Criticism as Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem accuses Israel of genocide
The Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, Dr Sani Ibrahim Azar, has accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, triggering fierce criticism.
“What does Reformation look like after two years of genocide? What does Reformation mean when we look at a world, a country, that is so broken?” the Palestinian clergyman asked during a Reformation Day service at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday.
According to the text of the sermon published on Facebook, the bishop of what is officially called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land did not mention the trigger for the Gaza war, the massacre carried out by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and other extremists in Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack left 1,200 dead, with more than 250 other people abducted to the Gaza Strip.
A delegation from the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament in Germany, which attended the service as part of a visit to Israel, expressed horror at Azar’s choice of words.
“We expressly distance ourselves – especially as a German delegation – from the one-sidedness of what was said during the service,” a statement issued by the state parliament in the state capital Dusseldorf said.
“For me personally and for us as Germans, such language is unacceptable and intolerable,” André Kuper, president of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament, who had initiated the trip, said on Saturday.
Reformation Day is celebrated by Protestants on October 31 to commemorate the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, setting in motion the Protestant split from the Roman Catholic Church.
The United Nations defines genocide as the deliberate persecution of a population group that differs from others in terms of language, religion and tradition, with the aim of destroying that group in whole or in part.
South Africa has brought a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. It is not known when the court will deliver its verdict.
Israel denies committing genocide, a position supported by the German government.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 68,500 people have been killed in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, launched in response to the October 7, 2023, attacks.
A fragile ceasefire came into force there only three weeks ago.
