Palestinians in a residential area that was subjected to Israeli bombing in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip (Reuters)
The most prominent leaders of the black church in the United States called on the administration of President Joe Biden to stop its financial support for Israel and stop the war on the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times reported excerpts from a statement by the Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, signed by four of its senior bishops, including Council President Stafford Wicker.
The newspaper said that the statement of the bishops of this church - whose number of followers in the world is estimated at about 3 million - stressed the immediate cessation of financial support for Israel, noting that the statement comes as Israel prepares for a military operation in the city of Rafah, which is crowded with displaced people.
The bishops said that Israel has terrorized Palestinian civilians in Rafah, deprived them of food, shelter, and health care, and plans to kill them, noting that Washington may have paid the price for the weapons with which Palestinians are killed.
The New York Times quoted Bishop Adam Richardson, one of the signatories of the Black Church statement, that supporting “Israel’s right to defend itself” is no longer an easy matter given the large number of victims it killed in the Gaza Strip.
Richardson wondered why the United States should pay money to destroy a people.
The newspaper indicated that a number of African American leaders warned that the war on Gaza could weaken the relationship between President Biden and black citizens.
Source: New York Times