UMC Leaders Say 'Apartheid' Only Word to Describe Israel's Oppression of Palestinians

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Apartheid – a South African word meaning "segregation by race" that became associated with violent repression – is the only term to describe what the State of Israel is doing to Palestinians, say three United Methodist leaders who visited the region in November.

Increased use of that term by United Methodists was a key point about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict made by J. Paula Roderick, Holly Metcalf and the Rev. Alka Lyall during an hour-long Jan. 11 webinar co-sponsored by United Methodist Kairos Response and Methodist Federation for Social Action.

The three women were part of a fact-finding trip in November to attend the 13th gathering of Kairos Palestine, a Middle Eastern organization from which the 12-year-old United Methodist group took its name. The three speakers were:

  • J. Paula Roderick, an employment discrimination and civil rights attorney practicing in the Chicago area, a steering committee member in United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), and a justice leader in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference.
  • Holly Metcalf, peace with justice director at the UMC General Board of Church and Society, who previously was a Peace Corps volunteer and a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department working on human rights, religious freedom, and refugee issues.
  • The Rev. Alka Lyall, a director of the UMC General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR), and an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference with experience in international church relations and justice advocacy.


Webinar moderator Lisa Bender began the session by asking the three visitors for their impressions from the November trip, during which they visited key Palestinian communities including Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center; Holy Land Trust, a center for nonviolent activism; the village of Wadi Foquin, supported by the General Board of Global Ministries; Tent of Nations, the Nassar family's peace project; the oft-besieged Aida refugee camp; and six Palestinian organizations under attack by the Israeli government, according to UMKR's press release.

"It's crucial to understand apartheid and racism in the Palestinian context," said Ms. Roderick. "Despite Israeli promises, conditions have deteriorated far and fast."

Ms. Roderick cited home demolitions in East Jerusalem, multiple checkpoints impeding Palestinian access, and convoluted permit system that keep Palestinians from work and health care.

"Israel doesn't want to end the occupation of Palestinians," Ms. Roderick said. "How will we as people of faith respond? We need to push our church leaders to do more, to support the Palestinian fight for freedom."

Ms. Metcalf described the constraints including electronic and in-person surveillance placed on Palestinian civil rights and humanitarian organizations by the Israeli government.

"It's a subtle, dangerous effect of uncertainty – the pressure to play it safe," Ms. Metcalf said. "The Palestinians said they never knew if their offices would be raided, or their files taken. Some arrived at airports for international trips to find their visas canceled. Sometimes Israel banks refuse to transfer money given to aid organizations."

Ms. Metcalf said that the Israeli government has designated some Palestinian aid groups as "terrorist organizations" based on what they say is "secret information" that the Israelis won't disclose, even to their international allies.

"There's no way to defend against 'secret information,'" Ms. Metcalf noted.

The need to respond to such pressures keep aid agencies distracted from their humanitarian work, especially efforts to support Palestinian children and youths by teaching them non-violent conflict resolution skills, the Church and Society staff member added.

Ms. Metcalf also cited encroaching Israeli settlements, such as that near UMC-supported Wadi Foquin, as a constant threat to Palestinians.

"The settlement, which sits on a hill above the village, has consumes three-fourths of the village's land since 1948," she said. "It's also taking water resources used by agriculture; construction debris and raw sewage flow downhill into the village's remaining agricultural field.

"Wadi Foquin has tried to get construction and renovation permits to stabilize the only school building left from uphill blasting, but they've been frustrated.

Rev. Lyall, pastor of Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago, described the trip as "meaningful" because it showed the suffering, resilience and hospitality of Palestinians.

She recalled a visit to the Aida refugee camp, a former "tent city" for Palestinians that residents have built into a more permanent community. However, the so-called camp remains under regular Israeli surveillance and receives utilities on a sporadic basis. Sometimes residents can get water only for one or two hours per week, she said.

Rev. Lyall also talked about a visit to Hebron, where a mosque with significance to both Jews and Muslims has been unequally divided for worship.

"As we tried to enter, we saw another family trying to enter the mosque; only one family member was allowed in, and an older family member was turned away," she said. The family member refused entrance was allowed in about an hour later.

Rev. Lyall said most shops around the Hebron mosque have been closed by Israelis, so vendors sell their wares in the street. Netting stretched above the street helps keep away dirt and debris thrown down on the Palestinian vendors by Israelis living above them.

Despite such conditions, the clergywoman said, Palestinians were unfailingly generous to their visitors, with vendors often including small gifts with the visitors' purchases.

Webinar panelists and moderator Lisa Bender encouraged United Methodists to review Resolution 6111, which outlines actions seeking justice for Palestinians that have been adopted by the General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body. Moreover, they all endorsed using the word "apartheid" to describe Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

"Using the term 'apartheid' is very important, because it emphasizes Israel's control of whole area including the dual system it uses against Palestinians," said Ms. Metcalf.

Historically, the most recent recommendation isn't the first time a United Methodist leader has advocated using the word "apartheid" to describe Israeli oppression of Palestinians. The late Rev. Joe Hale, longtime top executive of the World Methodist Council who was active during the 1980s and 1990s on behalf of South Africans of color, used "apartheid" regularly in his advocacy for Palestinians as well.

Ms. Roderick, Ms. Metcalf and Rev. Lyall all emphasized two additional responses they believe United Methodists should take:

  • Support pressuring Israel to stop settlements on Palestinian land, an incursion that has been condemned by international law;
  • Practice "ethical tourism" to Israel and Palestine, making sure to use guides or tour groups that will ensure visits to the "living stones" of Palestinians as well as biblically related sites in Israel.

"It's what the Palestinians want from us: come and see, and then go and tell," said Ms. Metcalf.

Additional resources:

A Declaration to the World From The International Conference of Kairos Palestine: “The People, the Church & Resisting the Occupation”

Cry for Hope, a document from Kairos Palestine

United Methodist Resolution 6111, "Opposition to Israeli Settlements in Palestinian Land"

Friends of Wadi Foquin

4 ways Netanyahu’s new far-right government threatens Israeli democracy from The Conversation

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, a journal she founded in 2011. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.