The Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s (ACSA) Provincial Standing Committee has resolved to highlight the plight of the people of Palestine in all its churches during annual observances.
This follows a week-long meeting by the Committee and Provincial Synod of Bishops.
In a statement, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa says parishes have been requested to highlight the plight of Palestinians on a Sunday towards the end of November ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November.
They Provincial Standing Committee also resolved to co-host the annual commemoration of the displacement of Palestinians on 15 May with other groups. It says this is the day during the conflict which occurred around the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948.
The Anglican Church says during the debate on the resolution, the committee heard that there had been controversy over the church’s standpoint on the situation in Palestine at the recent assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Germany.
The statement says WCC had been reluctant to criticise Israel, with German church and government officials particularly sensitive to being accused of anti-Semitism.
ACSA says the overwhelming majority of its Anglican dioceses adopted the resolution, with no one voting against while there were two abstentions.
