The Pacific Church Group Urges Review of Israel's Pacific Islands Forum Role and Human Rights Standing in West Papua

SUVA — The Pacific's leading ecumenical organization, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), is calling for an urgent review of Israel's newly established partnership as a dialogue partner with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The PCC advocates for all engagement with Israel to be suspended until it complies with International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings and United Nations (UN) resolutions.

This call follows an announcement last week that Israel had been accepted as a second-tier PIF partner. PCC General Secretary Reverend James Bhagwan expressed deep concern over the sudden development, noting that PIF had yet to release an official statement regarding the arrangement. He emphasized that Pacific leaders must consult local communities before making significant decisions on their behalf.

Importance of Consistent Standards, Justice, and Human Rights

Reverend Bhagwan stressed that the Pacific region must maintain consistent and principled standards in its international relationships. The region's history of colonization, nuclear testing, and environmental damage serves as a moral baseline for standing up for global justice.

“We cannot invoke the ICJ for our islands while ignoring the fact that the ICJ stated in 2024 that Israel must end its occupation of Palestinian territory as soon as possible,” Bhagwan stated. He highlighted that turning a blind eye to the suffering of any community directly violates core Pacific values of solidarity.

West Papuan Civil Society Calls for UN and Pacific Access to Region

Upholding Self-Determination and Human Rights Access in West Papua

Beyond the situation in Palestine, the PCC alongside the West Papua Civil Society Coalition—including ELSHAM Papua, PAHAM Papua, and KontraS Papua—urged regional leaders to remain steadfast in supporting the right to self-determination for territories across the Pacific that have yet to achieve self-governance. The coalition highlighted the escalating humanitarian crisis in West Papua, where ongoing military operations and armed conflict have forcibly displaced over 127,031 civilians (IDPs) since 2018. Furthermore, the aggressive expansion of National Strategic Projects (PSN) and extractive investments poses a severe threat to the environment and deprives Indigenous Papuans of their ancestral land rights.

Papuan civil society strongly denounced the government's double standards regarding international human rights, pointing out the hypocrisy of supporting Palestinian freedom while ignoring domestic abuses in West Papua. Consequently, the PCC and coalition demand that Indonesia honor the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Caucus decisions and the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders' Communiqué by granting unimpeded access for a fact-finding mission by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to West Papua.

The PCC clarified that its critical stance is not directed toward Jewish people or genuine regional needs for climate adaptation and food security, but rather represents a stand against racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and human rights violations wherever they occur.

Credits & Source Attribution:

• Original Article Title: 'Test of regionalism': Pacific church group calls for review of Israel's Pacific Islands Forum role

• Author: PACNEWS

• Original Publisher: PNG Bulletin

• Original Publication Date: 26 October 2026

• Original URL: Read Original News Item on PNG Bulletin

Media & Photo Credits:

Reverend James Bhagwan Photo: https://pacificconferenceofchurches.org/about-us/our-team/