Genocide in Palestine: Commitment to Hope through the Nonviolence of the Gospel

From the General Commission for Justice and Peace, aware that silence makes us complicit, we had a physical presence, albeit symbolic and minimal, at the farewell of the Peace Flotilla that set sail from the port of Barcelona on August 31st. With this, we support these acts of peace, as did some bishops in their homilies and on social media that same day.

Civil society, clearly and unreservedly, in the face of the scandalous silence and connivance of those who govern us, the financial world, and the arms industry, which is greased with blood, has chosen not to be complicit with its silence and inaction.

This is not the first time that Justice and Peace, faithful to evangelical values ​​and our prophetic mission, has taken a stand against this genocide [1], misnamed war, and we will not remain silent until justice and peace are achieved in the Palestinian lands. Therefore, for months now, we have maintained a message calling for peace in Palestine as the first image on our website.

We know that this is not enough. Therefore, we unite and become a presence and support on land for the people sailing to Gaza, risking their lives to open humanitarian corridors, offering their bodies and their lives as their only weapons of defense. There can be no more generous love than giving one's life for others.

That's why our voices and support are necessary. Our voices are also reflected in the faces of every Gazan and every one of those 300 people on the flotilla, yearning with them for a land of peace and justice.

Proclamations for peace are not enough, although they are necessary. We are called upon, now!, to make concrete gestures, to go out, to support initiatives grounded in the values ​​of the Gospel, through nonviolent popular advocacy, and to lead them together with civil society.

Many other actions are multiplying, and many movements and voices are rising, and we are invited to join them. Because the God we follow does not remain indifferent to human suffering: "I have heard the cry of my people, and I will set them free" (Ex. 3:7 ff.).

The cry of "Free Palestine!" is a cry against genocide, the systematic violation of human rights, the extermination and illegal occupation of the territories of a people increasingly on the brink of extinction. Peace is not possible without justice; therefore, the return of the territories illegally occupied by Israel is necessary—an occupation contrary to international law and agreements—as well as recognition of the right of a people to exist and not be dominated, respect for their decisions to move and to their own management, autonomy, and political, social, cultural, economic, and administrative determination. Only in this way can human rights be protected in the region.

As an ecclesial entity, created in the wake of the Second Vatican Council to ensure justice and peace based on evangelical criteria and principles, together with the various initiatives working to end violence, we unquestionably condemn the terrorism carried out by Hamas. However, we cannot remain silent in the face of the disproportionate and cruel response of Israel, perpetrating genocide against a defenseless population that is being exterminated with sophisticated weapons from which the population cannot flee, and killing innocent people from thirst and hunger.

We invite the Christian community to actively join in any of these many demonstrations and nonviolent acts. Many small threads can weave solid hope and the achievement of an end to violence.

[1] Gaza: Top independent rights probe alleges Israel committed genocide. UN News.