FFE Rundbrief 3/22

Editorial

Dear Readers,

The „Forum Friedensethik“ (Forum for the Ethics of Peace) is a church peace initiative, connected to the Evangelical Church in Baden, although not part of its administrative structure. Together with many Christians in Germany, we are delighted and grateful to have the World Church as our guest in Karlsruhe.

With this special edition of our newsletter, we address two groups of people in particular.

First, the sisters and brothers of the churches in the “Holy Land”. First of all, we would like to greet them from the bottom of our hearts and express our empathy and solidarity. They should not return home from Germany without having heard clearly that Christians in Germany are aware of their daily, cruel suffering under the Israeli occupation regime and are doing their best to advocate for them.

Unfortunately, the public climate in our country is poisoned by ongoing campaigns instigated by lobby groups to silence criticism of the state of Israel and expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians with accusations of antisemitism. Our church officials are very afraid of this, avoid taking a stand, and take refuge in a neutrality that helps the oppressors. We are ashamed of the fact

that our Baden regional church still owes the promised answer to the “Cry for hope”.

With this documentation[1], we would like to show with which critical arguments we counter this attitude and what we stand for. We will not let up in our commitment.

Our second greeting goes to the World Council of Churches, which – unlike the EKD – addresses the reality openly and honestly with its statements on Israel-Palestine and adheres to the EAPPI program despite hostility. As German Protestants we stand in solidarity with Christians in other countries, such as the American UCC, who have recognized that the injustice against the Palestinians calls us to action for the sake of the Gospel. We distance ourselves from the document “Israel – Palestine. Guiding Thoughts and Explanatory Theses”, which did not come about through internal church discussion and synod decisions, but through backroom politics.

We hope for decisions by the Assembly that will help the people of Palestine to regain their self-determination. 

---

[1] Several texts were translated with DeepL.com. Translator (free version) and redacted by us.