Annexation is already taking place in all but name
Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of Canterbury, returned this week from a five-day pastoral visit to the West Bank and Gaza with a moral summons: the Israeli occupation of Palestine must end, and a viable two-state solution must be pursued. Standing before displaced communities, detained youth, and families under siege, she and the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem issued a joint letter calling on Anglicans worldwide to press their governments toward a credible path of peace. The visit marks the most direct intervention yet by the Church of England's leadership on the occupation, and positions one of Christianity's oldest institutions to translate witness into institutional action.
- Archbishop Mullally returned from the region visibly changed — her letter does not hedge, calling the occupation by name and demanding it end.
- Palestinian Christians she met face detention without charge, settler violence, forced displacement, and the slow erasure of communities rooted in the Holy Land since the time of Jesus.
- Gaza's health system has collapsed entirely, and West Bank annexation is, in the letter's own words, already happening in all but name.
- Mullally and Jerusalem's Archbishop Naoum are calling on Anglicans globally to pressure politicians — turning pastoral witness into a coordinated political appeal.
- The Church of England's General Synod will debate reviewing its regional investment policies next month, signaling that institutional consequences may follow the moral declaration.
Sarah Mullally, head of the Church of England, returned from the Middle East this week with an unambiguous message: the Israeli occupation of Palestine must end. In a joint letter with Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, she called on Anglicans worldwide to press their governments toward a credible path ending the occupation — one culminating in a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians could live with peace, dignity, and security, with Jerusalem's final status determined through negotiation.
The letter grew directly from what Mullally witnessed during five days in the West Bank and Gaza. She met Layan Nasir, a 26-year-old Anglican community worker detained by the Israeli military, and spoke with the parents of Natalie Abu Dayeh, a Christian student held without charge. Preaching at St Peter's church in Birzeit, she drew a parallel between her congregation's circumstances and those of Jesus, who had himself lived under foreign occupation.
The human cost documented in the letter is severe: unchecked settler violence, forced displacement, systemic discrimination, proliferating checkpoints, and a Gaza health system in catastrophic collapse. Mullally and Naoum expressed particular alarm for indigenous Palestinian Christian communities — present in the Holy Land since the earliest centuries — now being violently displaced as illegal settlements expand.
One moment stood out symbolically. Mullally planted an olive tree with the Nassar family, Palestinian Christians who have resisted Israeli attempts to seize their land since 1991. She called the olive tree a symbol of deep roots and the Nassars an example of Christian resistance to injustice.
The letter did not ignore Israeli trauma. The aftermath of October 7, Mullally and Naoum wrote, had transformed Israeli society into a state of acute sensitivity to danger. Yet they insisted the international community bore a moral responsibility not to look away from Palestinian suffering. Mullally framed the broader conflict as symptomatic of a deeper crisis — the erosion of international law and the growing resort to military force.
Next month, the Church of England's General Synod will debate a motion to review its investment policies in the region — a sign that Mullally's words may carry institutional weight. The bishop of Chelmsford described the coming debate as fundamentally about justice and human dignity for all.
Sarah Mullally, the head of the Church of England, returned from the Middle East this week with a stark message: the Israeli occupation of Palestine must end. She and Hosam Naoum, the Anglican archbishop of Jerusalem, issued a joint letter on Thursday calling on Anglicans worldwide to pressure their politicians to forge what they described as a credible path toward ending the occupation—one that would culminate in a viable two-state solution allowing Israelis and Palestinians to coexist with peace, dignity, and security. The letter specified that Jerusalem's future status should be determined through negotiation, with the city serving as a shared capital.
Mullally's call came at the conclusion of a five-day pastoral visit during which she witnessed the texture of Palestinian life under occupation. She met Layan Nasir, a 26-year-old Anglican community worker who had been detained and imprisoned by the Israeli military, and she spoke with the parents of Natalie Abu Dayeh, a Christian student held without charge. In the West Bank town of Birzeit, standing before worshippers at St Peter's church, Mullally drew a parallel between their circumstances and those of Jesus himself, preaching that Christ had lived under foreign occupation and speaking to communities gripped by fear. She promised to use her position as archbishop to advocate for the peace and freedom the congregation desired.
The human toll she encountered shaped the letter's language. Mullally and Naoum wrote of families feeling unmoored and traumatized by relentless conflict. In the West Bank, they documented unchecked settler violence, forced displacement, systemic discrimination, and proliferating checkpoints that have left Palestinians impoverished and powerless. Annexation, they wrote, was already occurring in all but name. Gaza's health system, they added, had collapsed into catastrophe. The pair expressed particular concern for the indigenous Christian Palestinian presence in the Holy Land—communities stretching back to the time of Jesus—now being violently displaced as illegal settlements expanded across the West Bank.
One symbolic moment crystallized Mullally's message. She planted an olive tree with the Nassar family, Palestinian Christians who have fought Israeli attempts to seize their land since 1991 and endured repeated settler attacks. Mullally described the olive tree as a symbol of deep roots in the land and called the Nassars an example of Christian resistance to injustice. The visit itself, according to Lambeth Palace, was designed to encourage Palestinian Christians at a moment when communities were being forcibly removed and settlements were rapidly multiplying.
The letter acknowledged the weight of trauma on both sides. In Israel, the aftermath of the October 7 atrocities had created what Mullally and Naoum described as a state of intense sensitivity to danger, transforming society and politics. Yet they insisted the international community bore a moral responsibility not to look away from Gaza's suffering and to help rebuild Palestinian society. Mullally framed the Middle East conflicts as symptomatic of a deeper crisis—an abandonment of international law and an increasing resort to military force.
The Church of England's General Synod will debate a motion next month to review its investment policies in the region, signaling an institutional shift in how the church approaches the Middle East. The bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, characterized the coming debate as fundamentally about justice and human dignity for everyone. Mullally's visit and letter represent the most direct statement yet from the head of the Church of England on the occupation, and they position the church's institutional machinery to act on her words.
Citações Notáveis
When many Palestinian Christians are leaving, olive trees are a symbol of their deep roots in this land— Sarah Mullally, on planting a tree with the Nassar family
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to a community living in fear: his own people living in an occupied land and under foreign rule. I can only imagine how these words may sound to you today.— Sarah Mullally, in sermon at St Peter's church in Birzeit
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Mullally feel compelled to speak out now, after this particular visit?
She met real people—a young woman who'd been detained without trial, parents of a student held without charge, families being forced from land they've held for generations. You can read reports, but meeting someone changes how you speak about them.
The letter mentions both Israeli trauma and Palestinian displacement. Was she trying to balance the scales?
Not balance them equally. She acknowledged Israel's fear and pain from October 7, but then she named what she actually witnessed: unchecked settler violence, systemic discrimination, annexation happening in practice. Acknowledgment isn't the same as equivalence.
The olive tree moment—was that symbolic or practical?
Both. The Nassars have been fighting for their land for thirty-five years. Planting a tree with them was a gesture of solidarity, but it was also a statement: these roots run deep, and they're not going anywhere. That's what she meant by Christian resistance.
What does it mean that the Church of England is now reviewing its investment policies?
It means the institution is moving from words to potential action. If the church divests from companies profiting from the occupation, that's material pressure. It's the difference between a moral statement and a structural one.
Did she avoid saying anything controversial?
She called for an end to occupation and named settler violence, detention without trial, and forced displacement. In some circles, that's very controversial. She wasn't hedging.