Take a Stand Campaign
What are other Christians saying?
In July 2021, the United Church of Christ’s General Synod became one of the first denominations to pass a resolution recognizing “Israel’s apartheid system of laws and legal procedures” and affirming that the “continued oppression of the Palestinian people remains … a matter of theological urgency.” Since then, several other denominational, state, and local religious bodies such as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Dioceses of Washington, Vermont, and Chicago have followed suit.”
In 2024, the Palestine Israel Network of the United Church of Christ announced that Israel’s actions against Palestinians constitute genocide. Entitled “It’s Past Time: Naming Israel’s Genocide in Gaza,” the statement includes a challenge to those in positions of authority, saying, “It is past time for all our political and religious leaders to recognize and name the atrocity in Gaza for the genocide that it is.” A statement naming Israel’s genocide was recently circulated within the denomination, gaining 800 signatures from clergy and lay leaders.
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church voted at its 80th General Convention in 2022 to condemn Israel’s occupation and oppression of Palestinians and urge the United States to take action to oppose Israeli laws and practices that result in unequal rights for two peoples.
Presbyterian Church USA
In July 2022 the Presbyterian Church USA voted at its 225th General Assembly to declare Israel an “apartheid state.” At its biennial policy-setting conference in July 2024, the denomination voted to divest its holdings in Israel bonds and to condemn Christian Zionism. The denomination was the second mainline Protestant church to vote for divestment from Israel bonds in 2024, following similar action by United Methodists in June.
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church has affirmed a resolution at every General Conference since 2016 condemning Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land: “The United Methodist Church opposes continued military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, the confiscation of Palestinian land and water resources, the destruction of Palestinian homes, the continued building of illegal Jewish settlements, and any vision of a ‘Greater Israel’ that includes the occupied territories and the whole of Jerusalem and its surroundings.” The denomination has divested its holdings in several Israeli banks associated with illegal settlements. In June, 2024, the General Conference called for an end to all military aid to the region and withdrawal of all investments in Israeli bonds.
Alliance of Baptists
In 2023, the Alliance of Baptists approved the following Statement on Israel and Palestine: “We recognize that the government of Israel’s laws, policies, and practices regarding the Palestinian people fulfill the international legal definition of apartheid.”
Pax Christi International
In a 2024 statement calling for a ceasefire, Pax Christi International said, “Does our collective Christian voice echo the teachings of Jesus or has it, in its tepid silence, become another weapon? We shudder to think that the cries of the living stones of Palestine have fallen on deaf ears. When will our sisters and brothers in Gaza know that the Church has not abandoned them? Or, like Jesus, will they be left to suffer alone in a garden of rubble? Have we too fallen asleep? The time to speak is now. There is not a minute to waste.”
“The United Methodist Church opposes continued military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem...”
“Does our collective Christian voice echo the teachings of Jesus or has it, in its tepid silence, become another weapon? We shudder to think that the cries of the living stones of Palestine have fallen on deaf ears...”
Following an Israeli strike in 2024 that killed dozens of Palestinian refugees in Rafah, a coalition of Christian groups called for a boycott and divestment of companies “supporting Israel’s military oppression of Palestinians.” Signatories of the letter included the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Christians for a Free Palestine, Friends of Sabeel North America, Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace and Pax Christi USA.
In July 2024, more than 200 Christian leaders signed an urgent letter to the White House in calling for a ceasefire and saying:
“We fear the existential threat to the Christian presence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories – the very place where our faith tradition began. More than three percent of the Christian community in Gaza has been killed since October 7th, including 18 Christians at St. Porphyrius Orthodox Church. Dozens of Christian families throughout the West Bank have left due to the occupation, increased violence, and economic pressures. Christians and their significant contributions to civil society could soon disappear from the Holy Land. Thus, as Christians and people of peace, we call on the international community and global institutions to end all arms flows into the conflict zone and to end various states’ attempts to frustrate legal remedies being sought in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in response to war crimes alleged against both sides and the ‘plausible’ accusation that Israeli action in Gaza ‘could amount to genocide.’ We also call for unrestricted access to all necessary humanitarian assistance for those in need and the opening of an internationally facilitated long-term and permanent peace process…”