We started with an Open Letter of April 2023 questioning Archbishop Welby’s posture re the political situation in the Holy Land, and for getting far too close to Israel lobbyists whose views he endorsed. Unable to get a meeting with Welby, we put it to him at a public meeting of 6th Sept that Israel was practicing apartheid, as sustained by the late Bishop Desmond Tutu, but he disagreed. We then surveyed the opinions of bishops on the existence of apartheid in Israel.

 

In 2024 we formed the Lambeth Witness Group to carry out vigils in Westminster and leaflet the Church’s General Synod, doing this from January to July. We gradually saw a change in Welby’s posture leading to a surprising volte face in August of the same year. However, in November Archbishop Welby resigned for another reason. Since then several bishops including Archbishop Cottrell of York have spoken up for the Palestinians, but we look for the entire Church - under the leadership of Archbishop Mullally - to adopt a stronger posture. We continue campaigning at General Synods in Westminster and York.

 

In September 2024, Jewish members of CAMPAIN, David Mond and Bernard Spiegal, took up the fight. In an Open Letter, 630 Jews asked the Church to listen to non-Zionist Jews, instead of treating the Jewish Board of Deputies and allied establishment figures as unique representatives of the so-called Jewish community. Their correspondence with Cannon Stephen Knott shows the message was well received.