“If we do not speak, even the stones will cry out”

In the season of Easter 2025 and following the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, President of the Uniting Church Rev Charissa Suli has released a statement affirming the solidarity of the Uniting Church with suffering Palestine

STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA
REV CHARISSA SULI
EASTER 2025
In this season of Easter, as we proclaim ‘Christ is risen!’ and life is stronger than death, we cannot help but hear the cries that rise from the tombs of this world. In the lands where Jesus walked, the anguish of the wounded, displaced, hungry and grieving fills the air.

As President of the Uniting Church in Australia, I am compelled to speak with moral clarity, compassion, and a heart broken open by the suffering we are witnessing. We cannot remain silent while bodies are crushed by bombs, children starve, and our Palestinian siblings in Christ fear for their very existence. If we do not speak, even the stones will cry out.

With humility and repentance, we confess that our voice has not been clear or courageous in naming the immense and disproportionate suffering of Palestine. We lament our silences and hesitation. We know we cannot claim peace as our prayer if we have not named the injustices we see.

For more than seven decades, Palestinians have lived under the weight of occupation. On 7 October 2023, a horrific attack by Hamas militants in Israel claimed over 1,100 lives and saw 250 people taken hostage. Following this terrible violence, Israel unleashed a ferocious retaliation. For 19 long months the Palestinian people have endured merciless bombardment. Homes, hospitals, sacred places of worship, and centres of learning lie in ruins. Nearly two million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced. Medical workers, journalists, and humanitarian servants have been targeted and killed. Human rights abuses occur daily.