Why Palestinian Christians can view the archbishop of Canterbury's visit with cautious hope
Submitted by
Fares Abraham
on
Thu, 06/25/2026 - 14:23
The people of this land do not need the global church to save them. They need it to stand with them, truthfully and consistently
The archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, departs Canterbury Cathedral in England on 25 March 2026 (Henry Nicholls/AFP)
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The archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, came to the Holy Land this week on a visit to show solidarity with Palestinian Christians. In Birzeit, she spoke of seeking the peace Palestinians desire and the freedom they deserve.
As a Palestinian Christian, a minister and a son of Bethlehem, I received her words with gratitude. In a season when many Palestinian Christians feel forgotten by the global church, her presence matters.
In a land where our communities are shrinking and young people wonder whether they have a future, her visit can be viewed as a sign of hope.
But Christian hope must be honest. The Holy Land is not only a place of pilgrimage; it is a place where real people live under the burdens of a brutal occupation.
The archbishop’s meeting with Layan Nasir, a young Palestinian Christian recently released from Israeli prison, was a reminder that Palestinian freedom is not an abstraction; it is lived in families, courtrooms, checkpoints and prison cells.
So when church leaders speak of the freedom Palestinians deserve, we must ask what that freedom means. It means freedom of movement, family unification, the right to land and home, and due process. It means the ability to study, work, worship and build a future without permits, checkpoints, demolitions, detentions and restrictions shaping daily life.
For Palestinian Christians, freedom means more than access to holy sites. It means the right to remain as a living church in the land where Christianity was born – not as relics of biblical history, but as families, students, teachers, doctors, farmers and worshippers whose children can imagine a future in their own land.
Fates intertwined
Many of us have long said that Israel’s security will never be achieved apart from the security, dignity and basic rights of Palestinians. A future in which one people lives with power and protection, while another lives under restriction, dispossession and fear, is not peace.
Lasting security cannot be built through permanent control. It can only be built when Palestinians and Israelis are both able to live with freedom, safety and equal human dignity.
Speak not with bitterness, but with moral courage. Speak not against one people, but for a future where two peoples can live with freedom and dignity
That is why Palestinian freedom must be named clearly. We do not honour Jewish dignity by denying Palestinian dignity. We do not create peace by asking one people to live indefinitely without basic rights. A just peace must include safety for Israelis and freedom for Palestinians – not one at the expense of the other.
This is where the church has a calling: to tell the truth in love, defend the image of God in every person, and insist that peace without justice is too fragile to last.
For too long, Palestinian Christians have been spoken about, not listened to. Some Christians abroad love the Holy Land, but know little about the people of the land. Some visit our stones while missing our suffering. Some read Scripture in ways that make our displacement seem sacred. Others remain silent because the conflict is complicated.
It is complicated. But complexity cannot hide reality. There is nothing complicated about a child being unable to reach school because a road is blocked; a family in Gaza with nowhere safe to go, or a young Christian in Bethlehem who wonders whether faithfulness requires staying, or survival requires leaving.
Bearing witness
The archbishop’s visit need not pretend to solve everything. Sometimes the first faithful act is to listen deeply, pray honestly, and then speak carefully, but courageously. That is why I see this moment with cautious hope: her visit can become more than a symbolic gesture. It can invite the church to recover a better witness.
That witness should be rooted in the way of Jesus. Jesus did not bless oppression. He did not romanticise suffering. He drew near to the wounded, exposed hypocrisy, wept over Jerusalem, and called peacemakers blessed. The church that bears his name must do the same.
The Church of England cannot speak about this land without remembering Britain’s history here. That history cannot be undone, but it can be answered now by faithful witness: one that rejects antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, mourns every innocent life, stands with the vulnerable, and calls for equal dignity.
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My hope is that the archbishop will carry Bethlehem, Birzeit, Jerusalem and Gaza with her. Carry the pastors who preach resurrection amid despair. Carry the schools, hospitals and ministries that serve Muslims and Christians alike.
Carry the Christian and Muslim mothers who do not want their children to inherit fear. Carry the young people who need more than sympathy; they need a future.
And then speak – in sermons, statements, church partnerships and conversations with political leaders.
Speak to the church. Speak to those who have loved the Holy Land from a distance, but have not heard its living church up close. Speak not with bitterness, but with moral courage. Speak not against one people, but for a future where two peoples can live with security, freedom and dignity.
Palestinian Christians do not need the global church to save them. They need the global church to stand with them, truthfully and consistently.
The archbishop came on pilgrimage. May this visit now become witness in prayer, public truth, and a renewed commitment to justice and peace.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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