The Board of Deputies has agreed to explore the possibility of further dialogue with the Anglican Church following a meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Tuesday prompted by concern over an article he had co-written on Palestinian Christians.
The article, which appeared in the Sunday Times in December, highlighted extremist attacks on Christian sites and clergy as a reason for the decline of Palestinian Christians.
But Board president Marie van der Zyl took issue with “troubling” pasages in the article which included linking the departure of Christians from the Holy Land to the growth of settler communities and the West Bank separation barrier.
Following her call for a meeting, the Archbishop hosted her and Board chief executive Michael Wegier at Lambeth Palace this week. They were joined via video link by the article’s co-author Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem.
