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Palestinian Christian Tells of Heartbreak

Wednesday May 22 2024

Picture by Andy O'Brien


A young Palestinian Christian this afternoon told the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland of her heartbreak that she is unlikely to see the land of her ancestors.

As the Assembly moved to discussing the sections of the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team (FAPLT) report on the situation in Gaza, Joanne Billeh, of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, who lives in Jordan, said that her family had been forced to leave Palestine in the 1948 war.

Ms Billeh said: “The chances of me going to see the land that I spent my whole childhood hearing about are slim, which obviously breaks my heart.

“I speak on behalf of Jordanians for whom Palestine is a place we only know from photos and stories or our ancestors.”

The Assembly passed the sections of the FAPLT Deliverance calling for prayers for peace in Gaza, to share their voices of Palestinian Christians and for the UK Government to recognise the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.

It added sections calling on FAPLT to ‘publicly and explicitly call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza’, and to stop granting export licences for weapons to Israel; and one urging them to consider restoring Church of Scotland funding for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme (EAPPI) which was withdrawn this year.

The Assembly also passed a strengthened section urging politicians and the media to avoid ‘dehumanising and hostile language when describing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers’.

Emma Jackson, the FAPLT vice-convener responsible for Public Life and Social Justice, said that the Church had made clear its opposition to the Illegal Migration Bill and the Rwanda Bill, which she said were ‘inhumane and fail to recognise the inherent dignity and value in each and every person’.

There were further new sections giving thanks for a century of of the National Council of Churches of Korea, and for the Mediterranean Hope organisation that works with refugees in Italy.

As news broke that a General Election had been called for July 4, which is during the school holidays in most parts of Scotland, a section was added reminding people who are going to be away to register for a postal vote.

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During the report of the General Trustees, the charity responsible for most of the Church of Scotland’s buildings, there was some disagreement with the Trustees’ proposal that the provision of a manse remain the default position for ministers’ accommodation. However convener, Alan Kennedy, pointed out that moving away from that position to the option of an additional payment for housing would have major tax implications. However, a countermotion not accepting that section of the deliverance was withdrawn.

The Trustees did accept a motion reminding Kirk Sessions of their obligations under Church law to send manse condition schedules and property registers to presbyteries, after the Trustees reported being concerned by the lack of information about manse conditions.

The Trustees also accepted motions instructing them to give urgent consideration to artworks and to pipe organs in church buildings scheduled for closure, and to work with congregations in cases where redundant church buildings may be bought by local communities.

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The Assembly heard the first report of the Ethical Oversight Committee, which was formed following recent controversy over Church of Scotland investments in fossil fuels companies.

The convener, Val Brown, told the Assembly that the committee had had ‘a full and interesting year’. Discussions had focused around trying to develop a more detailed brief for the church’s Investor’s Trust that is ‘more specific, more focussed (than the existing guidelines) without being unnecessarily restrictive’.

The committee’s ‘front door’ policy, framed around the Five Marks of Mission, was agreed by the Assembly.

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Lin Macmillan, speaking on behalf of the Pension Trustees, used her speech to warn commissioners about scams taking advantage of new pensions rules. She said: “Sadly, there are stories in the press every month of someone who has been robbed of their life savings, or their whole pension pot, by one of these, often very clever scams, which can sound extremely convincing.

“The most important thing to remember is that an offer which looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

She urged people to contact the Church’s pensions department for advice on their pensions.


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