Kairos Palestine Christmas Alert 2022

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them a light has shined…
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Might God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:2, 6

One hundred-eighty persons from around the world and throughout Palestine met on November 18th, 2022 during the annual International Kairos Palestine Conference. We send you our Christmas greetings, a report from the conference, and our invitation for you to recommit to helping us reach a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land.

As you will read in the conference statement, the situation we face is becoming ever grimmer. We know something of the darkness that Isaiah wrote about. We know something, too, about the light that has shined on us and the world. It’s reflected in your support. This season, more than ever, we covet your prayers, your advocacy and actions.

In his word to 2022 conference participants last month, Patriarch Michel Sabbah spoke of the church’s resistance to occupation which, as he said, has become a resistance to both occupation and the reality of apartheid. Our challenge, he said, is threefold. First, to have a unity of hearts and respect for one another as Christians, resisting the temptation to division, power and corruption. Second, to acknowledge the failures in ourselves, the divisions between us which is pillar of Israel’s occupation. Third, to choose our way of resistance – either by violence or through nonviolence. As Patriarch Sabbah said—as we wrote in the 2009 Kairos document—we choose non-violent resistance which is grounded in “the logic of love.”

In this Christmas Alert, we encourage you to join us in this difficult work of humility, faith and solidarity. As we celebrate God’s incarnation in the child born here in Bethlehem, join us in the holy work of seeing the “human being” in yourself and in the enemy, and calling the “other” through creative resistance to see his or her own humanity, the humanity of the Palestinian, and the image of God in every human being.
We are Grateful for your support in the costly work of establishing justice.

The Board and Staff of Kairos Palestine