20 January 2025
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani visited Israel and Palestine from 13 to 17 January.
This was the second visit by Bishop Guli to Israel and Palestine in recent months.The first took place in May 2024. Bishop Guli had scheduled to lead a diocesan pilgrimage in January 2025 but the pilgrimage was cancelled due to the ongoing war in Gaza. She decided to use the subsequent free time in her diary to make a private visit to the Diocese of Jerusalem to meet with its Archbishop, Archbishop Hosam Naoum, its clergy as well as parishioners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Details of the visit can be read below. Her visit coincided with the finalisation of a hostage/ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli Government about which Bishop Guli said:
“For the many individuals I met during my recent visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (13-17 January 2025), who feel utterly exhausted and traumatised by this 15-month war, the announcement of a ceasefire-hostage agreement will be very welcome indeed, even if it creates fresh anxieties about the future.
“This deal promises to save lives, reunite loved ones and ease the suffering of civilians in Gaza. Against a background of such deep despair, yesterday’s release of hostages and prisoners, offers a spark of hope that a more peaceful future is possible if people have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it.
“I pray that all parties to the agreement will reject the fatalistic notion that this conflict is intractable and that instead they will work tirelessly to provide the necessary humanitarian support to all those in need and negotiate a durable plan which secures meaningful political progress towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.”
Bishop Guli's visit
Visit to the Basilica of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Tuesday 14 January 2025
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Bishop Guli's visit to the Church of the Nativity with Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George's College Jerusalem
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Bishop Guli's visit to the Church of the Nativity with Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George's College Jerusalem
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Bishop Guli's visit to the Church of the Nativity with Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George's College Jerusalem
Accompanied by Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College, Jerusalem, Bishop Guli visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. At the start of the visit she spent time in private prayer and reflection in the Grotto before witnessing the finished restoration of the church.
Following the visit Bishop Guli met and spoke with several shop owners and tour guides to hear how the war in Gaza is affecting their livelihoods in Bethlehem. The Government of Israel’s suspension of work permits following 7 October 2023 has meant that many Palestinians who worked in Israel have been without work for over a year. Bishop Guli learnt how many Chistian families are now leaving the region with all that that implies for the Holy Land.
Meeting with the Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem, Tuesday 14 January 2025
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Bishop Guli met with Said Zarzaar and Lara Mitri from the Holy Land Trust
Bishop Guli met with Said Zarzaar and Lara Mitri from the Holy Land Trust, a small Palestinian NGO established in Bethlehem in 1998, in the midst of a failing peace process, to amplify the voices of peace advocates.
The Holy Land Trust works to create an environment that fosters understanding, healing, transformation and empowerment of individuals and communities, both locally and globally to address how two peoples and three religions can live together in mutual dignity regardless of the specifics of any future political solution.
Bishop Guli learnt of the Trust’s work with women and girls from both sides of the conflict, transforming their trauma into hope. The Trust also organises alternative pilgrimages where people can encounter individuals and communities connected to the land.
Meeting with Alice Kisiya, Al Makhrour Valley, Tuesday 14th January 2025
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Bishop Guli met with Alice Kisiya and her family from the Al Makhrour Valley near Bethlehem
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Bishop Guli met with Alice Kisiya and her family from the Al Makhrour Valley near Bethlehem
Bishop Guli met with Alice Kisiya and her family, a Christian family, from the Al Makhrour Valley near Bethlehem, at a restaurant overlooking the valley, to hear their testimony of how they are resisting house demolition and land confiscation. Alice, who is an Israeli Citizen, explained how despite having all the necessary legal documents to show proof of land ownership the law had offered her little protection in her struggle against settlers. She was nonetheless using the legal system to challenge the seizure of her land by settlers. Her campaign for legal redress has served to mobilise Jewish, Muslim and Christian peace activists from both Israel and the West Bank, as well as internationally.
In a letter to the Observer (22 September 2024), the bishops of Southwark, Chelmsford, Norwich and Gloucester used the Kisiya case to make the point that “there has been a drastic acceleration and intensification of settlement construction, land confiscation and home demolition in the West Bank, exacerbating longstanding patterns of oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians.”
On 31 July 2024, a group of illegal Israeli settlers, accompanied by the Israeli Civil Administration attacked and forcefully evicted the Kisiya family, from their land at Al-Makhrour Valley. The family called the Israeli police to help confront this attack. However, when the police arrived, they arrested Alice’s brother, and forced the family to vacate their land, while allowing the settlers to remain, without any prior ‘legal’ claims, or eviction notices issued. The family are challenging the situation through the courts. The settlers have been asked by the Court to prove their ownership of the land. The difficulty in doing so has meant they have vacated the land ahead of a Court hearing in early February. The Kisiya family are confident of winning their case.
Meeting with Xavier Abu Eid, Singer Coffee Shop, Bethlehem, Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Bishop Guli met with Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian Christian who was born in Santiago, Chile, but now lives in Bethlehem and, until 18 months ago, worked for the Palestinian Authority’s Negotiations Support Unit/Negotiations Affairs Department.
Xavier shared his reflections on the failures of the Oslo Peace Process and the lessons to be learnt for any subsequent peace initiative. He shared his hopes for the end of the war in Gaza as well as his anxieties that any ceasefire/hostage deal will be accompanied by an intensification of military activity in the West Bank as a precursor to partial annexation of territory whether that be the Jordan valley and/or the Bethlehem region.
Xavier was not optimistic about the prospects for peace in the short to medium term given that the lessons from the Oslo Peace Process had yet to be learnt. He shared his frustrations about the corruption endemic in the PA and the lack of leadership across Palestinian society, and the imperative for a renaissance of Palestinian political life based on a renewed social contract.
Visit to Nazareth, Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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The Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth
During a visit to Nazareth, Bishop Guli had an opportunity to pray and meditate at various religious sites including Mary’s Well and the Basilica of the Annunciation.
Visit to the Evangelical Bible College, Nazareth, Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Bishop Guli visited the Evangelical Bible College in Nazareth, one of the main institutions in Israel for training church leaders. She was met by Rev Azar Ajaj, the college President who facilitated a conversation involving Rev Yohanna Kataanacho, a professor of Biblical Studies and Academic Dean at the College, and Mohammad Zeidan, a human rights activist and former Director for the Arab Association for Human Rights
Yohanna explained how, as the academic Dean, he tried to help Christians engage with their contexts in a way that reflected Christ’s vision of love and peace. How can the Church implement love politically? How can it advocate for love in war? He explained that love can be understood in different ways such as covenantal or Christological. He understands Christ’s love as missional – through which Christians are called to build a just peace for Jews and Palestinians in which all are equal. He said that the Church should not advocate for a particular solution but rather hold to a world view of love and inclusion as opposed to hatred and division; and that love is not an opportunity to forget about justice but seek justice with a right heart. He recognised that this was not a popular message.
Mohammad disagreed with Yohanna’s approach saying that much of the human rights work of the last 30 years felt like it had been a waste of time and energy. Making people aware of their rights through education and awareness training hadn’t delivered people their rights. Talk of equality and universal values didn’t hold with reality. He explained that he had dedicated his career to safeguarding the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian minority within Israeli territories, but that little progress had been made given the systemic and deep nature of the discrimination entrenched within Israel’s legal, political and socio-economic systems. He admitted he didn’t have a solution other than to suggest refocusing attention on children and young people.
Meeting with Father Na’el, Christ Church, Nazareth, Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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Bishop Guli met with Father Na'el at Christ Church Nazareth
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Bishop Guli met with Father Na'el at Christ Church Nazareth
When in Nazareth, Bishop Guli met with Father Na’el Abu Rahmoun and his family and learnt more about his ministry at Christ Church which serves some 500 Anglicans. She learnt of the ongoing harassment and discrimination that Arab Israelis face in their daily lives and how this has intensified since 7 October 2023. Father Na’el spoke of how he tries to help his congregation make sense of their multiple identities as Arab Palestinian Christians who are also citizens of Israel. During her visit Bishop Guli also met with several women who were engaged in women’s ministry at the Church.
Meeting with Helen Winterton, UK Consul General, American Colony Hotel, Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Bishop Guli had dinner with Helen Winterton, the new Consul General, who had taken up her post in December 2024. The Consul General has worked throughout the Middle East over the last 2 years including in Jerusalem as the Head of Office for the UK’s Department for International Development.
The dinner provided an opportunity for Bishop Guli to share much of what she had heard over the previous days and to hear from the Consul General about the current challenges facing a resolution to the wider conflict. The dinner was especially timely given the ceasefire-hostage deal was concluded that evening.
Meeting with Hagop Djernazia, Save the ArQ, St George’s Guesthouse, Thursday, 16 January 2025
Bishop Guli met Hagop Djernazian for breakfast at St George’s Guesthouse. Hagop is part of the community leadership group behind Save the Armenian Quarter. Bishop Guli had met him when she visited in May 2024 where she learnt how Cows Garden is subject to a legal dispute involving the Armenian Patriarch, the Armenian community and an Israeli developer. Save the ArQ was set up by the local community to protect the land from development. Hagop briefed Bishop Guli on recent developments on the case.
Jerusalemite Armenians, along with the rest of the city’s Christian community, view the dispute over the Armenian Quarter’s land as the most recent battle in a wider, decades-long struggle to preserve a multicultural Jerusalem. Approximately 7,000 Christians live in the Old City and constitute an extremely vulnerable population. A century ago, Christians made up 11 percent of the Old City’s population; today, that number is just 1 percent.
Meeting with Archbishop Hosam, St George’s, Jerusalem, Thursday, 16 January 2025
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Bishop Guli met with the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Archbishop Hosam Naoum
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Bishop Guli met with the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Archbishop Hosam Naoum
Bishop Guli met with Archbishop Hosam in his study at St George’s. Archbishop Hosam shared his hopes and concerns regarding the hostage/ceasefire deal agreed the previous evening.
The Archbishop expressed his hope that the deal might bring the death and destruction in Gaza to an end and provide an opportunity for the people in Gaza to slowly rebuild their lives. He placed the agreement in the context of wider geopolitical changes taking place in the region – the overthrow of the Assad regime, the weakening of Iran and of Hezbollah in Lebanon. He suggested that Donald Trump’s eagerness to press for a normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel could yet unlock the promise of a two-state solution as part of a wider deal.
The Archbishop acknowledged that the ceasefire deal was very fragile and that the lack of detail in various key sections risked it becoming fiercely contested. He was concerned that the Israeli Government would start to refocus its attentions on the West Bank with an escalation of military activity leading to annexation of large areas of occupied Palestinian land. This would have significant consequences and costs for the Christian presence in the West Bank and for Church institutions and bodies, both of which are far more numerous than in Gaza.
Looking to the future he expressed his hope that the Church would reimagine its role in Gaza. Although many in the small Christian community were likely to leave following the war, the Al Ahli Hospital would be rebuilt to meet local need. He also expressed hope that the work of the Princess Basma Centre in Gaza could be expanded to help children (from birth - 15yrs) with a range of congenital, neuromuscular and developmental disorders receive rehabilitation services, alongside social and emotional assistance.
Bishop Guli was glad to have the opportunity to discuss the situation regarding the Diocese of Iran which is part of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East and, currently without its own bishop, under the care of Archbishop Hosam. The Archbishop expressed his hope that he would meet with Bishop Azad from Pakistan before Easter. He asked Bishop Azad to present the names of 3 clergy from which one might be selected as a candidate to be Bishop in Iran. He agreed that it was important to have a bishop in place before the end of the year.
Meeting with the Nasir family at family home in Birzeit, Thursday, 16 January 2025
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Bishop Guli with Layan Nasir
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Dinner with the Nasir family
Bishop Guli visited the Nasir family home in Birzeit, in the West Bank where she had a celebratory lunch with Layan, and her parents Sami and Lulu, to mark Layan’s release from Administrative Detention in November 2024. After meeting with the Nasir family in May 2024, Bishop Guli had kept a candle burning in her chapel, praying for and advocating in parliament and with relevant authorities for Layan’s release.
The lunch provided Bishop Guli with an opportunity to learn more about the circumstances surrounding Layan’s arrest in April 2024, her imprisonment and the mechanics of administrative detention that had kept Layan detained without legal proceedings, by order of the regional military court, based on classified evidence that left her facing unknown allegations with no way to disprove them, not knowing when she would be released, all the time without being charged, tried or convicted.
Layan explained that she had shared a cell designed for 3 with 5 other women. She slept on the floor so that the older women and those with illnesses could use the bed. She was confined to her cell for 23hrs a day and sometimes 24 hours. Communication between cells was prohibited and strictly policed. The food was poor and often inadequate. As the only Christian woman in the prison, she was refused a bible until the last few weeks of her incarceration. Other than this she had no access to books, radio or TV.
Layan is recovering well from her experience and is looking forward to starting a new job in February working with the YMCA on its programme for women. She was remarkably philosophical about her experience saying it was important that people should be aware of what goes on and that this was just the reality of daily life under occupation.
Meeting with UNRWA, Jerusalem, Thursday, 16 January
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Bishop Guli met with the UNRWA's Regional Director and staff
Bishop Guli met with UNRWA’s Regional Director and staff to learn more about UNRWA’s work in providing protection and welfare of Palestinian refugees. She leant how this work in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza might be curtailed at the end of January should the Israeli Government implement legislation passed in 2024 by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. The laws would cripple the humanitarian response in Gaza and deprive millions of Palestine refugees of essential services in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The Israeli government claims that the agency is infiltrated by Hamas, even though all allegations for which any evidence has been offered have been thoroughly investigated. The UK and other donors resumed funding of UNRWA last year. Far from being a party to the conflict, UNRWA is a casualty of this war with many of its staff killed and wounded.
It was suggested that the Israeli government aims to eliminate the refugee status of Palestinians and shift, unilaterally, the long-established parameters for a political solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, the refugee status of Palestinians is not tied to UNRWA and is enshrined in a UN General Assembly resolution that predates the creation of the agency.
It was explained that the international community is at a crossroads. In one direction lies a world which has reneged on its commitment to provide a political answer to the question of Palestine and where Israel, as the occupying power, is solely responsible for the population in the occupied Palestinian territory. In another direction lies a world where the guardrails of the rules-based order hold firm and the Palestinian question is resolved by political means and UNRWA can discharge its responsibilities to a Palestinian administration which will govern a future state of Palestine, including Gaza.
The full implications of any move to cripple UNRWA’s operations are clearly shown by the scale of UNRWA’s operations in the field of education, healthcare, protection and welfare. UNRWA is the largest provider of primary healthcare in Gaza, and the second-largest provider in the West Bank. The Agency has helped to maintain the delivery of health services and strengthen the health system in the occupied Palestinian territory. Even today, in Gaza, UNRWA still conducts approximately 17,000 health consultations each day.
The Regional Director made the case that implementing the laws, would compound the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. It would also in all likelihood push the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to collapse.