On the occasion of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
We write you from Palestine to express our thanks and appreciation for your solidarity, and the solidarity of all South Africans, with our people, with our struggle, with our quest for liberation and freedom. We follow all solidarity initiatives conducted by our sisters and brothers in South Africa with great admiration, and we give special thanks to all of you who participated in drafting the Cape Town Declaration.
Today, we turn our vision to South Africa in its preparation for Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), to be held between March 10-16 – an essential event for informing the public on the reality of Palestinian oppression and for increasing courageous, united opposition to the injustices suffered here.
As Christian related networks and organizations in Palestine, we call upon you to participate actively in this week: to learn, to teach, to listen, to speak, and to join together in condemning the crimes committed against our people by the Israeli occupation, enforcing accountability, and working for a just peace.
We urge you – heads of churches, church-related communities, and all Christians in South Africa – to campaign for greater awareness on the Palestinian struggle in general and the plight of Palestinian Christians in particular.
We ask you to dedicate Sunday services on March 16th to prayer for and reflection on the plight of your Palestinian sisters and brothers who suffer under a regime of military occupation. We ask you to pray for peace with justice in our region.
And we deeply hope that the upcoming conference of the South African Council of Churches will endorse the IAW campaign and participate in it.
With thanks and gratitude to all of you,
NCCOP
