ARCHBISHOP OF YORK & CofE BISHOPS EXCORIATE ISRAEL

Israel blamed for “deliberate famine” in Gaza

Bishops demand recognition of Palestine “regardless of facts on the ground”

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

August 13, 2025

The Anglican Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, the highest-ranking official in the Church of England, and four CofE bishops, excoriated Israel and that nation’s policies in Gaza, accusing the democratic state of “deliberate famine” and demanding Palestine be recognized “regardless of facts on the ground.”

The Church of England’s animus towards Israel is, by now, well established.

The five bishops took it up a notch this week, and in unprecedented language threw Israel under the bus, blaming the small, besieged democratic state for the ongoing war, accusing Israel of “starvation,” “deliberate famine” and “terrible injustices” being inflicted on the hapless people of Gaza.

The bishops demanded a Palestinian state “regardless of the facts on the ground,” which, if conceded too, would see the obliteration of Israel within a decade if not sooner.

Of the 14 paragraphs devoted to blasting Israel, just one was devoted to the mass slaughter of 1200 Israelis by Hamas. “We condemn unequivocally the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023. The hostages should be immediately and safely released without conditions attached to their freedom.” How condescending of the archbishop to devote a mere one paragraph to Israel!

The bishops’ statement was the largest pile of sanctimonious excrement since an effort to broker same-sex unions into the Church of England; an effort that looks increasingly like a failed project. There are more blood libels in their combined statement than hot dog vendors in Manhattan.

Here is what the bishops said; “We continue to call for an immediate end to this war and for negotiations leading to lasting justice, security and peace…a deliberate famine is being inflicted on the people of Gaza and Air drops of aid are dangerous and entirely inadequate substitutes for what is needed: the unimpeded delivery of aid through the U.N. and other established humanitarian organizations.”

Let’s unpack this.

A “deliberate famine?” There are hundreds of truckloads of food waiting to go into central Gaza, but the UN refuses to unload them because they don’t like the Israeli-backed and U.S.-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The GHF sites opened in May as an alternative to the U.N.-run aid system, but operations have been marred by deaths and chaos. And who is causing the “deaths and chaos” it is certainly not the IDF. The GHF media office said: “There were no incidents at or near our sites today.” Israel's military said there were no incidents involving troops near central Gaza aid sites.

The bishops say they want an end to the war whether or not Hamas still holds sway over Gaza, and regardless if a single remnant of Hamas remains who will once again rain down rockets into Israel. Why should Israel tolerate even a single “remnant”? A ceasefire only benefits Hamas allowing them to regroup.

Can you imagine a band of Islamic terrorists settling on the Isle of Man firing rockets into England. Just how long would Keir Starmer tolerate that? “My god Winslow roll out the Royal Air Force and kill the buggers.”

Israel is not deliberately starving Gazans. They have sent in more than two million tons of food, most of it grabbed by Hamas for their purposes and then the surplus sold off at exorbitant prices to fellow Palestinians.

The United Nations World Food Program issued statistics in 2023 that claimed that 2.2 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip needed to be supplied with 3,287 trucks of food a week.  Putting aside that others claim the Gaza demographics at between 1.8 to two million people, and accepting the UN figure, Gaza needs 4,287 tons of food a week. Factoring in the fact that the war has gone on for six months, this would raise the total amount of food required in Gaza for half a year to a total of 102,888 tons.

COGAT, the Israeli coordinating arm of the Israeli Government’s activities in the territories, revealed figures that, since the start of the war Israel has overseen the entry into Gaza of 14,786 trucks loaded with 313,970 tons of food as of 15 April 2024. That is over three times the amount of food quoted by the United Nations. The bishops clearly had not done their homework.

So, who would you believe, an archbishop who should have resigned over failed safe guarding practices but did not, or a prime minister who is keeping Israel a free nation that includes two million Palestinians living within her borders?

The U.K. has a particular historical and moral duty to recognize the state of Palestine, and it is therefore disappointing that this recognition has been made conditional, say the bishops. Really!

And where is the bishop’s outrage at President Vladimir Putin in his grab for Ukraine and the half million Russian deaths!

On the issue of Palestinian statehood, Netanyahu says that granting an independent state to the Palestinians “is to invite a future war and a certain war (…) something that today, the Israeli public forcefully opposes.”

He went on to state that, “the Palestinians are not about creating a state. They’re about destroying a state. That’s why they opposed the Jewish National Movement to create a state. It’s called Zionism, conflating Palestinians who pursue an armed struggle with those who recognize the state of Israel.”

Hamas wants a one state solution (from the river to the sea) that sees the total obliteration of Israel, and that is why Israel cannot concede even an inch of Gaza to Hamas or allow a single Hamas to live. They can surrender themselves and the hostages, but they have steadfastly refused to do so.

Perhaps the first order of business for the Archbishop of York should be, “Church heal thyself,” before setting out to tell Israel what to do in a world they are powerless to control.

END