The Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, Dr Sani Ibrahim Azar, has accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, triggering fierce criticism.
“What does Reformation look like after two years of genocide? What does Reformation mean when we look at a world, a country, that is so broken?” the Palestinian clergyman asked during a Reformation Day service at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday.
According to the text of the sermon published on Facebook, the bishop of what is officially called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land did not mention the trigger for the Gaza war, the massacre carried out by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and other extremists in Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack left 1,200 dead, with more than 250 other people abducted to the Gaza Strip.
A delegation from the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament in Germany, which attended the service as part of a visit to Israel, expressed horror at Azar’s choice of words.
“We expressly distance ourselves – especially as a German delegation – from the one-sidedness of what was said during the service,” a statement issued by the state parliament in the state capital Dusseldorf said on Saturday.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 68,500 people have been killed in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, launched in response to the October 7, 2023, attacks. A fragile ceasefire came into force there only three weeks ago.
Palestinians inspect the heavily damaged buildings, some of which have been completely destroyed, and collect usable items at the Nuseirat refugee camp after Israeli forces struck the central Gaza, violating the ceasefire. The Israeli army killed 63 Palestinians, including 24 children, in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday 28 October evening. Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa