Meeting earlier this month in Geneva, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) issued a statement charging that Israel’s “discrimination against Palestinians is overt and systemic, and the ongoing half-century-long occupation continues to contradict the equal human dignity and human rights of Palestinians living under this system of control, while the response of the international community continues to reflect egregious double standards.”
The WCC’s governing body said that “recent events in Israel and Palestine have highlighted the mounting obstacles to a just peace in the region.”
The committee expressed its “deep concern” regarding the “rapidly deteriorating situation,” citing Israel’s recent disruption of Christian religious observances, the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision that gave Israeli settlers the right to expropriate church properties near the Jaffa Gate, the impunity enjoyed by Israeli extremists, and the threat of forced displacement which has begun in many West Bank Palestinian communities.