Special to Milhilard.org

The General Synod of the Church of England voted overwhelmingly—253 votes to 47—in favor of a historic resolution committing the Church to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and support their peaceful resistance to the Israeli occupation, after four years of postponing the issue.

Journalist and member of Kairos Palestine and Mahd AlMashreq initiative, Hind Shraydeh, described the vote as a historic victory and the culmination of years of work led by the Kairos Palestine movement. In comments to Milhilard.org, she said the significance of the decision also reflects the Church of England’s status as the official church of the British state—headed by the monarch—with bishops holding permanent seats in the House of Lords.

Shraydeh said the resolution did not fully adopt the Kairos Palestine document but called upon Church leadership and its members to study and discuss it, which she described as a progressive step toward wider recognition of its contents.

The Synod, meeting in York, England, also announced its commitment to engaging with the Kairos Palestine declarations, including the 2025 document that classifies the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip as genocide and an attempt to erase the Palestinian presence.

In the same vein, the new text mandates that the Church adopt responsible investment policies, requiring the withdrawal of funds and donations from the occupation system. It cites the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion on the illegality of settlements, amid calls for the British government to cease its complicity.

She said the Synod rejected attempts to amend or soften the terminology used in the document. Shraydeh said the movement based its wording on the testimony of Palestinian Christians, and maintained the characterization of events in the Gaza Strip as a war of genocide and an extension of a Zionist project aimed at seizing Palestine and emptying it of its inhabitants.

Shraydeh said the resolution reflects a shift in public sentiment within Britain. She added that she believes Britain is beginning to recognize its historical responsibility connected to the Balfour Declaration and the decades of support for Israel that, she said, have culminated in the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

She said opposition to the resolution came from the Zionist lobby, which sought to criminalize the Palestinian narrative by accusing the document of antisemitism and invoking the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Shraydeh said the document distinguishes between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political ideology, and differentiates between Jews who support the Palestinian cause and Israeli policies.

Shraydeh said the Synod’s adherence to the terminology in the Kairos Palestine document—and its rejection of attempts to soften it—reflects what she described as a moral commitment from the Church after the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. She added that she believes describing the aggression as genocide and as an attempt to erase the Palestinian presence is based on lived reality.

Shraydeh said visits by Church officials to Palestine, including an Archbishop’s visit, helped convey the “true picture of the situation.” She said Kairos Palestine has invited delegations and churches to visit the Palestinian territories to witness events firsthand.

Shraydeh said that, in her view, apartheid conditions are visible on the ground, including military checkpoints between cities and villages—numbering over a thousand, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)—along with the separation wall, roads designated for settlers, road closures, and land confiscation.

She said the suffering of Palestinian Christians is part of the broader tragedy, noting that approximately 4% of the Christian population in the Gaza Strip was wiped out during the war. She also cited the targeting of religious sites and attacks on civilians, including the killing of journalists such as Shireen Abu Akleh.

Shraydeh told Milhilard.org that Palestinians live daily under the shadow of fear of arrest, death, or detention at military checkpoints. She said the Nakba and events that followed are an ongoing reality and that Britain bears a share of historical responsibility since the Balfour Declaration.

On the Church of England’s move toward adopting responsible investment policies requiring withdrawal of funds and donations from the occupation system, Shraydeh said Kairos Palestine has called for translating principles into practical steps. She said she views true peace as depending on justice and on adherence to international law.

She added that she considers reliance on the International Court of Justice advisory opinion a legal and peaceful route. She said she believes faith must be accompanied by action to uphold justice.

Shraydeh said the Kairos Palestine document was drafted in what she described as a spirit of loyalty to those who paid the price of occupation and war, and said it is based on Christian values and the teachings of Jesus Christ, including “The truth will set you free.” She said the document intentionally states its claims clearly and without ambiguity. She also said the document does not call for violence or killing, but for peace through international law and legal mechanisms to achieve justice, describing the ICJ advisory opinion as “wise and gentle” and consistent with Christian teachings on combining wisdom and gentleness