Kairos Palestine, the Palestinian Christian Initiative, responds with much appreciation to the position lately made by the Church of Norway on Christian Zionism. See the statement below:
Dear Friends,
The board, staff and friends of Kairos Palestine received with joy and deep gratitude the news of the Church of Norway Bishops Conference statement regarding Christian Zionism, released on the 30th of October 2020. We congratulate the Church of Norway for leading among the global churches on this important issue.
Through our 2009 Kairos Palestine document, A Moment of Truth (www.kairospalestine.ps), Palestinian Christians pleaded with churches throughout the world not to "offer a theological cover-up for the injustice we suffer." We therefore applaud the Bishops' bold statement identifying Christian Zionism as "theologically unacceptable and incompatible with human rights."
In the Conference's commitment "to continue to seek dialogue with Jews about how we, as believers, can contribute to just peace in the area," the Church of Norway is an example to churches around the world of the importance of serious inter-religious dialogue and the fact that criticism of Zionism is neither anti-Semitic nor to be taken as criticism to Judaism.
The statement reads, "Christian Zionism is not only harmful to Christians but also to Jews and Muslims as well as all humanity." In July this year, Global Kairos for Justice - a growing community of Christians across five continents - issued Cry for Hope: A Call to Decisive Action (www.cryforhope.org). We wrote, "As followers of Jesus, our response to ideologies of exclusivity and apartheid is to uphold a vision of inclusivity and equality for all peoples of the land and to persistently struggle to bring this about."
Our struggle is rooted in the logic of love that seeks to liberate both the oppressor and the oppressed in the hope of creating a new society for all the people of the land.
The Church of Norway is in our prayers as it leads the people of Norway along the path of justice and peace.
Kairos Palestine
Kairos Palestine, the most extensive Palestinian Christian ecumenical non- violent movement, is based on Kairos Palestine document: A Moment of Truth, launched in 2009, affirming that the Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Palestinian nation, calling for peace to end all suffering in the Holy Land by laboring for justice, hope and love, embraced by the Christian community, signed by all historically recognized Palestinian Christian organizations, and endorsed by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem.