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Welcome Kairos Ireland!
“That Justice and Peace Might Embrace" is the founding statement by Kairos Ireland, an all-Ireland ecumenical group. The document calls on Irish churches and individuals to "listen to the message of Palestinian Christians in the Kairos Palestine call; to lobby the UK and Irish governments to uphold international law; to follow the lead of some American Churches in divesting from investments in the illegally occupied Territories; and to follow principles of ethical tourism when visiting the region."
"This initiative comes at the right time." writes Rifat Kassis, the chairperson of Kairos Palestine. "All of us need to intensify our efforts to stop the bloodshed." The chairman of Kairos Ireland, Methodist minister John Parkin says, “Members of Kairos Ireland have seen the daily injustice of the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. We long for an end to military domination. We support those people in Palestine and Israel who are working for a just peace often at great cost to themselves. A statement by Pope Benedict in 2007 sums it up: ‘..only an end to the occupation and a just peace with the Palestinians will offer security to Israel and release its people from the weight of anxiety that hangs on them.’”
For further information visit Kairosireland.org.

Download the Kairos Ireland statement.

Kairos Palestine Christmas-Advent Alert 2018

banksy-apartheid-wall-xmas-card
The Christmas Alert from Kairos Palestine this year opens with a stirring message from Patriarch Michel Sabbah, who served as the Archbishop and Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008. “Those who celebrate Christmas,” writes Patriarch Sabbah, “know that God is love, not a god of armies and wars, nor a god who orders one people to oppress another, or a god that strips one people of their land and gives it to another people. Jesus walks today among the crowds of refugees; he walks with them and for them, teaching, healing, granting life, and directing the attention of the strong to stop killing and displacing people."

Download the Christmas/Advent Alert

Christmas as Protest

Is it not true that Jesus was born at a time when fear was rampant and hope a rare commodity?   To celebrate Christmas today as yesterday is an act of protest, an act of defiance against all the powers that are threatening our future, and that of our children and grandchildren...Every Christmas tree that we erect in our homes or churches or civic spaces is, rightly understood, an act of protest:  of faith against despair, of love against hatred, of hope against hopelessness.  Read more.

Worship resources that lift up justice in the Holy Land

worship resources 1Kairos USA and United Methodist Kairos Response are putting together collection of worship and devotional resources to clarify and enrich the spiritual connection to the cause of justice in the Holy Land. We encourage faith communities and other justice advocates to use our resources in times of worship, personal and community devotions, and other faith-based activities. Read more.

Solidarity travel: When times are tough, friends show up

solidarity travel home pageThe month of October and the first days of November have brought heightened tension and increasing harassment against Palestinians within occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Neighborhoods have been shut down and checkpoints have proliferated. While it may seem counter-intuitive, this may be the most important time to plan a trip to Palestine. Read more.

An Apartheid Wall draws attention in Seattle

seattle wall Home pageWe were heartened to see our friends in Seattle organize in support of the recent World Week for Peace in Israel Palestine. The Kairos Puget Sound Coalition erected an 8-foot high by 20-foot wide model of the apartheid Wall in Palestine at the Westlake Center, which sits right in the middle of downtown Seattle.  Read more.

Justice for Palestine challenges the church

360px-Holocaust_memorial_treeKairos USA Executive Director Mark Braverman recently returned from a speaking tour in Germany. He writes: "... the growing movement within Germany to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and equality has created a problem for the German church, which has officially declared itself, along with the German government itself, as having a special responsibility to the Jewish people and for the welfare of the State of Israel. Indeed, the German Protestant church is on a collision course with the growing movement at the church grassroots in solidarity with the Palestinian human rights struggle." Read more.