CAPTION: Rosie Austin says the Bethlehem she saw a glimpse of was more like the occupied land that Jesus came to than the familiar cosy crib scenes (Photo from 2022).
Devon Vicar Reflects on Recent Visit to Bethlehem and West Bank
Rev’d Prebendary Rosie Austin is Team Rector of the Shirwell Mission Community, Rural Church Officer for the Diocese of Exeter and a member of the Church of England General Synod. She recently travelled to Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem with fellow General Synod members. Here are her personal reflections on the trip and a call to action for all of us.
I am an ordinary Church of England vicar, with eight rural churches under my care and also Rural Church Officer for Exeter Diocese. As a member of General Synod it’s important to listen well and be aware of the impact of the debates and the decisions we make where we can. What does it mean to pray for the Holy Land – as we do each week? I wanted to find out for myself.
Archbishop Hosam Naoum of Jerusalem received a standing ovation at General Synod in July, but there was a discomfort among many members that the Carlisle Diocesan Synod Motion calling us to ‘respond to the call of Palestinian Christians’ and others for a ‘just and lasting peace’ had been once again delayed. One of my fellow General Synod members subsequently spoke with Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College, Jerusalem, to ask if a visit would be helpful so that we could show our concern in a practical way and also could see for ourselves something of what is happening in Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Rosie (3rd from left) and other members of the General Synod group who travelled to the Holy Land
Even though the trip was scheduled just before the busy Christmas period I wanted to be part of it. I felt this was too important to delay.
On the very first morning of our stay we were due to visit a Farmers’ Market organised by Rabbis for Human Rights for farmers to sell their crops. This felt familiar territory for me with my rural role. But the market was cancelled at the very last minute for ‘security reasons’. As we then attempted to visit a farm owned by a Palestinian Christian family near Bethlehem, we were met with a roadblock and four armed illegal settlers who requested our passports before denying access, meaning we had to travel an hour on difficult roads to meet the family.
Six illegal settlements now surround their farm including the latest one right up against their fence. We met other Palestinian farmers who have also legally owned their farms for years but who have been regularly threatened with violence, their ancient trees uprooted or poisoned and access to their land denied. One farm had intimidating CCTV cameras placed right in the centre of their own farmstead and we were warned to not take photographs as it was constantly watched.
Another visit which had a big impact on me was our visit to the Ayda Refugee Camp in Bethlehem which lies alongside the separation wall. We were shown around by Alaa and had tea with his family. We walked past paintings on walls of young boys who had been shot from the overlooking watchtower and saw bullet holes in almost every house.
We heard how Alaa himself was arrested at the age of fourteen and had spent six years in an Israeli prison for having in his pocket an empty bullet casing which he’d picked up from the street. He now has a fourteen year old of his own, a boy who stays indoors much of the time – but yet the regular night raids by the army put all families there under constant threat.
The group met local people and experienced some of the challenges of daily life in the West Bank
We met Alaa through Wi’am which is an organisation which does wonderful work in this area with conflict transformation, the staff are now on half pay due to the economic difficulties being faced by Palestine.
Another visit was to Nazareth, travelling through the fertile Jordan Valley and into Israel. It was wonderful to share in their worship and we were welcomed for tea and cake afterwards. This congregation is declining because of the lack of opportunity due to discrimination, and their children are moving away to seek opportunities away from Israel. The Christian population was 12% in the region, and is now less than 1%.
“Don’t pray for us. Don’t pray, unless you are going to accompany your prayer with action.” Dalia Qumsieh, Human Rights Lawyer
We met many people over a short visit, Muslims, Christians and Jews. Let me introduce you to three of them:
Dalia Qumsieh is a Human Rights lawyer and a founding director of the Balasan Initiative. We met her in a café in Bethlehem. She spoke in particular about the settler human rights violations and about enforced displacement through direct as well as indirect means. As a Christian, she said, “Don’t pray for us. Don’t pray, unless you are going to accompany your prayer with action.”
Rabbi Dana Sharon, a member of Rabbis for Human Rights was invited to speak at a church service in Jerusalem. She was recovering from an injury caused by a drone operated by an illegal settler as she attempted to protect an olive harvest. But despite the hate that had literally been aimed at her, she says she is trying hard to live ethically and honestly as a Jewish Israeli. She talked of hope as being a moral imperative, not having the privilege to give up and despair.
Samuel Munayer is a Palestinian theologian who studied at Exeter University and elsewhere. His challenge was clear when I asked how we should pray, he said: “Don’t pray for us, pray with us.” In the book he has recently edited along with his brother, ‘The Cross and the Olive Tree’, he calls for those of us who are not Palestinian to listen well to the theology that is ‘organic to the land and its people’.
I am telling you here of my own experiences on our visit, but it is the indigenous people of that land I want you to listen to, my role may simply be to point you to them.
Calling out the evil of extremism wherever it is found
I am writing this a week after the attack on Jewish people in Sydney celebrating the festival of Hannukah. The violence we saw on Bondi Beach was truly appalling and my heart goes out to the Jewish community who were particularly targeted in this incident along with all who are threatened because of their faith or ethnicity. The motion we still hope to discuss at General Synod calls for a rejection of anti-Semitism, anti Muslim sentiment and all forms of prejudice based on religious affiliation and ethnicity. We call out the evil of extremism which is expressed through hate and violence wherever it is found.
The full text of the motion we need to debate in General Synod can be found online and I’d encourage you to have a look along with the recent 2025 Kairos Document. It’s about our Church and our Parliament responding to the well documented violations of international law with actions as well as words. Those actions are to do with our investments, our trade and sanctions. This is not about picking ‘sides’ in a conflict, it is upholding human rights for all – Palestinians and Israelis – and working towards a just peace with dignity for all.
Back in Devon a few days before Christmas, I’ve honestly found it a little hard to ‘land’ in time for Christmas and get into the ‘Christmas spirit’ after meeting people experiencing illegal occupation, violence and discrimination. But there is a real sense that the Bethlehem I saw a glimpse of was more like the occupied land that Jesus came to than the cosy crib scenes that we try to portray. God came to a world in darkness and God still comes to be with us in all our pain.
I have had to think more deeply about our Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love. I found them in abundance but not in expected ways and places. Hope is not about ‘wishing for things to all work out’ but an Easter Saturday hope which involves mourning first. Peace can only come with justice and with repentance. Love is for all without boundaries, not just for ‘our own’ but seeing the face of God in all people. And joy is far more than putting a smile on. It’s the deep joy we find when we discover God in the darkness.
Rev’d Preb. Rosie Austin
