EPF PJN urges church to heed UN warning on Gaza
The Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network (EPF PJN) alerts the Church to the demand of U.N. experts for international intervention in Gaza, or “bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza – an outcome with irreversible consequences for our shared humanity and multilateral order”. EPF PJN calls on the people, clergy, and leadership of the Church to heed the demand and apply all the persuasive power of the Church to move elected officials to action.
The May 7 statement from the U.N. Human Rights Office was issued by a group of more than 20 “experts”: Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, and Working Groups members who are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The forcefully worded statement seems to have been prompted by “escalating atrocities that present an urgent moral crossroads”. They call on U.N. member states to “transcend rhetoric and take enforceable action to end the carnage.”
The experts note that while debating terminology about genocide, the pervasive loss of life and destruction in Gaza continue. “This is one of the most ostentatious and merciless manifestations of the desecration of human life and dignity,” they said. “The aggression has transformed Gaza into a landscape of desolation, where nearly half of the casualties are children and thousands remain displaced.” The group of experts cited over 52,535 deaths, of which 70 percent continue to be women and children, and 118,491 injuries as of 4 May 2025.
EPF PJN noted the April 13 letter on the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and was disappointed at the implied ambiguity about “the causes of violence in the Holy Land”. The statement of the U.N. experts harbors no such doubts about the cause of the catastrophic circumstances in Gaza: “Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily, peaking on 18 March 2025 with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children… Since March 2025, coinciding with the end of the ceasefire, Israel has reinstated an even harsher blockade on Gaza, effectively trapping its population in misery, hunger, and disease.” Further, they wrote, “Israeli statements that fluctuate between outright blocking of aid and conditional releases incumbent on other strategic goals showcase a clear intent to wield starvation as a weapon of war.”
The statement’s call and demand on member states for action are unequivocal. It invokes the “irrevocable” Palestinian right to self-determination to urge states to honor their obligations and intervene; otherwise, the experts warn, they risk complicity in genocide and other international crimes. It concludes, “The decision is stark: remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution.”
The Church’s Office of Government Relations has issued an Action Alert to stop the escalating violence and provides a mechanism to contact government representatives. The Alert says in part, “We reject calls to displace all Palestinians and forcibly remove them from their homes. We condemn the human rights violations in cutting off humanitarian aid.” EPF PJN applauds this Action Alert.
Gaza has been called “the gravest moral crisis of our time” because of the stark demarcation it places between the ideals of Jewish safety and security, Palestinian self-determination, and the authority of international law versus the realpolitik of the Israeli state’s policies toward the Palestinian people that betray those. EPF PJN uplifts and endorses this stern, courageous statement from the U.N. experts, its clear pronouncement of genocide in Gaza, the responsibility of the state of Israel in that genocide, the moral implication of continued inaction, and its clarion call for response.