An open letter to the bishops, priests, deacons, and lay leadership of the Episcopal Church
By Rev Canon Dr Richard K. Toll, Reposted from FOSNA
A Cry From The Heart
I write this letter having been ordained to the Episcopal Church priesthood in the Diocese of Oregon in 1968. When I retired from my parish at St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukie, Oregon, in 2003, I was asked to be the Chair of Friends of Sabeel North America by retired Episcopal Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. (Sabeel is an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem founded by a seminary classmate of mine at CDSP by the name of Naim Ateek.) I served in this position as a volunteer for 10 years. After Bishop Browning died in 2016, I became the honorary President of the Board. Bishop Browning had served as President of the Board in his retirement.
Before I became the Chair of FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America), I thought I knew what was happening in Palestine and Israel. I found my ignorance to be profound. I went over to the region over 30 times since my first visit in 1983. Each time I learned lessons I cannot forget. While Chair of FOSNA and afterwards. I went to 9 international conferences hosted by Sabeel in East Jerusalem. 250 to 500 people were in attendance at the conferences, and many Christians from as many as 40 countries attended the conferences.
Thus began an international Sabeel moment. I found that putting conferences together in the United States was important. FOSNA hosted 34 conferences in the United States in 23 states during the period 2002 – 2012. Over 10,000 people attended these conferences. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from South Africa, became the Patron of Sabeel in Jerusalem, and he spoke at a number of our conferences.
I have been aware of the lack of leadership of our ordained clergy, including bishops, and laypeople in our church and many other American churches regarding justice for Palestinians. In our church and other churches, the silence is deafening on the genocide taking place in Gaza. As people of faith, we are asked to take stands that are often unpopular. It is clear that the killing of over 1200 Israelis on October 7th of 2023, was unacceptable.
But the killing of Palestinians after that in the tens of thousands, including women and children, is not acceptable. Military planes, bombs, and equipment given to the State of Israel by the U.S. government are not acceptable. The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem needs more of our support in its many programs that mitigate the ongoing issues of the unlawful occupation of the West Bank and the war in Gaza.
As much as I abhor what happened in October 2023, the war in Gaza is deeply rooted in what has been happening to Palestinians since 1948, when over 750,000 Palestinians became refugees. Over 500 of their villages were destroyed. Gaza in 1948 had 80,000 people living within the Gaza Strip, and over 2,000,000 live there today. Over 70% of the people in Gaza today are direct descendants of the 1948 refugees. They were never allowed to return to their homes and villages, so close to where they lived in Gaza.
Since I made my first trip to the region in 1983, I have found that walking in the footsteps of Jesus has allowed me to open my eyes to not only the needs of Jewish people after the Holocaust, but to have my eyes opened to the needs of Palestinians who have been and are being continuously displaced from their land.
I have found the Episcopal Church lacking in addressing justice issues for Palestinian issues while often supporting the State of Israel uncritically. The 1991 General Convention said it “distinguishes between legitimate criticisms of the Israeli government and anti-Jewish prejudice, and denounces expressions of anti-Semitism.” We have supported our government in giving billions of dollars to provide planes, tanks, and war machinery, all in the name of the State of Israel’s self-defense, while it takes more and more of the Palestinians’ land.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
In the name of God, stand up for an end to the war in Gaza.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
Repair whatever your own issues are in regard to justice and human rights regarding Palestinians. I hope many will join in the work of Friends of Sabeel North America to hear and respond to the voices of Palestinian Christians.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
Support the people of the state of Israel. Let them know that what has happened through their government’s oppressive Palestinian policies, since 1948, has not helped them in defining the state they and the world envisioned in 1948.
My prayer is for the people who live in present-day Palestine and Israel to come to terms with a common goal to live together in a true
Democracy with equal rights for all the people in the Holy Land.
The Rev Canon Dr Richard K. Toll is the Former Chair and President of Friends of Sabeel of North America (FOSNA)
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