Decolonising faith: Palestinian Liberation Theology in the context of settler-colonialism

Emile Badarin

Third World Quarterly, 2025, vol. 46, issue 7, 721-736

Abstract: This article explores the decolonial potential of the Palestinian Liberation Theology (PLT). It does so by examining the PLT’s attempt at establishing a decolonial Indigenous theology in pursuit of inclusive justice and liberation for both the colonised and the coloniser. While PLT offers a compelling spiritual resistance and contextual hermeneutics contesting Western and Zionist colonial theology, it suffers from inconsistencies. Specifically, the article argues that PLT’s reliance on the occupation paradigm and progress narrative has led to an incoherent assessment of Israeli violence within the broader settler-colonial context. These assumptions have limited PLT’s vision, aligning it with the dominant colonial discourse and solutions, such as the partition of Palestine in favour of settlers. As a result, PLT’s conclusions appear disconnected from its otherwise compelling theological framework. However, a recent shift in PLT’s discourse and literature that engages theological analysis with the paradigm of settler-colonial marks a crucial development, offering new space for a more critical decolonial theology and practice in Palestine and beyond.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2025.2511863

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