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140 Christian leaders demand permanent ceasefire in Gaza

Letter calls on Biden to end ‘US complicity’ and ‘do everything in your power to prevent the potential genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

An open letter to President Joe Biden signed by 140 Christian leaders from various denominations around the world called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The letter was written by Churches for Middle East Peace and is intended to reach global leaders during the Christian Holy Week, culminating in Easter.

Although the letter also briefly mentions the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, the focus of was on the condition of Arab civilians in Gaza.

“We, as global Christian leaders, stand with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Palestine and around the world and say the killing must stop, and the violence must be brought to an end,” the letter says.

Although the letter condemned Hamas’s atrocities on October 7th, it goes on to say the crimes, “in no way justify the massive deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military.”

The letter condemns those who “have responded with empty rhetoric and political volleying about addressing the ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Gaza while ignoring the direct causes of the catastrophe.”

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It blames the crisis with Gazan civilians on Israeli military actions such as airstrikes and “the shutting off of basic life-sustaining services to more than two million people who are suffering the consequences of crimes not their own.”

A letter addressed directly to President Biden called for an end to “US complicity in the ongoing violence and, instead, do everything in your power to prevent the potential genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

The letter stated that the organization had clearly condemned the October 7th devastation and called for the release of the hostages, but added a call for “the release of Palestinian political prisoners held “without the due process of law.”

The letter was signed by Catholic bishops, Catholic sisters, Quakers, Mennonites, evangelicals, Antiochian Orthodox Christians, and leaders from the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of England, the Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Lott Carey Foreign Baptist Mission Convention, United Reformed Church, Church of Scotland, African Presbyterian Bafolisi Church, Church of the Brethren, Community of Christ, Christian Reformed Church of North America and Armenian Church of America (Eastern).