Bishop Rachel Treweek called Israel an apartheid state and said she stands “boldly” with people who compare the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to how Black people were treated in apartheid South Africa.
The comments from Treweek were published in a reflection posted on the Diocese of Gloucester website, coming after she visited Israel and the occupied West Bank last month.
“In the past I have been wary of using the word apartheid to describe the situation in Palestine-Israel, but having seen even more starkly how life is now in the occupied Palestinian territory, I wish to stand alongside other individuals and groups, not least Christians, in boldly naming apartheid,” she stated.
The Bishop worked in the Anglican church in South Africa in 1994 following the abolishment of the racist apartheid system, using her experience to draw comparisons to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
She reiterated that she stands by her comments, acknowledging differences between the situation in Israel-Palestine and apartheid South Africa, but saying there are strong resonances…..more
