Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) endorses “Apartheid-Free Communities” campaign

by Middle East and Europe | published on Oct 2, 2023

Following the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) leadership’s pastoral letter of February 2022, “Compelled to Witness,” and the overwhelming adoption of the resolution of the same name at the Disciples General Assembly this July in Louisville, KY, the church has endorsed the “Apartheid-Free Communities” campaign. The campaign, which was launched in June 2023, calls upon church congregations, faith communities, and others to take a pledge that says:

We affirm our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
We oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination and oppression; and
We declare ourselves an apartheid free community, and to that end,
We pledge to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.

The Disciples leaders’ letter, “Compelled to Witness,” acknowledged that “Israeli policies and practices that discriminate against Palestinians – Christians and Muslims alike – are consistent with the international legal definition of the crime of apartheid as defined in the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA, 1973) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002).” The 2023 resolution “Affirms that many of the laws, policies and practices of the State of Israel meet the definition of apartheid as defined in international law, documented in the reports cited above, and described as such by some of our mission partners over the past two decades, and affirmed in our Disciples leaders’ pastoral letter, Compelled to Witness.”

By endorsing the “Apartheid-Free Communities” campaign, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) joins its partner in Global Ministries, the United Church of Christ, in supporting the effort. Participating in the campaign is one way that Disciples congregations can actively engage and commit to seeking change towards justice for the Palestinian people. It is a rights-based approach that reflects the calls of our Palestinian Christian partners, several of which have identified the apartheid framework over the past two decades.

Please consider joining this effort in your local church. You can find extensive resources online on the Global Ministries website, including about the “Compelled to Witness” pastoral letter, and at the Apartheid-Free Communities campaign page, which also has many resources, specifically reports about the crime of apartheid as it is being committed by Israel against Palestinians.