by Daoud Kuttab– Milhilard.org

Sixteen years after the original Kairos Palestine document captured global attention, Palestinian Christian leaders have released a new landmark text titled “Kairos Palestine II: Faith in a Time of Genocide.” Issued from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth, the 2025 document calls the world’s churches and moral communities to confront what it describes as genocide, apartheid, and settler colonialism against the Palestinian people.

The new declaration is framed as a “moment of truth” and a renewed cry of “faith, hope, and love” in the midst of unprecedented suffering—especially the devastation in Gaza.

Document Describes Gaza War as Genocide

The text states that Israeli military actions in Gaza have resulted in “hundreds of thousands of martyrs and wounded, and nearly two million displaced,” and argues that international legal findings have affirmed genocide and crimes against humanity.

It describes the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure—including hospitals, schools, housing, and water systems—as “a catastrophe that will take years to recover from.”

Strong Critique of Global Silence and Christian Complicity

The document sharply criticizes Western governments for “double standards” and “hollow values,” accusing them of enabling Israeli policies while preaching human rights.

It also rebukes churches that have remained silent or adopted “the colonizer’s narrative,” and explicitly condemns Christian Zionism as a “theological and moral corruption” that justifies violence and ethnic supremacy.

Call for International Accountability

Kairos Palestine II urges churches, governments, and civil society to take action through:

• sanctions and boycotts
• ending all arms transfers to Israel
• supporting international prosecution of war crimes
• defending Palestinian human rights organizations
• restoring UNRWA funding

“True solidarity is costly,” the document states. “Either we live together—or we perish together.”

Affirmation of Palestinian Rights and Resistance

The text reaffirms the right of colonized peoples to resist occupation and calls for “creative, nonviolent resistance,” including legal action, community organizing, and the global BDS movement. It situates Palestinian resistance within a broader struggle against racism, colonialism, and oppression worldwide.

The document also issues an internal call to Palestinians for unity, reform, and renewed democratic life while rejecting attempts to turn the struggle into a religious conflict.

Warning of Christian Displacement

Kairos Palestine II raises alarm about the accelerating emigration of Palestinian Christians, warning that the community faces “the risk of ethnic cleansing and extinction” under current conditions. The authors urge global churches to stand with local Christian communities and support efforts to preserve their presence in the Holy Land.

A Vision for a Just Future

The document articulates a future rooted in equality, pluralism, and full human rights for all who live in the land. It rejects any form of religious or ethnic state and calls instead for “a civil, democratic state that guarantees rights equally to all its citizens.”

It concludes with a message of hope grounded in Christian faith:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed… struck down, but not destroyed. We look toward the day when we shall live free in our land in true peace and reconciliation founded on justice and equality.”

Below is the full text of the Kairos Palestine 2 document