Palestinian Christians Reject US Catholic Bishops Collaboration With Pro-Israel Group

Palestinian Christians are condemning a move by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to collaborate with a leading pro-Israel advocacy group on an online tool that aims to define Palestinian resistance as antisemitic. 

In a letter sent late last month from Kairos Palestine to the USCCB Committee’s head, Bishop Timothy Broglio, sixteen Palestinian Christian leaders representing Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant denominations and church organizations express their deep disappointment regarding the USCCB’s endorsement of the American Jewish Committee’s online resource, Translate Hate.  The bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, in partnership with the AJC, added its own annotations to the AJC’s resource, which offers glossary of “antisemitic terms, phrases, conspiracies, cartoons, themes, and memes” and titled it, Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition.

The Kairos Palestine letter charges the bishops’ document was “adopted without any form of consultation with Palestinian Christians, rendering us invisible and nonexistent in a discourse that directly impacts our lives and communities.”

It comes, they write, “at a time of immense suffering for our people, as tens of thousands are being killed, starved, and displaced under Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem—actions condemned by leading international and Israeli human rights organizations.”

According to the letter, Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition “claims that accusations of settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing in Palestine are ‘categorically false,’ disregarding overwhelming evidence from organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem and many Israeli historians, even early Zionist figures such as Ze’ev Jabotinsky.”

Furthermore, the letter charges that the document “equates Palestinian resistance with antisemitism, a dangerous conflation that distorts reality and undermines legitimate criticism of Israeli racist laws and policies.”

The first signature on the letter is that of Michel Sabbah, Patriarch Emeritus of the Latin Patriarchate [Catholic Church] of Jerusalem. He and Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, together with the other Christian leaders, write, “It is essential to affirm that our criticisms of Israel’s policies and the actions of its leaders are not directed at Jewish communities or Judaism itself. Israel and its policies must not be conflated with Jewish identity, and our call for accountability is not an expression of antisemitism.”

“… [A]dopting the Jerusalem Declaration or the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism,” the Palestinian Christians assert, “is highly problematic, as the IHRA’s definition dangerously equates Zionism with Judaism—despite the fact that thousands of Jews around the world reject Zionism as a political identity.”

“Furthermore,” the letter continues, “the document’s selective portrayal of history omits the staggering Palestinian casualties in Israel’s wars against our people…. Most egregiously, it ignores the current devastation in Gaza, where entire families—our families—have perished, and where churches sheltering the innocent have not been spared Israeli bombardment.”

Just days ago, Kairos Palestine received an emailed response from the bishop which was shared with Mondoweiss. In the letter the bishop explains the conference’s reason for working with the AJC. “Convinced that combating hatred directed at specific faith and ethnic communities begins with educating ourselves…,” he wrote, “we partnered with the Jewish community in the U.S. to develop a Catholic commentary on [their] Translate Hate educational resource.” 

“I know that, as Christians who have experienced great suffering yourselves…,” Biglio wrote, “you understand the imperative to stand with all who suffer and to combat hatred wherever it is expressed.” But nowhere in the bishop’s letter is there any indication that the conference intends to “stand with” their Palestinian siblings to prepare a document describing the extent of the suffering they are experiencing: Israel’s bombing of their churches in Gaza, restrictions of their movement in the West Bank, ethnic cleansing and, increasingly evident, the crime of genocide.

In an interview with Mondoweiss, Rifat Kassis, General Secretary of Kairos Palestine, said, “The USCCB’s response to the expression of our concerns makes it clear that we, Palestinian Christians, are neither seen nor valued. Our existence and suffering are ignored in favor of a narrative that frames the situation solely as a conflict/issue between Jews and Muslims.” 

Kassis continued, “This narrow perspective explains why the council did not propose a third document addressing the fears and suffering of Palestinian Christians, despite our unique struggles. Instead, they only created one document with the Jewish community and are about to release another focusing on Islam and Islamophobia. There is no sign that they are prepared to work with us to create even a statement on the suffering of the church in Palestine.”

Philip Farah, a member of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP)—comprised of Palestinian Americans across many denominations in the U.S.—told Mondoweiss, “At a time when Palestinian civilians are being massacred and starved to death, the USCCB has adopted a document that purports to counter antisemitism, but which is a thinly veiled attack on Palestinians and all who stand for a just peace in Palestine-Israel. How shameful.” Farah spoke of his relative in Gaza who died in the arms of her son, a physician, for the lack of basic medicine. According to Farah, many PCAP members—like their Muslim siblings in the U.S.—”have lost loved ones to Israel’s industrial-scale killing machine in Gaza.”

Pax Christi USA, a Catholic organization “working for peace with justice” around the world, issued a statement from its Executive Director, Charlene Howard. “Pax Christi USA,” she said, “supports our colleagues with Kairos Palestine. Their thoughtful reflections on the ‘Translate Hate’ document are necessary in order to help shape the Catholic collective conscience.”

Howard’s statement continued, “We are reminded that the power of life and death is in the tongue –words have power—therefore it is the responsibility of our Church’s leadership to make every effort to ensure that people of faith have clear and accurate terms with which to write, understand and act that promote dignity and life. For this to happen, all of those who have been impacted by the profound violence, oppression, and inhumane actions in Palestine and Israel must be recognized in the description of terms that are used to translate hate into love.”

Of further concern to supporters of Palestinians in other U.S. churches is the USCCB’s embrace of Translate Hate could lead other churches to do the same. This hope was expressed by AJC’s Director of Interreligious Affairs, Rabbi Noam Marans. He writes in the forward of the bishops’ edition of Translate Hate, “The potential for geometric growth in faith-based dissemination of Translate Hate is palpable… The Catholic Edition could… be the first of diverse Christian denominational publications that similarly bring to bear varied Christian teachings as additional commentary on Translate Hate and in opposition to antisemitism.” Supporters of Palestinian Christians have sent copies of Kairos Palestine’s letter to the USCCB to leaders in other U.S. churches, encouraging them to consult with their Palestinian partners to discourage them from creating their own versions of Translate Hate.

Source: Mondoweiss