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As part of its 45th General Council, the United Church of Canada General Council Executive endorsed Kairos Palestine II, A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide. The General Secretary specifically recommended that General Council Executive

1. Receive Kairos Palestine II “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide” and endorse it for study, reflection and action by United Church of Canada people, Communities of Faith and theological schools;
2. Endorse for engagement by United Church people, theological schools, communities of faith and the Government of Canada (as relevant) the actions in Kairos Palestine II calling on people of conscience to:
3. 1. name the reality truthfully;
   2. advocate for accountability and international law
   3. reject theologies that justify oppression: reject hateful ideologies such as Christian Zionism, Islamophobia and antisemitism;
   4. encourage courageous and costly solidarity with the people of Palestine and especially the diminishing Christian community; and
   5. support creative, nonviolent resistance, specifically boycott, divestment and sanctions.

The General Council said, “In undertaking these actions, the church is closer to living out its faith as declared.” They also specifically noted that the risk “include consequences for engaging in costly solidarity, such as suppression of free speech in support of Palestinian human rights.”

This proposal deepens the ways in which the church lives out its Creed, its expressions of faith and its commitments to partnership, anti-racism and anti-oppression. It calls for deepened engagement with oppressed communities facing genocide, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.

This endorsement is an important step, but we note it with extreme caution. While endorsing Kairos II is crucial, it does not inherently equate to action or provide redress for past harm. The United Church of Canada has previously:

• Signed an agreement with B’nai Brith: Attempts were made to silence editor of the United Church of Canada’s Observer magazine, Rev. Dr. A.C. Forrest, when it signed the agreement in 1973. This is an agreement that continues to be in place until today. It was put in place primarily to silence Rev. Dr. Forrest about his writing on the United Nations Resolution 194, Right of Return, and his publication of The Unholy Land. It was also meant to squash the grassroots church support for Palestine.
• Failed to apologize for telling Palestinians to accept a zionist State: In 2003, General Council 38 gave its blessing to a Jewish state. The resolution specifically stated that a just peace would require “the recognition by the emergent State of Palestine and other neighbouring Arab States of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state within safe and secure borders.”
• Maintained a resolution negating support for the Palestinian right of return unless it also applied to Jewish people: In 2012, a comprehensive package of resolutions was brought forward, but it spoke against BDS, refused to name apartheid, and negated right of return by indicating the support only if it did not impact Israel’s Jewish demographic integrity.
• Failed to implement its divestment (and other) resolutions in any way: For example, in 2015, approved a resolution for divestment from “companies that are profiting from or supporting the occupation.” To our knowledge, none of the nearly 3000 congregations in the United Church of Canada have even considered divestment.
• Refused to endorse any Palestinian Christian calls to action until now.

Read more at tr.ee/UCC-Kairos

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