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Christian Zionism and religious, political and economic fundamentalisms
A Palestinian-Latin American Conversation
November 4-10, 2022
Final document

Representatives from Palestine, nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (Abya Yala) countries, twenty universities and academic institutions from four continents, several church bodies from across the globe convened in Santiago de Chile from Nov 4-10, 2022 to participate in a conference addressing the theme of Christian Zionism and religious, political and economic fundamentalisms. Leaders of the indigenous Mapuche community offered a spiritual welcoming ceremony to open the conference. 
Participants acknowledged that Christian Zionism is no longer a phenomenon of the Global North, as it has increasingly spread across the Global South, as a result of several expressions of coloniality and Anglo-Saxon empire. The conference looked at Christian Zionism from a geo-political perspective as a Christian lobby in support of Israel settler colonialism of Palestinian land and people, weaponizing biblical texts and theological constructs. Christian Zionist ideas are widespread in all Latin American countries combined with far-right political and theocratic movements and systems of exclusion. Scholars of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith were in agreement to oppose Zionism embraced by Christians, Jews and Muslims as well as opposing the equation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Recognizing the pervasiveness of global Apartheid, participants re-affirmed their commitment to resist all forms of racism and exclusion.
The presentations focused on how Israel settler colonialism swarms all aspects of Palestinian lives imposing a system and laws of Apartheid through dispossession of land and resources, demographic engineering, and military occupation. It became clear how the State of Israel is not only supporting the spread of Christian Zionist ideologies, but is increasingly exporting military equipment and training, surveillance technology in Latin America and beyond. 
Participants discussed strategies to address the challenge of Christian Zionism, settler colonialism and militarization and formulated a set of recommendations for the work ahead, including:
- Set up geopolitical South-to-South interdisciplinary decolonial encounters and interfaith and intersectional solidarity alliances, involving religious leaders and theologians, young people, emerging activists, feminists, artists and indigenous people
- Develop common Latin American and Palestinian networks and strategies
- Use the 75th Nakba commemoration to highlight the ongoing settler colonial project in Palestine and to engage in effective action. In line with current world practice, impose political, economic and cultural sanctions on countries exercising illegal occupation  
- Translate Palestinian and Latin American theological and academic work in respective languages and make them accessible as tools to educate communities in both contexts. 
- Encourage decolonial and socially responsible tourism to Palestine
The conference ended with a cultural night at the Club Palestino in honor of the fact that Chile hosts the largest Palestinian diaspora in Latin America.