RELIGIOUS groups across Scotland have united to call for an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine as faith leaders demand the UK Government suspends arms sales to Israel and imposes wide-ranging sanctions for the country's war crimes.
A campaign launched calling on the UK Government to intervene amid the rise in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank that has seen Christian and Muslim communities alike “decimated” with the lives of millions “destroyed”.
The Time to Act campaign has seen the likes of the Just Peace Coalition, including Christian Aid, Justice and Peace Scotland, SCIAF, Pax Christi and several churches in Scotland come together to send their message to the Prime Minister.
The coalition says their demands to Andy Burnham include suspending UK arms sales to Israel and suspending the UK’s trade partnership agreement with the country until the illegal occupation is ended.
Faith leaders have also called for imposing wide-ranging sanctions against Israel and are also calling for the country’s leaders to take accountability for their alleged war crimes.
Coalition spokesperson Val Brown, head of Christian Aid Scotland, said the faith groups have come together because “we believe a just and lasting peace is possible for all those who call the Holy Land home”.
She added: “We know the best way to achieve this is through strong leadership - and we welcome the steps the UK Government has taken already with the ban on trade with illegal settlements.
“This campaign is about mobilising church communities in Scotland and across the UK to stand with our sisters and brothers and raise their voices in a united call for further action to end the violence, the harassment, the displacement, and the detentions.
“We welcome everyone to find out how they can be a part of this movement and help bring about a just and sustainable peace.”
Archbishop William Nolan, President of Justice & Peace Scotland, said during his annual visit to the Holy Land in January this year that he witnessed settler violence firsthand.
He described meeting with the Christian community in the West Bank village of Taybeh, and hearing harrowing accounts of systemic intimidation: cars set alight, vandalising of homes and property, ancient olive trees uprooted, and families subjected to relentless harassment by Israeli settlers intent on forcing Palestinians from their lands.
“This land is for everyone who lives here, and that has to be accepted by all sides. [In the West Bank]... there are Israeli settlers who are causing so much harassment by their violent actions, destroying people's livelihoods,” Archbishop Nolan.
“There's a campaign to try to disrupt the lives of Palestinians on their land, to encourage them to go away and to disappear.
“It seems to be left completely unhindered by the authorities. Life here will not improve until the occupation comes to an end.”
Church and charity leaders across Scotland have also supported the Time to Act campaign.
Lorraine Currie, CEO of Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), said that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians both in Gaza and the West Bank must stop.
“Settlement expansion, land restrictions and settler violence are a daily reality for many served by the Caritas network,” she said.
“These settlements are illegal under international law and destroy the possibility of a peaceful two-state solution.
“We continue to pray that all people in the Holy Land may know peace in their lifetime, that all people may receive the humanitarian aid they desperately need, and that all leaders may have the courage to work towards lasting solutions for the good of all.
“We welcome the UK Government’s recent announcement on banning trade and investment in Israeli settlements, but they must go further to protect Palestinian lives.”
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and Israeli law.
The Revd Mark Slaney, of the Methodist Church, visited the West Bank this year and said he heard firsthand that Palestinian’s have a “longing desire for just peace”.
He added: “Time to Act offers church leaders and partners an opportunity to share and respond to this desire in active solidarity and in strong united prayer and protest.”
The UK Government has been approached for comment.
