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| Joyce M. Davis, Outreach & Opinion Editor. July 23, 2024. Sean Simmers | |
There was a time when mainline Christian churches in the United States were loath to say anything critical of Israel and its actions in the Middle East. That time has passed.
Throughout the United States and right here in Central Pennsylvania, many Christian churches and entire denominations are speaking out against what they say are Israel’s human-rights abuses in Gaza. Many are even accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people.
That’s the word a coalition of faith groups in Central Pennsylvania is using to announce its Harrisburg Free Palestina Film Festival to call attention to Israel’s actions in Gaza. They called it ‘genocide’. It’s the same term used by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry in its report on Israel’s actions in Gaza.
It means the United Nations commission investigated Israel’s bombing and the conduct of its troops in Gaza and concluded that Israel was intentionally trying to wipe out the estimated 2.1 million Palestinian men, women and children living there.
It’s the same word the world used to describe what happened to six million Jews who were tortured, starved to death, shoved into gas chambers or starved to death in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Genocide.
The Christian leaders speaking out against it include representatives of the Quakers, the United Methodists, the Unitarians, the Church of the Brethren and the United Church of Christ. At their press conference on Thursday, they said it’s their moral duty to break the silence and to call attention to the suffering.
These pastors and laity say that what happened to Jews during World War II is happening to Palestinians today. There may not be gas chambers, but they say innocent people are being tortured, executed and starved to death in Gaza.... READ MORE https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2026/09/local-churches-call-it-genocide-and-say-silence-is-no-longer-an-option-joyce-m-davis.html?gift=7d3a8e79-fdb9-4bf8-ab6c-ea305c86e25e