Statement on the Middle East Crisis from United Church of Christ leadership

Statement on the Middle East Crisis from United Church of Christ leadership


The Common Global Ministries Board of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) maintains deep relationships with ecumenical and mission partners globally. Our long-time partnerships with the Christian communities in Lebanon and Palestine allow our churches to deliver emergency assistance quickly and effectively in times of critical need such as this. Contributions are encouraged in order to meet the growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and in Gaza. Those who wish to contribute may designate a gift to  One Great Hour of Sharing /Middle East Crisis or  Week of Compassion /Lebanese Crisis.



The Common Global Ministries Board of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) maintains deep relationships with ecumenical and mission partners globally. Our long-time partnerships with the Christian communities in Lebanon and Palestine allow our churches to deliver emergency assistance quickly and effectively in times of critical need such as this. Contributions are encouraged in order to meet the growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and in Gaza. Those who wish to contribute may designate a gift to  One Great Hour of Sharing /Middle East Crisis or  Week of Compassion /Lebanese Crisis.


We are witnesses to a Middle East weary for peace yet enflamed once again in violence. We mourn the death of all those killed in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, and despair for the lives and land indelibly scarred by the violence. All sides must stop the killing and devastation. The United States and international community must work diplomatically and urgently to reach a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, and Hamas and Israel, and to pursue negotiations toward a sustainable peace in the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict. All nations should resist exploiting the current conflict to further political or ideological aims in the region. Neither security, hegemony, nor democracy can be achieved by continuing and widening the violence

We call on Hezbollah to release the Israeli soldiers in its hostage and end its provocative attacks and hatred against Israel. Hezbollah’s rocket attacks against northern Israel, while effecting little military advantage, have instilled terror in civilian populations, killing and wounding many innocent people, and providing Israel with a pretext for pursuing its own attacks. We call on Israel to release the thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians it is holding in administrative detention, and to cease its disproportionate assault on Lebanon. While Israel has the right to defend itself, its retaliation has far exceeded efforts to release the soldiers or incapacitate Hezbollah; it is in fact destroying Lebanon. Beyond bombing intended Hezbollah targets, Israel’s military has attacked Lebanese infrastructure and residences, killing hundreds and wounding thousands more. The human catastrophe is enormous. Touring Lebanon, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland declared “It’s very bad, and deteriorating by the day… I’ve seen too many wounded children, and too many desperate civilians fleeing from the fighting.” No equation of war can justify firebombed children as acceptable casualties.

We deeply grieve the careless deaths of innocent civilians, and the massive destruction of homes and vital infrastructure, cities and whole villages. Israel has bombed ports, bridges, and nearly all major roads, preventing many families from fleeing the bombing and humanitarian assistance from being delivered. In the words of Dr. Mary Mikhael, President of the Near East School of Theology and former Partner representative to the Common Global Ministries Board, written last week, “What Lebanon has built in fifteen years, Israel destroyed in 6 days.” Like other schools, NEST has become a sanctuary for displaced families from the south and its gym a storehouse for emergency relief supplies. The UN warns of a major humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. International aid must be delivered to the needy and we appeal to church members to donate to the churches’ emergency relief efforts.

We are dismayed at the audacity of both Israel and Hezbollah to commit to continued violence. We are troubled that the U.S. leadership has sent advance-shipments of bombs to re-arm Israel and encouraged Israel to take due time to bomb Hezbollah despite the disproportionate impact on the Lebanese people and landscape. We are troubled by those in the U.S. Congress who call for a wider war with Syria and Iran. We are especially distraught that some in leadership twist the label Christian, and use the name of the Prince of Peace, to assert that this violence is ordained and justified because their biblical lens views Israel in an apocalyptic drama and any criticism as blasphemy. In the Senate debate on the escalating fighting, Virginia Senator John Warner called for balance and diplomacy: “[O]ur support for Israel is very strong, Mr. President, but it cannot be unconditional.”

Israel points to UN Security Council Resolution 1559 to appeal to the international community to sanction Israel’s pursuit of Hezbollah since Lebanon has not done so. Yet UN Resolution 1559 asserts Lebanon’s sovereignty, which Israel is disregarding by its assault. Lebanon’s year-old government, incapable of disarming Hezbollah, is powerless to stop Israel’s assault and unable to deliver aid to its people. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is increasing its social services to the needy. We fear that Israel’s campaign will serve both to weaken Lebanon’s fragile government and bolster Hezbollah’s image as the champion of the people, outcomes that threaten the interests of the U.S. and the region.

We call on the international community, Israel, Lebanon, and their neighbors to recognize UN Resolution 1559, to work to disarm the Hezbollah militia and to strengthen the fragile Lebanese government. At the same time we urge the international community to assert compliance of UN Resolutions 242 and 388, which call for a negotiated end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Speaking of the widening conflict in Lebanon, Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan of Jerusalem said, “The gate of peace and justice is Jerusalem only. I am afraid if we don’t insist and swim against the wave then the winner of the war in the long run will be extremism on all sides.”

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ UCC

The Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte
Executive Minister
Wider Church Ministries