President Obama to visit Israel and Palestine next month- take action to help shape his itinerary
Ask President Obama to meet with religious leaders when he visits the Middle East next month; call for a halt to settlement activity; ask his delegation to visit Augusta Victoria Hospital President Obama is scheduled to visit Israel, Palestine and...
Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land Textbook Study shows Israeli and Palestinian textbooks talk little about the other
On Monday, a team of researchers presented the results of a three-year study that tried to objectively look at bias in Israeli and Palestinian textbooks directed against “the other.” The results and the responses they engendered were mixed, leaving the...
UN Independent Committee Releases Report on Settlements: Israel must cease all settlement activities
The report on the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people has been released by the UN international fact-finding mission, concluding that the settlements violate a “multitude” of human...
Take Action — Plan a Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East
We are reinvigorating the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East, in response to a call from the ACT Palestine Forum. This global ecumenical prayer vigil began on Dec. 24, 2012, and will continue across the globe, on the 24th...
Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders call for renewed peace process for Palestinians and Israelis
A group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders, making up the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for peace in the Middle East, are calling for a renewed effort to restart the dormant peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Bishop Mark S....
Obama: “Israel doesn’t know what its best interests are”
Following the UN vote to upgrade Palestine’s status to non-member state last fall, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel’s intent to develop E-1, a crucial area between Jerusalem and Jericho that is Palestinian land and would, if developed into Israeli settlements, virtually...
New Report by OCHA on Conditions for Palestinians in Jerusalem
A UN report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was released in December that focuses on key humanitarian issues in Jerusalem, including: – Around 293,000 Palestinians currently reside in East Jerusalem, in addition to 200,000 Israeli settlers...
Bishop Younan’s Video Christmas Greeting
ELCJHL Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation, gives a Christmas video greeting from Jerusalem: Don’t forget the simulcast Christmas service between Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and the National Cathedral in Washington, to be broadcast at 10...
New OCHA report on illegal Israeli settlement impact on Palestinians
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA) has released a new report on the humanitarian impact of the Israeli settlement policy on Palestinians. Among its findings: Key Facts: Since 1967, Israel...
LWF President’s Christmas Message
Lutheran World Federation President Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, released his Christmas message this week, urging people to think of Christmas as a time to remember the refugees among us, even...