Church Leader Apologizes After Exhibition Honoring Hamas Terrorists is Shut Down

Leaders of the Church of England have closed a memorial exhibition in Gaza after discovering it included tributes to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists. The Bishop of Leeds took action after local Jewish leaders presented a dossier indicating that a tapestry displayed at the event contained the names of at least 25 individuals identified as terrorists from these groups.

These groups were involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people and the abduction of 250 hostages. Following the exhibition's closure, Canon Paul Maybury, the rector of Leeds Minster, issued a statement condemning all violence, particularly the killing of civilians and hostage-taking by Hamas on October 7.

However, reports emerged that Canon Maybury told Jewish protesters at the exhibition that "history is complex" when asked to denounce the terrorist actions. A video appears to show him making these remarks when specifically questioned about the abduction and subsequent deaths of four-year-old Ariel Bibas, his nine-month-old brother Kfir, and their mother Shiri, 32, who were taken from their home in southern Israel and later died in Hamas captivity.

When pressed further on the issue, Canon Maybury reportedly responded with "no comment" and walked away. His statements have drawn condemnation from Jewish leaders and relatives of victims from the October 7 attacks.

The exhibition, titled "Stitch Their Names Together," featured approximately 90 panels with 16,800 names, reportedly sourced from the Hamas-run health ministry's list of deceased individuals in Gaza. Researchers from the Leeds Jewish Representative Council (LJRC) identified at least 25 names on the tapestry belonging to members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Among those identified was Hatem Suleiman Abu Sharia, 28, linked to the Mujahideen Brigades, a smaller militant group in Gaza. Abu Sharia, killed in May 2024, was described as a senior figure in the group's military council and had been released from Israeli prison months before the October 7 attacks. Other names included Salah Shaaban Ismail, 50, who led Islamic Jihad’s sniper unit and was hailed as a "martyr commander," and Hamdi Saeed Yousef Toulan, 39, a Hamas field commander killed in December 2024.

The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Reverend Dr Toby Howarth, ordered the exhibition's closure after the LJRC submitted its findings. Antisemitism campaign group Stop The Hate stated that the decision to host an exhibition honoring Hamas terrorists was a "betrayal of the Church's own values" and called the "complex history" remark "beyond belief."

The Jewish Leadership Council acknowledged the closure but raised questions about the vetting process, warning that the incident could damage relations between Christian and Jewish communities in the UK amid rising antisemitism.