Statement on Israel/Palestine from staff at CRiS
Update 1st October 2024
During the last twelve months of persistent bombing in Gaza and increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the UN/ICJ has ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza are plausibly genocidal (January 2024), that arms sales to Israel should be stopped (April), that Israel’s occupation and apartheid of Palestinian territories is illegal and must end and Palestinians must be compensated (July), and that Israel must be sanctioned (September). At the Centre for Religion in Society we have a strong focus on social justice in our work and we lament the divisions that have been sown across religious communities in response to the events of the last year. We deplore the ongoing bloodshed and destruction in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the spread of violence into Lebanon, Yemen and Syria. We reiterate our call for the international community to uphold international law, to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire including a de-escalation in the region, to prioritise humanitarian aid, and to rebuild educational and health infrastructure. We call for the release of Israeli hostages and the freedom of Palestinians.
11th October 2023
We are deeply distressed by the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and the increase in suffering, trauma and fear for those affected. The targeting of civilians is immoral and illegal. The use of collective punishment is immoral and illegal. The continuing cycle of violence in the region increases antisemitism and Islamophobia across the globe. As a Centre for Religion in Society, we support the right of all people to have their human rights respected and to live in peace, free from occupation. We call on the international community to uphold international law, call for a ceasefire and a de-escalation, prioritise humanitarian aid, and work towards a lasting peaceful solution.
Signed:
Prof. Esther McIntosh, Director of the Centre for Religion in Society
Prof. Emeritus Pauline Kollontai, Co-Editor On the Significance of Religion for Human Rights
Dr Ayla Göl, Senior Lecturer in International Relations
Dr Victoria Nesfield, Lecturer in Religion
Dr Sharon Jagger, Senior Lecturer in Religion
Dr Christopher Kirkland, Senior Lecturer in Politics
Thomas Lockwood, Postgraduate Researcher in Politics
Jessica Davies, Postgraduate Researcher in International Relations
Alisha Biggs, Postgraduate Researcher in Literature and Religion
Rev. Andrew Village, Professor of Practical and Empirical Theology
Dr James Lorenz, Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion
Dr Sue Yore, Senior Lecturer in Religion
Dr Mark Dawson, Lecturer in Religion
Rev. Dr Graham Adams, Northern College Tutor
Our response to the war in Ukraine
Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, we held a panel discussion led by researchers at York St. John with specialist knowledge. You can read the transcripts of the presentations here.
Our Research
Our research, whilst diverse in methodology and focus, explores how religion and belief impacts on how we build our social worlds, locally and globally, bringing academics and practitioners together.
At the heart of this research is the commitment to social justice and equality, a thread that runs through much of our individual and collaborative projects curated on this site.