From Silence to Action: A Christian Journey for Justice in Palestine
Thank you for inviting me to
speak today.
I’ve had the privilege of
visiting Palestine twice
—once in 2018 and again in
2022—with a group from my church.
Those trips were life-changing,
opening my eyes to the harsh
realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation.
We witnessed firsthand the
destruction of homes,
the expansion of illegal
settlements,
and the ongoing restrictions
on movement and daily life.
The suffering we saw was
undeniable,
and it has compelled us to
speak out and act.
But many in Christian
congregations remain silent.
Just this week, I was at a
meeting
where Christian leaders shared
their experiences
of being silenced and
ostracised for speaking about Palestine.
They also spoke of the
difficulty of motivating people in their churches to take action.
For some, this silence is
rooted in fear
—fear of saying the wrong
thing or of being misunderstood.
For others, it stems from
theological positions,
such as Christian Zionism,
which often leads to
uncritical support for the state of Israel.
Yet, as people of conscience,
I believe Christians cannot
remain silent in the face of injustice.
As Martin Luther King, the
great Baptist preacher and civil rights activist,
put it: “Injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere.”
His words resonate deeply with
me.
Inspired by his example, I
continue to believe
there is a path forward for
Christian communities
to engage more fully and
courageously in the struggle for Palestinian rights
and a better future for both
Israel and Palestine.
A Historical-Theological
Perspective
To understand the urgency of
this issue, we need to look back.
The Hebrew Bible—what
Christians call the Old Testament—
contains stories of God’s
promises to Israel, including the promise of the land.
These texts, often written
centuries after the events they describe,
reflect the concerns of the
people of their time.
Many of these stories were
shaped during or shortly after the Babylonian exile,
a turbulent period when Israel
faced existential threats
from surrounding empires.
These narratives emphasised
God’s promises to the land
as a way of asserting hope and
identity.
Later, during Roman occupation,
Jewish communities re-told
these stories
to affirm their connection to
the land in the face of external threats.
The destruction of the Second
Temple in 70 CE profoundly reshaped Judaism,
shifting emphasis from temple
worship to local synagogues
and diaspora communities.
For Christians, the New
Testament reflects this transitional period,
presenting a theology that
expanded the “people of God”
to include all who follow
Jesus, regardless of ethnicity.
The centuries that followed saw
a succession of powers
shaping the land of
Israel-Palestine:
from Byzantine Christians and Islamic Caliphates
to the Crusades and the
Ottoman Empire.
The 20th century brought the
British Mandate
and the establishment of the
state of Israel in 1948,
which, as we know well, displaced
many Palestinians.
These events continue to
resonate,
shaping not only the modern
conflict over land, identity, and belonging,
but also the default Christian
response to the ongoing occupation and conflict.
Silence and Complicity
But, friends, the complexity of
this history
should not lead us to
paralysis or silence.
Silence in the face of
injustice is complicity.
Christians must confront the
fear
and theological misconceptions
that keep us quiet.
Some Christians, particularly
Christian Zionists,
see the establishment of the
modern state of Israel
as a fulfilment of biblical
prophecy.
While this perspective is
sincere,
it often blinds its adherents
to the suffering of Palestinians
and the injustices of
occupation.
The Book of James challenges us
to move beyond passive belief:
“What good is it, my brothers
and sisters,
if someone claims
to have faith but has no deeds?
Can such faith
save them?
Suppose a brother or sister is
without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says
to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’
but does nothing
about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:14-16).
Words without action are empty.
And in the face of the
suffering we’ve seen in Gaza, the West Bank,
and East Jerusalem, we cannot
simply say, “Go in peace.”
Faith-Inspired Action
Jesus’ teachings provide a
clear ethic for action.
When the soldiers came to
arrest him,
one of his disciples drew a
sword and struck the servant of the high priest.
Jesus healed the man and said,
“Put your sword back into its
place,
for all who take the sword
will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
Jesus’ call to nonviolence and
peacemaking is echoed in the Beatitudes:
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
On our visits to Palestine, we
saw this ethic lived out.
One of the most profound
experiences was meeting Daoud Nasser
and his family at the Tent of
Nations farm near Bethlehem.
At the entrance to their farm,
a stone bears the words,
“We refuse to be enemies.”
Despite facing land
confiscation and aggression,
their Christian faith inspires
them to resist nonviolently,
refusing to dehumanise their
oppressors.
Their farm stands as a beacon
of hope,
demonstrating that the
struggle for justice can be waged with dignity and love.
Faith Communities at the
Grassroots: Building Movements for Justice
Here in Britain, faith
communities are rediscovering their collective agency
through the methods and
disciplines of community organising.
Across the country, churches,
mosques, synagogues, and civic groups
are learning how to act
together for justice,
not through spontaneous protest alone,
but through the slow,
deliberate work
of relationship-building and
power analysis.
At the heart of community
organising
lies a conviction that people,
when connected through
relationships of trust,
can wield meaningful power.
This is not the coercive power
of domination,
but the relational power that
emerges
when people act together for
the common good.
Organising begins with listening
—the discipline of hearing
the experiences, fears, and hopes of others.
When churches engage in deep
listening
within their congregations and
neighbourhoods,
they begin to discern the
issues that truly matter to people’s lives,
including the moral urgency of
justice for Palestine.
The next step is power
analysis
—understanding how
decisions are made, where authority lies,
and who has the ability to
effect change.
Grassroots activists grounded
in faith
are learning to map these
power structures:
to know which institutions, politicians, or corporations can be influenced,
and how to bring moral
pressure to bear effectively.
A core principle of organising
is to slice an issue off a problem
—to identify one aspect of
a vast injustice
that can be addressed through
concrete, winnable action.
The conflict in
Israel-Palestine may feel overwhelming,
but organisers know that
change happens incrementally.
A local church might start with
a campaign for ethical investment,
or host an educational event
that challenges misinformation,
or build partnerships with
Palestinian farmers through fair trade.
These smaller actions, when
coordinated,
accumulate power and build
momentum.
From there, the organising
process moves toward carefully targeted actions
—public events, vigils, or
meetings that hold decision-makers accountable.
These are not symbolic gestures
but strategic interventions,
designed to shift the moral
and political landscape.
Through disciplined planning
and clear goals,
faith communities can act
together with confidence,
knowing their efforts
contribute to a broader movement for justice.
At Bloomsbury Central Baptist
Church, for instance,
we have worked with these
principles
to connect our moral
convictions to tangible campaigns.
We have hosted interfaith
vigils, invited speakers from Palestine,
and created forums where
people can encounter
the human stories behind the
headlines.
Such actions grow from the deep
soil of listening and relationship,
and they show that activism,
when rooted in community organising,
becomes sustainable and
transformative.
In this model, activism is not
driven by outrage alone, but by hope.
It is the hope that ordinary
people,
acting together
with courage and imagination,
can challenge systems of
oppression and bring about real change.
By embracing these principles,
British faith communities are
rediscovering their prophetic voice
and learning that faith, when
organised, becomes power for justice.
Even when our church
institutions are hesitant to speak out
—whether from fear of controversy,
the constraints of
denominational politics,
or anxiety about public
perception—
grassroots activism offers another way.
Community organising empowers
people of faith
to act collectively without
waiting for institutional permission.
It allows local congregations
to embody their convictions
through relationships and
action,
even when official voices fall
silent.
By working together across
boundaries,
ordinary believers can create
the moral pressure
that institutions often
cannot,
demonstrating that the prophetic impulse of faith
belongs not only to
hierarchies, but to the people themselves.
A Vision for Peace
The ultimate goal is peace
rooted in justice.
This is not about taking sides
but standing for the dignity
and freedom of all people.
As Christians, we are called to
be peacemakers. You, and me. Us.
The vast majority of Christians
in the Holy Land are Palestinian.
Their courage and resilience
inspire us to work for reconciliation
and to work proactively
towards a future
where both Israelis and
Palestinians can live in peace.
In closing, let us remember
that justice is a shared human calling.
The grassroots work of faith
communities
is how the moral landscape of
nations changes.
Where we go first, others can
follow,
and our leaders will rise on
the tide of our actions.
The journey ahead requires
commitment and courage,
but if we want to stand on the
side of history that bends toward justice,
we must take it together.
It is time for Christians to
speak. It is time to act.
And it is time to stand in
solidarity with those who cry out for freedom.
Thank you.
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