The Peacebuilding Summit brings together Christian scholars, practitioners, and leaders from both the Global South and North in conversation with Palestinian Christian theologians and practitioners to reconsider the role of the Body of Christ in peacebuilding, particularly in the context of Palestine. The summit has a three-fold emphasis: (1) listening, (2) interdisciplinary theological reflection, and (3) collaborative action. Of special importance is the juxtaposition of global theologies and praxes that have emerged from realities of settler-colonialism and discrimination alongside Palestinian experiences. Rooted in respectful listening and deep theological reflection, the summit will create a space for robust dialogue allowing practitioners and scholars to compare insights, cross-pollinate
tactics, and develop strategies for collaborative action to mobilize the Church to foster a just peace in Palestine-Israel.

The summit takes the Kairos Palestine document as its basis, acknowledging the suffering and oppression inflicted upon the Palestinian people since 1948 and lamenting the theological legitimization thereof by large sectors of the Church. This document was authored in 2009 by a group of Palestinian Christian theologians and practitioners who sought to offer “a word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering”, and was inspired by the South African Kairos Document of 1985.

The concerns of these two documents—both in challenging oppressive theological frameworks and offering constructive alternatives—are not confined to South Africa and Palestine, but are shared among theologies done from and for contexts of oppression and injustice, including Black theology in the U.S., indigenous theologies in the Americas and Oceania, and Dalit theology in South Asia, to name but a few.

Therefore, the summit aims to catalyze the work of theologies that have emerged from diverse contexts of oppression and marginalization, with particular attention to the Palestinian context. The gathering will build upon the emphases of the Kairos documents by providing a space to both (1) critique theological and biblical constructs that have legitimized oppression and injustice (for example, Christian Zionism), and (2) offer alternative theological models to empower the Church in its holistic Gospel witness.