The Episcopal Church, in collaboration with other members of Churches for Middle East Peace, observed the one-year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza with an Oct. 7 virtual ecumenical service of lament. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians and about 1,200 Israelis, all mostly civilians, have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: Screenshot
[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church, in collaboration with other members of Churches for Middle East Peace, observed the one-year anniversary of
of the Hamas-led attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza with an Oct. 7 virtual ecumenical service of lament.
“When people here are feeling so devastated by violence and war, we come together in prayer and vigil, asking God’s peace to be upon the Holy Land and throughout the world, where there’s so much killing; there’s so much violence; there’s so much hatred,” Archbishop Hosam Naoum, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, told those gathered. “People – whether they are Jews, Muslims or Christians – they are all God’s children, and everybody deserves a life of dignity and a life that ensures that everybody can live in justice and in peace.”
An untold number of people attended the hourlong service held on Zoom. Non-scheduled speakers, the attendees who were off camera, were able to offer their own prayers using the online-meeting platform’s chat function. Churches for Middle East Peace is a U.S.-based nonprofit ecumenical coalition of more than 35 Christian denominations and organizations that mobilize U.S. Christians to support human rights and justice for people in the Middle East through education, prayer and advocacy. The group also works to elevate the voices of human rights activists and organizations in the Middle East.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the armed Palestinian militant group, which controls Gaza, launched a coordinated, cross-border attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, massacring more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and taking 251 hostages. Israeli officials estimate that 97 of those hostages are still being held by Hamas and 33 are dead.
“May we grieve alongside every person who lost a loved one on Oct. 7, having empathy for their suffering,” said the Rev. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director for Churches for Middle East Peace and an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church. “Oct. 7 was by no means the starting point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it was a day that changed history.”
Israel’s military responded to Hamas’ attack, first with airstrikes and then a ground invasion of the 140-square-mile, densely populated Gaza Strip. Nearly half of the estimated 2 million Palestinians living there have fled, and those remaining are experiencing a humanitarian crisis and severe famine.
The Palestinian death toll is nearing 42,000, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry, and the Israeli death toll is about 1,200, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Civilians make up the majority of both death tolls.
“The attacks of Hamas and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli military have devastated families, entire generations and entire communities. …For many people in Israel and Palestine, October the seventh has never ended,” Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said. “We lift our prayers of lament and unceasing hope for an end to this war and a permanent just solution for the people of Palestine and Israel.”
Gaza had already been facing a humanitarian crisis before the war began. Nearly two-thirds of the population was in poverty, thousands of whom lived in refugee camps operated by the United Nations.
Since the war started, Israel has arrested more than 9,900 Palestinians in the West Bank, including Layan Nasir, a 23-year-old Palestinian Anglican woman. She’s been held in administrative detention without charge since April 6.
“We, the children of God, must make peace between all God’s children. Every human being is God’s creation … created with his holy hands,” said Greek Orthodox Fr. Emmanuel Awad, head priest of Dormition of Theotokos Church in Aboud, a Palestinian village west of Ramallah in the West Bank. “We need to live in peace, because peace is love and God is love.”
The Holy Land conflict was much discussed in June during the church’s 81st General Convention, held in Louisville, Kentucky. At least 16 resolutions related to the conflict were proposed for bishops’ and deputies’ consideration. One of the resolutions (D075) adopted by convention called for Nasir’s immediate release.
Over the last year, protests calling for a ceasefire and divestment from companies with financial ties to Israel have spread worldwide, including dozens of colleges across the United States. Pro-Palestinian protest encampments on college campuses oftentimes turned violent, leading to thousands of arrests in the spring 2024 semester and the cancellation of commencement ceremonies.
Rallies and vigils marking the Oct. 7 attack and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has now spread to other parts of the region are taking place across the United States.
“As Peacemakers, we’ve often been told to pray that line from the serenity prayer, ‘Lord help us to accept the things that we cannot change.’ But in this season, I would hope that we would also pray, ‘Lord, help us to change the things that we cannot accept,’” said Bishop Julius C. Trimble from the United Methodist Church.
Churches for Middle East Peace will host another virtual prayer service for peace in the Middle East on Oct. 9.
Episcopalians can learn more by joining the Episcopal Public Policy Network.
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.