Eight global Quaker organizations discern Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

PHILADELPHIA (July 28, 2025) – Quaker organizations based in the U.S., Britain, Norway, Canada, Europe, and around the world have issued a joint statement asserting their belief that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and calling for action. This comes as Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with as many as 300,000 dead from direct and indirect impacts of bombings, deliberately imposed starvation, the destruction of medical facilities, and the complete devastation of housing and infrastructure.

The statement reads in part: “After deep communal and prayerful discernment, informed by our direct witness in Palestine/Israel and our readings of the positions of international human rights organizations, international and Israeli genocide scholars, and experts on the UN Genocide Convention (1948), we are exercising our religious conviction to speak the truth as we see it. We believe with moral clarity, and in line with the definition of the crime of genocide, that the current actions in Gaza perpetrated by the Israeli government, constitute genocide.”

The statement calls for:

1. An immediate, permanent ceasefire and full humanitarian access;
2. The application of robust, targeted, and timebound sanctions, including a comprehensive arms embargo, aimed at ending Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the related system of apartheid;
3. Respect for international law and accountability;
4. Protection of free speech and the right to protest;
5. Dismantling of oppression and establishing a just and permanent peace.

Signatories include American Friends Service Committee, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Quakers in Britain/ Quaker Peace and Social Witness, Quaker Council on European Affairs, Quaker Service Norway, and the Quaker United Nations Office. They are now inviting Quaker Meetings to discuss, discern, and endorse the statement.

A pdf of the full statement is available here. 

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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine Light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.