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Kairos Britain: hopes for security for both Israel and Palestine

06 September 2013

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From the Revd John Wilkinson and the Revd Renate Wilkinson
Sir, - In the 2012 film The Gatekeepers, its Israeli director, Dror Moreh, brings us six former heads of Israel's homeland security service, the Shin Bet, to talk openly about the occupation of Palestine. They are, in retrospect, more ambivalent about the part they played than might be expected. It is a pity that Anglican Friends of Israel (Letters, 23 August) has yet to show such ambivalence.

It is the harsh reality of the Israeli occupation which led us and hundreds of others to give our support to Time for Action, the British Christian response to the Kairos Palestine document, at Greenbelt last Sunday. From this beginning, a grassroots network, Kairos Britain, is being created to bring Christians together to embrace the Palestinian struggle for liberation by non-violent means.

We know that this will have the support of many courageous Jews, from Israel and beyond. Time for Action calls us to pray, to hope where there is no hope, and to make our contribution towards justice and a true peace.

It is in such vulnerable, Christlike places that Christians should be found. Time for Action is an invitation to all to look past familiar, tired clichés and strident half-truths, and search with us for what lies beyond.

JOHN WILKINSON
RENATE WILKINSON
203 Barclay Road, Bearwood
Smethwick B67 5LA


From Mr Donald Wetherick
Sir, - It is a shame that Frances Waddams did not wait until after the launch of the Kairos UK document before criticising it. I hope she can now acknowledge that the feared attack on Israel's legitimacy as a state has not materialised, and that the premature defence offered in her letter is unnecessary.

I was at the launch of the document, and heard consideration given to both Jewish and Palestinian needs for security. The document holds that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have true security under the current occupation, but that it is Palestinians who continue to bear the greater cost in material and human terms. This is an issue for friends of Israel and Palestine alike.

Pre-emptive criticism of any challenge to the status quo in the Middle East reminds me of earlier pre-emptive attacks by Israel on its neighbours, both born out of fear. However understandable, such fear needs to be countered by the "perfect love that drives out fear". This is surely what the friends of Jesus need to seek for both Israelis and Palestinians at this time.

DONALD WETHERICK
20 Ellesmere Road
London E3 5QX

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