February 15, 2024
The Council of Bishops called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire.”
The American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Council of Bishops has urged the United States to withdraw financial support toward Israel amid its continued bombardment of Rafah. The coalition released the statement on Feb. 15.
“The Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church calls on the United States Government to immediately withdraw all funding and other support from Israel,” it read. “Since 1954, Israel has shown a willful disregard for the human dignity of Palestinians. Since October 7, 2023, in retaliation for the brutal murder of 1139 Israeli citizens by Hamas, Israel has murdered over 28,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The United States is supporting this mass genocide. This must not be allowed to continue.”
The statement coincided with the birthdate of the church’s founder, Richard Allen, who spearheaded a mutual aid and anti-racism initiative when he first established the institution in 1787. In the letter, the group also called for an immediate ceasefire and a “grassroots solution that affirms the dignity and humanity of all God’s people in Palestine and Israel.”
“We weep for the suffering being inflicted upon the children of God in the Holy Land and all the earth. We cry for freedom and implore those who say they love God to demonstrate a tangible love for their neighbors. We will travail in prayer and pursue justice until freedom reigns for all,” it continued.
The AME Council of Bishops is the most recent Christian leadership organization to condemn the ongoing fighting in Palestine. According to The Washington Post, several Black Christian faith leaders from across the country issued a full-page advertisement in The New York Times in Nov. 2023, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and humanitarian aid. “We are faith leaders in the African American faith tradition, in the Black church prophetic tradition, and we are people familiar with pain and suffering enacted by state actors,” said the Rev. Michael McBride, a California pastor who helped create the letter when speaking to The Washington Post.
The Council of Bishops’ letter was signed by Senior Bishop Adam J. Richardson, President of the Council Bishop Stafford J. N. Wicker, and both the Chair and Co-Chair of Social Action, Bishops E. Anne Henning Byfield and Francine A Brookins.
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