the Israeli occupation. 

Kairos is the Greek word for "an opportune or decisive moment".[1]

Here is the introduction to the Kairos Palestine document:

We are a Christian Palestinian movement,

born out of the Kairos Document, which advocates for ending the Israeli occupation and achieving a just solution to the conflict.

The Kairos Document is the word of Christian Palestinians to the world about what is happening in Palestine.

“Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God. We address it first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace.”

We proclaim our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian belonging – a word of faith, hope and love.

We declare that the military occupation of Palestinian land constitutes a sin against God and humanity. Any theology that legitimizes the occupation and justifies crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people lies far from Christian teachings.

We urge the international community to stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle against oppression, displacement, and apartheid.

We demand that all people, political leaders and decision-makers put pressure on Israel and take legal measures in order to oblige its government to end its oppression and disregard for international law.

We hold a clear position that non-violent resistance to this injustice is a right and duty for all Palestinians, including Christians.

We support Palestinian civil society organizations, international NGOs and religious institutions that call on individuals, companies and states to engage in boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli occupation.

“Everything that happens in our land, everyone who lives there, all the pains and hopes, all the injustice and all the efforts to stop this injustice, are part and parcel of the prayer of the Palestinian Church and the service of all her institutions.”