2 February 2027 – Elaine Green

Walking through antisemitism

How can we talk about the Holy Land now?

The events of recent years have made it increasingly difficult to talk about Israel and Palestine. How can we speak honestly about actions by the Israeli government which are widely criticised as breaches of international law, while recognising the very real and continuing threat of antisemitism? And how can we distinguish legitimate criticism of a state and its policies from hostility towards Jewish people?

Elaine Green will explore these difficult questions, drawing on her experience as a Quaker and on the Quaker commitment to listening, truth-telling and seeking peace. She will consider some of the ways in which language and assumptions can lead us either towards or away from constructive conversation, and ask whether it is possible to hold together a concern for the safety and dignity of Jewish people with a principled concern for the rights and dignity of Palestinians. The aim is not to provide easy answers, but to help us find a way of talking about the Holy Land that is both honest and respectful.

Elaine Green

Elaine Green has been a practising Quaker for 50 years and, initially alongside commuting to her paid work in London, she found herself being asked to serve in a variety of ways.

Elaine has served as Clerk (a position not dissimilar to chair) of the Quaker Committee for Christian & Interfaith Relations of Britain Yearly Meeting. In the recent past, Elaine has held positions within Britain as member of the Quaker World Relations Committee and representative on the Quaker Council for European Affairs (Brussels) and Quaker United Nations Organisation (Geneva). Closer to home, she has served as Clerk to Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting Trustees and the local Quaker Meeting representative (and Treasurer) of Bury St Edmunds & District Churches Together group.

In 2018, Elaine completed her Masters in Quakers in the Modern World and, on behalf of Quakers in Britain, has contributed a chapter on the theology of Quaker decision-making for a forthcoming publication by the Centre for Catholic Studies on Receptive Ecumenism for a Synodal Church.