Why this Statement? Why Now?
In the past week, we have become aware of an extremely small, hostile Christian Zionist presence at UofT in opposition the People’s Circle for Palestine. With the support of non-UofT members who have been documented harassing students with all forms of abhorrent speech, the presence of Christian Zionism is being used to support Israel's genocide against Palestinians, and to foster abuse of UofT student protesters and their supporters.

As Christian members of UofT who stand with the People’s Circle for Palestine we believe it is time for us to address Christian Zionism and its role in the unfathomable amount of violence against Palestinians which we are seeing. For decades Christian Zionism has been perpetuating Islamophobic and antisemitic narratives, while backing Western imperial interests on a global scale.

What is Christian Zionism?
Christian Zionism is a belief system held by some Christians that supports the establishment and continued existence of the State of Israel. This support is often based on theological interpretations of the Bible, particularly the belief that the Bible contains prophecies that foretell the return of Jews to the Holy Land prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Christian Zionists typically see the modern state of Israel as the fulfillment of these biblical prophecies and thus support its political and military interests. It’s important to note that Christian Zionists are not all conservative; many liberal Christians have passively or actively endorsed Zionism. While their logics may be different, and even “well-meaning,” liberal Christians who support Israel’s settler-colonial project are complicit in the long-standing persecution of Palestinians, and the present genocide.

Christian Zionist History
Zionism has its roots in Christian theology and politics which predate Jewish Zionism. The project of Zionism draws heavily from historically Christian logics of settler-colonialism, expansionism, conversion, historical progression, and providence.In the early modern period a subset of Protestants who believed in a literalistic interpretation of biblical prophecies grew to believe in the necessity of the return of Jews to the Holy Land. This belief was rooted in millenarianism: the idea that the return of Jesus Christ was imminent and would be preceded by the restoration of Israel. In the 19th century, Christian figures advocated for the restoration of Jews to Palestine, motivated by a mixture of religious belief and imperial interest. Christian Zionism had a significant influence on the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, against the interests of many Arab-Jews. In 1948 the creation of the State of Israel via the Nakba—“the catastrophe,” in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and over 15,000 were murdered in an act of ethnic cleansing, was celebrated by many Christian Zionists as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. During the Cold War Era, American Evangelical support for Israel grew, influenced by geopolitical interests and the view of Israel as a bulwark against communism and as the arm of Western imperial interests in the Middle East. In the late 20th century organizations such as Christians United for Israel (CUFI), founded by John Hagee (a prominent Christian zionist and an explicit antisemite), have become extremely influential political lobbying groups in the U.S., advocating strongly for policies which strengthen the state of Israel and its colonial project, and financially supporting the state of Israel. Popular books and media, like the "Left Behind" series, have propagated Christian Zionist beliefs to a broader audience. The content of this media demonstrates the confluence of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Christian imperial political interests.

The Antisemitic Foundations of Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism’s pro-Israel stance is theologically fundamentally antisemitic. Jews and Judaism are not respected in their own right, but are instrumentalized by Christian Zionists; Jews are characters in a Christian eschatological narrative which Judaism itself rejects. Most Christian Zionists believe that Jews must convert to Christianity to be saved, and some believe that Jews simply *will* convert to Christianity upon Christ’s return. This is theological condescension, which views Judaism as incomplete without Christ, and rejects Jewish theological autonomy. Christian Zionism does not demonstrate unconditional support for Jewish well-being, but only conditional support for the state of Israel, whether or not this actually serves Jewish wellbeing.

Islamophobia and Christian Zionism
Christian Zionism also fosters and promotes Islamophobia. Christian Zionist rhetoric frequently portrays Muslims, especially Palestinians, as obstacles to divine prophecy. This view demonizes Muslims and justifies their marginalization and oppression. The political oppression of Palestinians by the state of Israel is often articulated as a religious conflict between good and evil, in which Israel is equated with Judaism and viewed as *good* and Palestine is equated with Islam which is demonized as *evil.* These narratives depend on blatantly racist and Islamophobic logic (Palestinians and Muslims are portrayed as “terrorists,” “savages,” illogical forces of evil, etc.). Christian Zionists actively promote anti-Muslim narratives, and actively fund and support military aggression against Palestinians (Muslim and otherwise) while promoting these narratives. Christian Zionists have played a shameful role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians over the last number of months and years. As Christians, we tremble at the enormity of this evil enacted against God’s beloved creatures. We tremble beneath the gaze of a just God and we pray for mercy and the enactment of justice. We believe that it is only through justice that peace may be achieved.

A Learning Opportunity: What the Current Presence of Christian Zionism in Anti-Palestinian Movements Shows Us
We can learn two important things from the presence of Christian Zionism in the opposition to protests for Palestinian rights:

1. Christian Zionism Demonstrates how Anti-Zionism is not Anti-Jewish: At present there are more Christian Zionists in the US and Canada than there are Jewish Zionists. The overwhelming presence of Christians in Zionist movement demonstrates that the denunciation of Zionism cannot be equated with anti-Jewish sentiment. When protesters speak out against Zionism, they are addressing the political project of Zionism and political Zionists, whose numbers are overwhelmingly made up of Christians with a specific theological view (but also include non-religious persons, and members of other religions).
2. Christian Zionism demonstrates how Zionism itself is fundamentally a political ideology: This political ideology is supported by subsections of diverse and theologically divergent religious populations (Christian, Jewish, and otherwise). While the political project of Zionism is argued for through theological argument by religious persons, it is contentious within every religious tradition, representing a political orientation sometimes held by religious persons, which has always been met by debate and opposition from other members of the same religious communities. 

Christian Zionism and The People’s Circle for Palestine
Many of us have visited the People’s Circle for Palestine at the University of Toronto and seen our fellow students who are Jewish present in significant number in protest of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. These students have faced antisemitic harassment from Zionists, many of whom are self-identified as Christian. Students have been told they are “not real Jews,” that they are comparable to Jews who killed other Jews in the Shoah, that their relatives who went through the Shoah would be ashamed of them, and have faced antisemitic conspiracy theories, with self-identified Zionists asking questions like “Are you funded by George Soros?.” This is abhorrent and unacceptable. We denounce this behaviour and repent of the role Christian rhetoric has played in this hateful discourse. We denounce the university administration’s framing of the encampment as creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students. These statements are blatantly racist. They depend on construing those speaking up for Palestinian human rights as inherently hateful. They ignore and/or disrespect the testimonies of Jewish students and faculty who have found the camp a place of safety and nourishment. Worst of all, they passively condone the many documented cases of racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia, and violence directed by outside agitators towards students and protesters, while taking bad faith accounts of “hate” from these agitators seriously without investigation. This is shameful. We call on UofT students and the wider public to speak with student protestors, visit the encampment, and attend events with them. We encourage everyone to focus not on bad faith diversions, but on the righteous, just, and loving calls of the students: Disclose, Divest, Cut Ties (see “Demands” on page 18 of linked report). We ask the public and the UofT community to witness the beautiful community of solidarity and learning that has been built amidst our university and the testament to Palestinian humanity and strength they represent.

Our Stand
As Christians we stand with the People’s Circle for Palestine, and the fight for Palestinian life everywhere. We do not pretend to represent the entire Christian community, but rather we speak from our own profound religious and moral conviction as Christians and as humans. We denounce genocide, ethnic cleansing, and occupation, from Turtle Island to Palestine. We repent the tremendous role Christianity has played in settler colonial history locally and globally, past and present. We renounce ways of domination and dehumanization, in all their forms, overt and subvert.

We believe Christ stands with the oppressed. We believe Christ is with Palestinians. We are grateful to our Palestinian Christian siblings who have demonstrated so profoundly what it means to follow Christ, and called out again and again in truth. We hear you and we are listening, learning, and acting. We echo the voices of Palestinian Christians by saying that we see Western Christians as demonstrating “theological and political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, which have been committed over the last 75 years.” We see too your “sumud (steadfastnastness)” “anchored in (y)our just cause.” We join you in your cause, and the cause of all Palestinians, grateful to stand with you in courage and in hope, pursuing liberation.

We Call on Other Christians to:

1. Break your silence on Palestine. Many Western Christians have gone weeks, months and years in silence, failing to speak out about the violations of Palestinian human rights. This silence passively condones this violence, and betrays a lack of real commitment amongst Christian communities to the gospel—to love and to do justice.
2. Take responsibility for the dominant historical role of Christianity in forming, nourishing, and sustaining Islamophobia and antisemitism, and for the political role Christian thought, Christian institutions, and Christian political groups have played in establishing, sustaining, and strengthening the settler-colonial project of Israel.
3. Take responsibility for Christianity’s ongoing role in the genocide of Palestinians.
4. Learn about and speak out against Christian-backed forms of oppression
5. Stand firmly with Palestinians globally and students locally who are protesting financial support for genocide, apartheid, and occupation of Palestine. Learn about the demands of the People’s Circle for Palestine and support them. 

Please sign. Please share widely.

 

Sources and Learning Resources:

Links
OccupyUofT
Disclose, Divest: The University of Toronto’s Investments in Israeli Apartheid
UofT Alumni for Palestine
Christians for a Free Palestine Toronto
Christians for a Free Palestine

Toolkits
Friends of Sabeel: Toolkit for Countering Christian Zionism
Jewitches: Christian Zionism 101

Articles and Essays
Christian Zionism in the United States, 1930–2020 by Sean Durbin (Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Religion)
Zionism’s History Is Also a History of Jewish Anti-Zionism by Shaul Magid (Jacobin magazine)
Christian Zionism and the Apocalyptic Landscape of Gaza by Tristan Sturm
The Undeniable Overlap: Right-wing Zionism and Islamophobia by Hilary Aked (Open Democracy)
US evangelicals drive Republican support for Israel by Anthony Zurcher (BBC)
Anti-Semitic Zionists by Jonathan Brenneman
The Christian Right, Israel and Stephen Harper by Arthur Milner
Canada’s Zionist Roots by Yves Engler (Rabble)
Decolonizing Palestinian Liberation Theology: New Methods, Sources, and Voices by John S. Munayer and Samuel S. Munayer (Edinburgh University Press)

Books
Palestinian Solidarity Reading List (Verso Books)
Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid by Yves Engler
The Making of Modern Zionism by Schlomo Avireni
A Palestinian Theology of Liberation by Naim Stifan Ateek
Faith and Fratricide and The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Rosemary Radford Ruether

Videos
What is Christian Zionism? (Jewish Voice for Peace)

Podcasts
Across the Divide