Churches in Jordan join Palestinian pleas for end to violence against civilians Welby’s office is said to have ignored the first letter, fueling anger among Anglicans and Palestinian Christians BEIRUT: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has been asked by Palestinian Christians to “speak truth to power for the sake of a just and lasting peace” in a letter criticizing the UK Anglican leader over his public statements on the Israel-Hamas war. Anglicans in the West Bank had accused Welby, leader of the global Anglican church, of downgrading their plight. Jerusalem’s Palestinian Christians restated their criticism in a letter as well, the Guardian reported on Friday. Welby’s office is said to have ignored the first letter, fueling anger among Anglicans and Palestinian Christians. Lambeth Palace, the archbishop’s London headquarters, said that it failed to reply to the first letter because it had unnamed signatories. The second letter came from churches in Jordan and condemned “acts of violence against any civilians.” It said: “We continue to have concerns, as expressed by others, that the British government’s relationships with Jewish leaders matter more to Anglican leaders than the basic principles of justice, freedom and the right of return for the oldest Christian community in the world. “We ask for your support to speak truth to power for the sake of a just and lasting peace, and to avoid any remarks that can be interpreted as siding with Israeli politicians who seek to oppress and displace the Palestinian people or who seek to challenge a Christian presence in the Holy Land.” The letter also referred to Israel’s “denial of national rights to the Palestinian people” and of extremists in the Israeli government who aim to block “Palestinian dreams for a national home in the Holy Land.” According to Welby’s website, the archbishop spent four days in Jerusalem in October to “show solidarity with the Christian community in the Holy Land.” At that time Anglicans on the West Bank said Welby’s statements were shaped by “domestic British ecumenical and political considerations” rather than recognition of “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in general, and of the Anglican Palestinian community in particular.” A Lambeth Palace spokesperson confirmed receiving the second letter and pointed to its response to the first letter, saying they remained “in solidarity with all the Christians of the Holy Land.”