Gaza Genocide11 July, 20263 min read
Palestine’s Supreme Presidential Committee Calls for U.S. Arms Embargo After Presbyterian Gaza Genocide Vote
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Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly recognized genocide in Gaza. Palestine's Supreme Presidential Committee for Church Affairs welcomed PCUSA decision and urged embargo on Israel.
Church vote and arms embargo
The Supreme Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, chaired by Dr. رمزي خوري, welcomed the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly’s decisions on Gaza and described Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide. The committee said the General Assembly adopted resolutions by a “majority” of 454 votes against 15, and it called for an American arms embargo on exports to Israel, arguing that continued weapons supplies “contribute to prolonging the crimes committed against Palestinian civilians.” It also said the General Assembly approved a boycott of products and companies linked to the Israeli occupation and voted to withdraw investments from Palantir Technologies and GE Aerospace on the basis of their “ارتباطهما بأنشطة عسكرية إسرائيلية.”
In the committee’s framing, the decisions were a “خطوة“تاريخية” نحو تعزيز العدالة والمساءلة,” and it urged churches worldwide to take steps including stopping arms exports to Israel and supporting international accountability mechanisms. The committee added that it welcomed adoption of the “كايروس فلسطين” document, which it said calls for freedom and justice, ends the occupation, and insists that “السلام العادل لا يتحقق إلا باحترام القانون الدولي وحقوق الإنسان.”
Hanna urges bolder Western action
Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of Sebastia for the Eastern Orthodox Church, urged Western Christian churches to adopt the Kairos Palestine document and to take clearer and bolder positions against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Hanna said in a statement posted on the U.S.-based Facebook platform that the Presbyterian Church (USA) “has taken a humanitarian and ethical stance by recognizing the genocide in Gaza and adopting the Kairos Palestine document.” He urged Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches in the United States and around the world to adopt the document and declare “principled humanitarian and ethical positions toward the Palestinian suffering,” especially in the Gaza Strip.
Hanna criticized what he described as some Western churches’ “ornate diplomatic language,” saying that the Israeli genocide in Gaza “does not require diplomatic statements, but clear, bold, and strong positions aimed at achieving justice, freedom, and ending the occupation.” The Anadolu Ajansı report tied his call to the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly held from June 22 to July 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which voted to recognize Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide and called for an American arms embargo on weapons exports to Israel.
Christian leaders condemn U.S. complicity
A letter cited by Episcopal News Service said “the massacres must stop and that violence must stop,” and it was signed by Christian leaders including Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States). The letter’s authors wrote, “We urge you to have the moral courage to end United States complicity in the ongoing violence,” and they asked President Biden to prevent “a potential genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.” The cath.ch report said the leaders referenced Holy Week and stated that “The horrific actions carried out by Hamas on October 7 do not in any way justify the mass death of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli army.”
It also said the letter underscored Christian calls for “immediate and adequate humanitarian aid” for Gaza and for a negotiated settlement addressing “the security and self-determination of Israelis and Palestinians.” The same report said the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to prevent famine from taking hold in Gaza and to guarantee water and food supplies, citing Antonio Guterres’s description of “horrific levels of hunger and suffering.”