The Palestinian "Kairos" Document: A Behind-the-Scenes Analysis

by Malcolm Lowe (April 2010)

The Credentials
With the exception of Arab Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan, the Heads of Churches played no role in the origins of this document. Some of them were taken by surprise when it appeared. They were, however, put under political pressure to toe the line propounded by the document. Four days later, consequently, they issued a brief statement of their own. It is worth quoting in full:

The other signatories are parish priests, low level officials and laypeople. For sure, some of them are fairly well known as long-term agitators on behalf of Palestinian political aims and echoes of their familiar views are easily discerned in the document. A recent recruit is Yusuf Daher, whom the WCC secretariat has set up with an office in Jerusalem in order to mobilize Christians on behalf of the Palestinians. So the document, as it now appears on kairospalestine, does not have any bona fide Christian leader among its authors.


The Content
















Note also how the document alludes to the issue of the refugees of 1948 and their millions of descendants (1.1.6):

The question at the end of the paragraph is another device to avoid alienating potential sympathizers. Take it away and the intention of the authors is plain: those millions have to wait on in their camps until they can pour into Israel in a mass and create an Arab majority there.

The Aims
Whatever their ultimate aspiration, the immediate aims of the authors are two:

To bring about a total Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by means of economic sanctions.

To neutralize the support of Christian Zionists and any other Christians for Israel.

These aims are closely related. The governments of the world basically agree with the claim of the document that half a million Jews are living illegally in Palestinian territory, including half the Jewish population of Jerusalem. If those governments are not yet pressing for a total withdrawal, it is merely on pragmatic grounds: an equal exchange of territory seems a less disruptive and much less expensive solution than uprooting that whole population. It is only certain Christian groups that justify the Jewish presence in those areas on an ideological basis and not merely out of political convenience.
Moreover, especially in the US, but not only there, those Christians have been able to influence both public opinion and political decision makers. Suppose them suddenly removed and you can imagine the force of a unanimous wall of hostility toward Israel.
Malcolm Lowe is a biblical scholar living in Jerusalem.

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