The Anglican Church of Kenya has lately decided to divest from companies that are taking advantage of the continuous destruction and seizure of Palestinian land and lives. In doing so, the Anglican Church of Kenya is backing an appeal launched by the 75 million-member Anglican Communion in support of the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Apartheid Israel.
The move by the Anglican Church of Kenya comes just a few weeks after a resolution passed by the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, England, to urge Anglican churches around the world to divest from companies whose activities profit from the occupation of Palestine.
After a trip to Palestine, Kenyan Bishop Gideon Ireri expressed his shock in front of the situation he witnessed. During a press conference, he explained that “No person who believes in justice and human dignity can really support Israel in whatever it is doing”. He added that “What you see there is the atrocities committed by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories and the mistreatment of the women and men at the road blocks”.
The decision taken by the Anglican Church of Kenya follows a series of divestment decisions among US and European protestant churches and should encourage other churches all around the globe to take similar resolutions and to ensure that their investments do not support Israeli Apartheid and Occupation.
The Kenyan church is the first African church to divest from Apartheid Israel. During the time of the movement against South African Apartheid the churches of Africa were at the forefront of the struggle against racism, colonialism and oppression. Because of this legacy of commitment to liberation and justice, it is hoped that more African churches will soon follow this decision to show solidarity with the Palestinian people by ending their complicity with the Occupation and will send a strong message about the need for the Apartheid Wall to fall and for the Occupation to end.