Catriona Wheeler, Moderator of the United Reformed Church General Assembly, has welcomed the progress in talks between Palestinians and the government of the State of Israel.
The General Assembly of the United Reformed Church has consistently called for peace in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory based on our belief that all people are created by God with inherent value and dignity.
The announcement of the “first phase” of a peace deal is dependent on further agreement and action by the State of Israel’s government and Hamas. We pray that it will be a turning point, with an end to killing and a beginning of a better life for all those who have been so badly affected by violence; losing loved ones, experiencing life-changing injuries and psychological trauma, being forced to leave their homes, losing livelihoods and the fracturing of communities.
True peace in the Holy Land will take much more than a ceasefire.
In recent years, we have sent groups from the URC to the Holy Land on visits to observe what life is like for Israelis and Palestinians. We have built relationships with people who live in the area.
Led by this, our General Assembly in 2021 recognised that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, forced house demolitions, and the acquisition of land by coercion are breaches of international law. General Assembly, therefore, urges the Israeli Government to abide by international law and reverse its de facto annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.
This year at our General Assembly, it was noted that despite previous moves towards peaceful solutions, “atrocities have continued”, citing the Israeli Government’s breaches of ceasefire agreements and the deliberate blockade of aid, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
We commend the World Council of Churches statement made this summer, which calls for an end to “apartheid, occupation, and impunity in Palestine and Israel”.
So, while we welcome the chance for peace and the end to suffering in Gaza, we will continue to call for pray and work for a true and lasting peace through dialogue and diplomacy, where the voices of those who have been most affected by the conflict are heard and respected.
A prayer:
God of peace,
How long, O Lord, how long?
We give thanks for any lessening of gunfire and bombardment;
for fragile steps towards quieter skies over Gaza.
Yet we dare not call this silence ‘peace’.
You are the One who hears the cries beneath the rubble,
who weeps with the displaced and the bereaved.
You know that peace is not the absence of war,
but the presence of justice,
the sheltering of every life,
the mending of what once was torn.
Guard us from false assurances, O God,
from leaders who declare “peace, peace”
when there is no real peace. [Jeremiah 6:14]
Stir the hearts of those in power
to listen to the wounded,
to reckon with wrongs done
and to labour for a just, lasting and equitable peace
for all your children — Israeli and Palestinian alike.
Let swords be beaten into ploughshares,
let tears be turned to dancing
and let the Land once more be Holy;
a place where people and planet live and flourish in dignity.
Come, O Prince of Peace.
Make it real.
Make it last.
Make it just.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A congregrational version of the prayer for use in worship is available to download for free, here.
Main image: Chris Hearn/Unsplash.