Jerusalem churches warn Christian Zionism fuelling divisions as settler violence escalates

The Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, has said that churches in the city were responding to "exclusive" religious ideologies, which he argued risked deepening divisions in the occupied territories, following a statement last week warning against Christian Zionism and the harmful impacts the ideology is having on Palestinians. 

The Archbishop stressed on Monday that church leaders were "not politicians" and did not speak for the global Christian community.

Speaking to The New Arab, Secretary of the Council Naoum said the churches condemned "any attempt to exclude other people from the narrative, especially when people alienate the very concept of peace".  

Last week, the Patriarch and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued a statement cautioning against individuals promoting "damaging ideologies". Sources told The New Arab that the remarks follow a meeting held at the US Embassy earlier in the month, reportedly organised by the pro-Israel group Israeli Christian Voice.

The US Ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, has since responded, saying he didn’t feel "any sect of the Christian faith should claim exclusivity in speaking for Christians worldwide or assume there is only one viewpoint regarding faith in the Holy Land".

But Archbishop Naoum refutes the accusation, saying the churches "did not claim to represent the Christian voice worldwide" and that their initial statement was "directed to certain groups within our communities, here in the Holy Land, who claim to speak on behalf of the Christian community" while engaging in narratives that are "alienating and demonising".

In the interview, Naoum acknowledged being in "good terms" with the ambassador and engaging in regular dialogue with US officials at the embassy, but instead reframed the church’s message as a pastoral duty of reconciliation over ideology.

The archbishop said: "We already live in a division. There's so much gap between different communities. And I think people who are responsible, especially religious people with official status, I think their obligation is to bring people together rather than dividing them."

The Israeli Christian Voice group, led by retired Israeli army colonel Ihab Shalyan, openly advocates for formal recognition of the Christian community in the region while also emphasising that they should be identified as "distinct from Arab".

Israeli settlers continue attacking Christian communities in the West Bank

The latest developments come against a backdrop of what the Anglican Archbishop Hosam Naoum said was the "escalation of violence from settlers around the West Bank", pointing to a rise in attacks across the occupied territory, particularly since October 2023.

Over the weekend, the predominantly Christian village of Birzeit was attacked by a group of settlers. 

During the attack on Saturday, 62-year-old Najat Jadallah Emeid, a Palestinian local, was also targeted at her home on the outskirts of the village.

She sustained serious injuries to her head, including a broken skull and internal bleeding, and remains hospitalised. Archbishop Naom, who said Emeid was a relative of many people close to the church, says Israeli forces detained her son, who remains in captivity.

No Israeli settlers were arrested during the incident on Saturday.

"We see it as sin. The whole of settlers’ violence is a sin. It’s evil," Naom reflected when speaking of the number of settler attacks becoming a near-weekly occurrence. "They are safe in their homes, in their farms, picking their olive trees, with their flock. And we see these attacks as something really damaging not only the Christian presence, but also the Palestinian presence in their homelands."

UN data indicates that settlers have been responsible for hundreds of daily assault incidents in 2025, with more than 1,600 attacks documented across the West Bank since the beginning of 2025, leaving many Palestinians injured as well as homes and farms damaged.