Peace Not Walls

Articles, stories, photos and video about keeping faith in the Holy Land and creating a peaceful, just environment where all humans can flourish.

ELCA/Israeli Consulate meet to discuss Arab spring, recognition of ELCJHL, permits for Mt of Olives Housing Project

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Julie Brenton Rowe

The seal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest, both based here, met Feb. 29 to discuss one another’s understanding of the “Arab Spring” developments, especially concerns for minority religious groups in the Middle East, and the official Israeli-government position regarding the situation in Syria.

The request for the meeting came from Bahij Mansour, who directs the inter-religious affairs division of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mansour is the former Israeli ambassador to Angola and will soon become ambassador to Nigeria.

They also discussed recognition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and the issuance of permits for the Mt. of Olives Housing project, a key initiative by the Lutheran World Federation, the ELCJHL, the ELCA and other international partners to build 84 affordable housing units in East Jerusalem.

“The urgency of this meeting is that we believe that the government of Israel should give formal recognition to the ELCJHL” the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said in an interview.      He said the recognition would be “a tangible sign of Israel’s concern for and commitment to religious minorities, because Christians are a numerical minority among Palestinian people.”

“I felt it was very important today to hold the government of Israel to the promise made to the Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and to me when I served as president of The Lutheran World Federation. That recognition has not happened and is of deep concern,” said Hanson.

Mansour responded that he was supportive of the request for recognition, but that complex relationships within the present coalition government of Israel were delaying the request.

Hanson also cited that the Israeli government has yet to grant necessary permits to support the Mount of Olives Housing Project — an effort to build affordable homes on Lutheran World Federation-owned property on the Mount of Olives. Homes would be leased to Palestinian families and individuals, many of them Christians, which would enable them to maintain their Jerusalem residency and keep the right to work, live and move freely within the city.      Hanson said the granting of the housing permits can “become a concrete sign that even seemingly small steps can contribute towards a movement for peace.”

Read full ELCA news story

 

 

Bishop Hanson and other faith leaders visit White House officials to urge action on Israel and Palestine peace

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Julie Brenton Rowe

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, and other ecumenical faith leaders met with White House officials to express urgency and encourage action on the situation in Israel and Palestine.   According to Hanson, continued meetings with the Obama administration are “a priority because of our commitment to our companions in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. It is also carried out in the commitment we have made in the ELCA’s Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine.

“As we began our conversation with Mr. Ross, I expressed disappointment. We hear our Christian partners in the region question the United States’ commitment. They wonder why the U.S. has not been more vocal about the increased settlement construction. I told Mr. Ross that we repeatedly hear Palestinian churches say they see this as a moment of abdication by the U.S. administration.”

Hanson said afterwards that, “More progress must be made toward the goal of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Since our meeting a year ago, the prospects for peace seem to have diminished with the expansion of settlements and the absence of face-to-face negotiations.”

According to a Nov. 10 news release from Churches for Middle East Peace, the church leaders who attended the Nov. 8 meeting said they are disappointed with developments since their 2010 meeting at the White House. 

“The position of the Palestinian Christian community is precarious,” stated the release. “There are constant problems of obtaining visas for clergy who must travel outside Jerusalem and the West Bank. Restriction on movement between Bethlehem and Jerusalem is a problem that undermines Christian life. Church leaders are humiliated at check points.”

Ecumenical leaders at this year’s White House meeting included Hanson; Katharine Jefferts Shori, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church; Denis James Madden, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and chairman-elect of the Committee for Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Neil Irons, executive secretary of the Methodist Council of Bishops; and Sara Lisherness, director of compassion, peace and justice for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).
The meeting was arranged by Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 24 national church denominations and organizations working to encourage U.S. government policies that promote a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Read full ELCA story

Bishop Hanson to Obama: Don’t block Palestinian Statehood

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Julie Brenton Rowe

In a letter today, the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, urged President Obama not to block the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN.  US officials have vowed to use the US veto power to block the Palestinian initiative asking for full member status at the UN.  In preparation for a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a settlement freeze, one of the Palestinian demands for renewing negotiations, would not happen.  The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem recently issued a statement calling for two states having justice, peace and security, a shared Jerusalem and renewed negotiations to those ends.  They also urged restraint on both sides in anticipated protests after the bid is introduced.

Read Haaretz Article  | See more resources at Churches for Middle East Peace website

BBC Q and A about Palestinian statehood

ELCA Bishop Calls For ‘Solemn Remembrance’ in Response to Bin Laden Death

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Matthew Ley

In a May 2 statement  to ELCA members, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson urged remembrance of those who have died because of Bin Laden’s choices “of hatred and violence” and those who continue to mourn their loss.  He also reminded us of our Easter focus on God’s new life, love of neighbor and the restoration of human community as the Christian vocation in life.  Here is the full text of the statement:

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

The death of Osama bin Laden is an occasion for solemn remembrance. We remember the lives of all whose deaths resulted from his choosing hatred and violence. We stand with those who continue to mourn the death of loved ones while giving thanks for their lives, their love and their faith. We also continue to hold in prayer all whose service in the military, in government and in humanitarian and peacemaking activities contribute to a safer and more prosperous world.

At the same time we also recall who we are: people baptized into Christ, freed to serve our neighbors. We are people called as Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation with our neighbors, serving God’s work of restoring community. We engage our neighbors of other faiths, including our Muslim neighbors near and far, in respectful, searching dialogue and shared commitment to build a world that reflects God’s will for peace with justice. We pray for our neighbors, even those who are our enemies.

Most of all, in these 50 days of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, joy finds its fullest and deepest expression not over a human death but in God’s promise to unite all things in heaven and on earth, to reconcile the human family and to bring God’s reign of peace. Confident in what God has promised, we witness our resolve against any act of violence in the name of religion and our renewed commitment of service to the neighbors and world God so deeply loves.

In God’s grace,

Mark S. Hanson

Questions: What impact do you see this situation having on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and within the wider region of the Middle East? How will it affect the United State’s role and image in the peace process?

ELCA Presiding Bishop Joins Interfaith Call for Middle East Peace

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Julie Brenton Rowe

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and 32 Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, said in a letter that a new peace initiative by former Israeli government, intelligence and security officials offers a useful sign for Middle East peace. The leaders, writing as the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI), sent the letter to President Obama April 14.

Speaking of the latest Israeli initiative, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative and the Geneva Accord, the leaders said:  “The main elements of these peace initiatives reflect years of official and informal, unofficial negotiations,” the religious leaders wrote. They wrote that “the peace initiatives include creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, based on the 1967 borders with possible limited land swaps as mutually agreed; a fair negotiated resolution of the issue of refugees that does not threaten the demography of Israel; the sharing of Jerusalem by Israel and the Palestinian state with both having their capitals in the city; and Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement with Syria.”

NILI is an initiative composed of a broad range of Jewish, Christian and Muslim national organizations in support of a common, substantive message for Middle East peace.  It’s focus is on building support for strong U.S. leadership for a two-state solution to the conflict that brings security and recognition to Israel and establishes a viable and independent state for the Palestinians—two states living side by side in peace and security—with peace agreements between Israel and all her Arab neighbors.