Help hold the Church of England to account
JVL Introduction
CAMPAIN is a group that challenges misrepresentation and misinformation in public affairs and the news media.
It has drafted an open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York expressing disappointment at the Church’s failure to live up to its moral teachings.
In particular the letter takes them to task for inconsistency, advocating for peace in South Sudan for instance, but appearing indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinians and failing to give public support to Church leaders in Israel-Palestine who have been speaking out.
It also challenges the Church’s adoption of the discredited IHRA working definition of antisemitism, and its support for Chief Rabbi Mirvis’s “warning about Jeremy Corbyn” on grounds of antisemitism in the run-up to the 2019 election.
CAMPAIN wants to see the Church do more to speak out about injustice, violence, illegality, misrepresentation and misinformation in our lives – not just preach internally to itself.
It is not a religious organisation, and its members include people of all faiths and none.
Do consider adding your signature to this letter.
An Open Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of York
Dear Archbishops Welby and Cottrell
We write as supporters of an organisation called CAMPAIN, a group that challenges misrepresentation and misinformation in public affairs and the news media. It is a non-partisan body with members belonging to all political parties and none, and members of the Christian faith, other faiths and none. The instigators of this letter are Christian (including Ordained Priests). However, whether Christian or not, most people in the UK expect the established church and its leaders to be a beacon of hope in the dark areas of this world that will publicly stand up for the rights of ALL people – not just those who claim a faith.
We note that the Church of England sets out its role in the world in its Five Marks of Mission. All signatories of this letter share a commitment to the fourth Mark which is “to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation”.
We are sad, therefore, to observe how inconsistent the Church of England has become in doing so. On the one hand, you recently declared your support for a “National Care Covenant for England” and you made an Official Visit to advocate for peace in South Sudan, but we do not hear the Church challenging the suffering of Palestinians living under brutal Israeli military occupation and settler colonialism. Why?
In Palestine, conditions have become increasingly severe since the beginning of 2023, with 75 Palestinians killed and 276 injured by the Israeli military up to 13 March, and there is now a new Israeli government composed of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, including several Ministers who openly express racist and violent views.
We are deeply troubled that you have provided so little public support for Church leaders in Israel-Palestine who predicted these outcomes in the Kairos Palestine document in 2009, and Cry of Hope in 2020. They declared that “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity because it deprives the Palestinians of their basic human rights, bestowed by God.” Why have you ignored their plea for so long?
We also query why you have not spoken out openly against Christian Zionism, which is based on end-time theology that casts into damnation those Jews who will not convert, and which might therefore be considered antisemitic. Christian Zionism enjoys massive Western support, provides cover for Israeli misdeeds, and causes untold damage to the Palestinians and to the prospects for middle eastern peace.
Moreover, by backing Chief Rabbi Mirvis’s “warning about Jeremy Corbyn” on grounds of antisemitism (see here), you interfered in our electoral process in the run-up to the 2019 election. The two of you basically told Christians and Jews not to vote Labour and, given your standing in society, you are likely to have been influential way beyond your respective congregations. Neither of you appear to have examined factual information that showed that prejudice towards minorities in general (including Jews) was considerably higher in the Conservative Party (see here). In this way, you aligned yourselves with a view which had been endlessly parroted (without hard evidence) by the British news media and in effect supported the Conservatives.
In 2018, following your meeting with the Chief Rabbi, the House of Bishops adopted the discredited IHRA working definition of antisemitism, without it seems, taking legal advice or seeking the endorsement of General Synod. Even its author, Kenneth S. Stern, has criticised the way it has been weaponised to silence criticism of Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. A range of eminent legal authorities [including Lord Hendy KC, Sir Anthony Hooper Retired lord justice of appeal, Michael Mansfield KC, Sir Stephen Sedley Retired lord justice of appeal, Hugh Tomlinson KC, Frances Webber Barrister and Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC] have all insisted that the legally entrenched right to free expression is being undermined by an internally incoherent “non-legally binding working definition” of antisemitism.
It appears the Church of England, unlike other denominations, has too often taken the path of least resistance in the face of pressure from the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The Board is far from fully representative of the Jewish community in the UK. You need to recognise the diversity of Jewish opinion about Israel and engage with groups that represent both observant and secular Jewish people who are critical of the policies of the Israeli government.
Christians inside and outside South Africa played a significant role in challenging apartheid and eventually defeating it. The Church of England should be challenging the practice of apartheid in Israel-Palestine today. Twenty years ago in 2002, in an article in the International Herald Tribune, Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew a parallel between South Africa and Palestine and the struggle against apartheid: “If apartheid ended (in South Africa), so can this occupation, but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined. The current divestment effort is the first, though certainly not the only, necessary move in that direction”.
We understand that the five Marks of Mission were designed to bring to life the teachings of Jesus Christ in the modern world and to set standards of behaviour for church organisations. Lamentably, the prophetic voice of Jesus has been silenced on Palestine within the Anglican Church under your leadership. In contrast, other denominations, including the Methodist and URC, have openly criticised this illegal occupation by public statements and investment decisions and yet the Church of England remains inactive in both these areas.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba (the Catastrophe) in which 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes creating one of the largest refugee crises in modern history. In May there will be international events to highlight the ongoing injustice of the Nakba. We call on you both to follow Archbishop Tutu’s example, advocate for the people of Palestine and help end their unjust suffering.
We stand ready to engage in constructive dialogue and to help in any way we can.
Yours sincerely,
List of Signatories:
Rev Mark Battison, retired CofE priest, and former Chair of Sabeel-Kairos, now Chair of CAMPAIN
Miranda Pinch, a Christian signing for CAMPAIN
Helen Powell, signing as a Christian
Jonathan Coulter, Secretary of CAMPAIN
and many more…
Signed.
I hope as many people as possible – from all faiths but particularly people who are practising Jews from the various traditions of Judaism – will sign. It’s quite probable that the Church of England has taken its current position concerning antisemitism in Labour as an expression of solidarity with all Jews, not realising that the viewpoints of a considerable minority of Jews have been ignored / opposed by the Chief Rabbi.
Having grown up in the Church of England, and seen at first hand how it has become more and more irrelevant to the people of Britain – both statistically and morally – I welcome this challenge.
It is more than 100 years since Maude Royden described the C of E as “the Conservative Party at prayer” , but the jibe still rings true. Although the church may seem irrelevant to ordinary people, Justin Welby and his fellow bishops are a godsend (sic) to the state: for the most part they remain silent on injustice, inequality, child poverty, racial discrimination and Britain’s endless war-mongering, but the Archbishop of Canterbury was suddenly able to find a voice in the 2019 general election to attack Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
The newspapers were ecstatic – those pillars of freedom and virtue like Murdoch’s Times and Rothermere’s Mail joined The Guardian in a great chorus of approval for the moral strictures of Justin Welby.
I wrote to the Archbishop at the time, pointing out that I welcomed the C of E taking an interest in politics, but asked why had he remained silent when Boris Johnson sought to prorogue Parliament and suspend democracy? After all, Mr Welby and 25 other bishops sit on the red leather benches of the House of Lords – as part of the state apparatus – and are theoretically concerned in the “democratic” structure of our country. Should he not have spoken out then against Johnson’s naked abuse of power?
Today, as Israel descends into fascism and daily bring death, torture and apartheid to its colonial victims, the Eton-educated leader of the Church of England remains silent – not a word of concern or condemnation passing his lips.
The carpenter from Nazareth was right about the ”whited sepulchres”.
When I take my Holy Bible (Church of England – Authorised Version), I read in Exodus chapter 20, what God told Moses on Mount Sinai as to what he should do and what he should not do.
One would think this was guidance for the current Government of Israel – not a bit of it. It appears that the instructions Moses got are largely ignored and are being over-ridden by what has evolved, on what many would consider spurious grounds. It is not the small print (eg on legislation as to property rights) that matters primarily, but the human rights aspect, where the compassion in what is ascribed to Moses, appears to be lost.
The non-Jewish inhabitants, including religious officials, at Israel/Palestine locations do not deserve to be treated as non-people, to die off as fast as possible. They represent two great religions, which can contribute a lot to easing the suffering of this world, now in danger of ending in a ball of fire.
Where there is a will, there is a way, but, maybe, some people want it all their own way and don’t want peace, or goodwill to all.
There is a lot of hypocrisy around the injustices done to Palestinians. The church of England is one of the most hypocritical organisations and I wouldn’t expect it to stand up for justice if other interests clashed with that. Sad but true.
Archbishop Tutu’s courage and his solidarity with the suffering of the Palestinian people should be an example for the leaders of the Anglican Church.
They are not fools.
It is difficult to believe that they are unaware that their participation in the bogus campaign against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party was support for and participation in the “Big Lie”.
It’s time that they stood up for truth and justice – As Jeremy Corbyn has always done.
Thanks JVL for publicising CAMPAIN’s initiative. I really like Jacob Ecclestone’s comment; it says much about the problem we are trying to address. As Jacob shows in his last line, we don’t need to apologise for identifying with Jesus the carpenter and his challenge to the “whited sepulchres” of his time. I hope Jacob won’t mind my reproducing his comment.
And please see my interview with Revd Stephen Sizer, talking about why we organised CAMPAIN, and wrote the letter to the Cof E: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFnr7p7xKEE