The latest statement by the Anglican Church—the established church in Britain—came after lengthy and intensive deliberations and consultations within the country. Once again, it drew on what is known as “Kairos Palestine,” now in its second iteration, to which the Church of King Charles has opened its doors and given a broad hearing.

The word Kairos in Greek means the opportune or decisive moment. The movement emerged in Bethlehem in 2009 as a Palestinian appeal to Christians around the world, across denominations, to help confront the Israeli occupation through peaceful means.

“I am a priest, not a politician. When I say that the Palestinian people deserve their freedom, this is not a political statement, but a moral and spiritual one... The Palestine that the British government recognized last year is disappearing.”

With these words, Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church, opened the statement issued following her visit to the Holy Land, where she met victims of the occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This is an important voice because it comes from the highest level of the established church, calling for pressure “on politicians to take every necessary measure to establish a credible pathway towards ending the occupation,” as Mullally put it.

The same movement had acted once again last November, issuing a second global appeal entitled “A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide,” in response to Israel’s destruction of Gaza and the escalating violence and ethnic cleansing across the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

Is it one of history’s ironies that the same country from which the ill-fated Balfour Declaration emerged is now seeing its established church open its doors to hear the case of a historic injustice affecting both the Palestinian land and its people?

What is certain is that Archbishop Mullally witnessed firsthand, during her visit, the immense hardships Palestinians face and the network of checkpoints that restrict their movement in their daily lives and travels. She also met families who have been fighting Israeli attempts to seize their land in the West Bank since 1991, as well as others subjected to repeated attacks by settlers.

What surely touched her most deeply was seeing homeless families and children suffering psychological trauma as a result of a conflict she described as seemingly endless.

In Gaza, Mullally could hardly have escaped the conclusion that what had taken place amounted to a war of genocide carried out by the Israeli occupation forces. Her Church’s statement therefore insisted that the profound and continuing suffering there must be brought to an end as quickly as possible. The international community, it argued, must not look away: it bears responsibility for the circumstances that allowed such suffering to occur and must also help rebuild Gaza’s society.

On June 25, Mullally spoke at St. Peter’s Church in the Palestinian city of Birzeit, affirming that she would use her position as Archbishop to pursue the peace Palestinians desire and the freedom for which they have struggled for decades.

More recently, on July 13, following two consecutive days of debate, the General Synod of the Church of England voted by a large majority in favor of solidarity with Palestinians during its meeting in the English city of York. The Synod also allowed the second Kairos document to be heard—a document that addresses terminology and ideas which, in other circumstances, might have exposed those using them to accusations of antisemitism.

What does this significant and striking shift represent?

First, it signals a break with the taboos that had long discouraged Anglican Christian clergy from engaging directly with a cause as just as the Palestinian cause.

Second, the world is beginning to hear voices rooted in Palestine itself—those of Palestinian Christians, who have been deliberately marginalized and excluded from many of the prevailing discussions surrounding the conflict.

What is particularly new in the second Kairos Palestine document is its explicit attention to the ideological current commonly known as “Christian Zionism,” which it firmly rejects as a theology rooted in racism, colonialism, and notions of ethnic supremacy.

There is no doubt that the Anglican Church’s recent moves have encountered opposition, criticism, and perhaps even vociferous objections. Yet it is difficult to level accusations of antisemitism against this religious institution, given its historic role among the voices that confronted antisemitism during some of Europe’s darkest periods.

Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the statement’s recommendations is its call for Anglican investors to review their investment positions in Israel in light of the 2024 advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice concerning the illegality of the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The conclusion is clear: the Palestinian cause has gained an exceptionally important new sphere of support. The Arab and Islamic worlds should build upon this momentum and expand it.

Originally published in Asharq Al-Awsat.