On January 28, 2020 President Trump presented his administration’s “Peace to Prosperity” proposal.

Here is a brief description (from the Washington Post ):

“The Trump administration’s now-published “vision for peace,” the culmination of what the president said was “a long and very arduous process,” outlines a scenario in which Israel maintains sovereignty west of the Jordan river, a capital in an undivided Jerusalem, and control over Jewish enclaves and settlements scattered through the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinians, meanwhile, get … not much. In Trump’s scheme, backed by Netanyahu, they would give up the claims of Palestinian refugees and accept a conditions-based path to statehood in a patchwork of territory carved up by Israeli roads and settlements. Trump’s plan cedes security control of the eastern border with Jordan wholly to Israel, calls for the dismantling of Palestinian militant groups and allots a Palestinian capital on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem — rather than in East Jerusalem proper, as envisioned by the international community and successive U.S. administrations.”

ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton issued a statement on January 28, 2020 in response, saying:

“I am very dismayed and disturbed by President Trump’s announcement of a “peace plan” that, I fear, will bring greater insecurity for Israelis and Palestinians instead of peace.

Our church has long held that any successful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on negotiation between the parties. Unfortunately, this “plan” has involved only one party. A plan made for a people without consulting that people will not bring peace. It also seeks to remove from the table many of the final status issues by effectively giving a green light to Israel to further entrench the occupation, rather than end it, – a policy we have advocated for years…

Therefore, I call upon President Trump to develop a different plan that would involve all parties, and to pursue efforts that would adhere to international law and human rights conventions. This plan should ensure the protection and preservation of internationally recognized human rights and realize, for Palestinians and for Israelis, two viable, secure states living side by side in peace.”

Bishop Sani-Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) released a statement on 29 January calling on partner churches to urge their governments to take specific action.

“Peace can never be unilaterally imposed,” write Lutheran World Federation (LWF) president Archbishop Panti Filibus Musa, and LWF General Secretary Rev Dr Martin Junge in a statement released on 29 January. “The plan ignores fundamental principles of international law and human rights conventions, as well as numerous UN General Assembly and UN Security Council resolutions, setting a dangerous precedent for the future.”

The statement continues: “The LWF calls upon the international community

• to renew their commitment to international law and multilateral cooperation and negotiation, as the only way to safeguard security and ensure lasting peace,
• to take immediate actions to reduce the humanitarian suffering in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including encouraging Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, ensuring sufficient funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and increasing its support for the East Jerusalem hospitals and other humanitarian programs given the severe cuts in U.S. funding for the West Bank and Gaza.”

The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) also released a statement on the US plan on January 29, stating: “US recognition of Israeli moves toward unilateral annexation of occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a breach of international law, which obliges states not to recognise, aid, or assist Israel’s international wrongful actions. Annexing parts of the West Bank will further exacerbate the risk of forcible transfer of Palestinian families and communities, entrench poverty, and hamper the provision of essential humanitarian assistance. Annexation endorsed by the US plan not only violates Israel’s responsibilities as an Occupying Power under international humanitarian Law, it also denies Palestinians their right to self-determination, condemning them to enduring discrimination and dependency.”

The statement goes on to say:

“A genuine, viable, and just peace plan must adhere to international law, uphold equality, and ensure self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis. The US ‘Deal of the Century’ fails to meet these basic tenets. We urge Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work together on a plan that can deliver a just and durable peace.
We call on the international community, including the EU, its member states, and other countries to:

• Reject the inequitable US proposition and urgently advance an alternative peace plan, based on human rights, international law, and realisation of self-determination for all peoples.
• Take decisive action, including employing all available lawful countermeasures to uphold accountability, in order to halt further annexation and severance of Palestinian territorial integrity, and ensure rapid reversal of those measures announced or already implemented.”

Nine NGOs, including the Lutheran World Federation, issued a statement warning that Trump’s Middle East peace plan risks exacerbating instability and rights violations:

“As humanitarian, development, and religious organizations serving Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, we fear the US Middle East Plan may spark an escalation in violence and entrench violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. We urge the international community to pursue a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in line with human rights and international law that guarantees safety for all of the region’s people.

The situation facing Palestinians is already critical. Nearly half of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza need humanitarian assistance. More than two thirds of Gaza’s population is food insecure and 90 percent lack access to clean water through the public water network. The health system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse and unemployment levels are unsustainable yet continue to increase – especially among women and youth. Any path forward must address this urgent and stark reality.”

In this video high school students share about their experience learning at the Lutheran Schools in the Holy Land. The 4 ELCJHL schools (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land) start with preschool and continue to Grade 12 with co-educational classrooms and curriculum designed to support inquiry, creativity, leadership with inter-faith dialog and peace resolution.

Learn more about how to support the schools here.

“Born in Nazareth, Galilee, Rev. Dr Saïd Ailabouni moved to the US at the age of 19 to become a physician. But he was so angry at God that he went to study theology instead, becoming a Lutheran pastor. Now he is leading the Middle East & Europe desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since leaving his hometown 50 years ago, he visits his Palestinian family regularly. As the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches, Ailabouni agreed to share some of his lifetime observations with the Word Council of Churches.”

Read the article from the World Council of Churches here.

On August 6, 2019, at the ELCA’s 2019 Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, the assembly approved by 96% (YES-829; NO-33) four Assembly Actions related to Israel and Palestine (the memorials were presented en bloc with other memorials). The Assembly Actions deal with the human rights social investment screen, the detention of Palestinian children by Israel, funding for Augusta Victoria Hospital, and continuing to listen to various perspectives on the conflict. The Assembly Actions include urgent requests for advocacy related to the Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital and the military detention of Palestinian children by Israel. The Peace Not Walls team will continue to provide resources for education and advocacy related to both.

The Assembly Action titled “Category B1: Just Peace” “commend[s] and encourage[s] Portico Benefit Services to continue its implementation of the human rights social criteria investment screen as it relates to investments in Israel and Palestine.” This relates to the Churchwide Assembly Action in 2016 which directed “the ELCA’s Corporate Social Responsibility review team to develop a human rights social criteria investment screen based on the social teachings of this church and, in the case of Israel and Palestine, specifically based on the concerns raised in the ELCA Middle East Strategy; …” [CA16.06.31].

The Assembly Action acknowledges the Human Rights social message that was adopted in November 2017 and the ELCA Human Rights screen that was approved by the Portico Benefit Services’ board of trustees in August 2018. The screen states, “The ELCA recommends not investing in corporations benefiting from the most egregious denial of the rights of humans as political and civic beings to have equal access and participation in legal and political decisions affecting them.” Implementation of the screen for Social Purpose investment portfolios began in April 2019.

The Assembly Action titled “Category B2: Palestine (No Way to Treat a Child)” urges the ELCA to advocate to “ensure that U.S. taxpayer funds not support military detention, interrogation, abuse or ill-treatment of Palestinian children” and create resources so congregations can “learn more about the lives of Palestinian children and how Israel is spending U.S. military assistance to detain Palestinian children.”

In the Israeli-controlled occupied Palestinian territories (East Jerusalem and the West Bank), Israeli security forces utilize a military detention system to address alleged violations of the military law it has imposed. Nearly half of the Palestinian population in the West Bank is under the age of 18, but no distinction is made in how children are treated despite Israel being a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem have documented evidence of how children are treated; for example, being hand-tied, blindfolded, removed from their homes in the middle of the night, abused verbally, intimidated and/or forced to sign statements in Hebrew (of which few have knowledge), etc.

Further background information and resources will be provided by Peace Not Walls in the coming months.

The Assembly Action titled “Category B3: Augusta Victoria Hospital” requests the ELCA to advocate for “all relevant legislators to release FY2018 funding intended by Congress to support the East Jerusalem hospitals in FY2018, and continue funding at previous levels until the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is resolved.” It also requests the ELCA to advocate for the “applicable legislators to restore FY 2018 funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and beyond, and continue funding at previous levels until the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is resolved.”

Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), owned and operated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), is a center of medical excellence in East Jerusalem, serving the five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. As one of the six hospitals in the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network, AVH offers specialized care not available in other hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, including radiation therapy for cancer patients and pediatric hemodialysis.

In the last decade the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), invested nearly $10 million in AVH to bolster its capacity as a cancer center. In addition, the U.S. government provided, over several years, tens of millions of dollars in aid to help cover the costs of the cancer patients and others referred to AVH and the other East Jerusalem hospitals by the Palestinian Authority.

AVH and the five other East Jerusalem hospitals rely on funding each year from the U.S. and the European Union (EU) to cover approximately half of the costs of patients referred to these hospitals by the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. Congress approved USD 25 million for the financial years 2017 and 2018 to be paid to the PA to help cover the bills of the West Bank and Gaza patients that are treated in the East Jerusalem hospitals.

In 2018, the Administration cut the FY 2017 funding to the East Jerusalem hospitals, making it all the more urgent in the short-term to encourage the Administration to release the FY 2018 funding. Further background information can be found here. Take action today by sending a letter to your members of Congress using our sample letter found here.

The Assembly Action titled “Category B4: Engagement in the Holy Land” reaffirmed “that the ELCA, in its various expressions, continue to listen to the voices of persons holding various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The ELCA’s 2005 Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine includes, in its section on awareness building, a call “to listen to the voices of Palestinians and Israelis through visits to the region in coordination with local partners.”

It is important to recall some additional excerpts from the strategy relevant to the memorials under discussion.

• Activities concerning building awareness and relationships will be “undertaken in close collaboration and cooperation with other churches and ecumenical and interfaith partners who share a similar commitment to peace in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
• “The ELCA also has called upon its members to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in nonviolent efforts to end the occupation.”
• The strategy’s “assumptions [that] undergird the ELCA’s commitment to intensify its work for peace with justice in Israel and Palestine” include:
• “The relationship of the ELCA with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land is a primary relationship that will shape the ELCA effort, in tandem with ministries of the Lutheran World Federation, ecumenical partners, and the work of Jews and Israelis who share the goal of peace with justice.”
• This is reinforced by commitment six in the recommended proposed “A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment,” which reads: “The ELCA will explore and encourage inter-religious friendship, accompaniment, and partnership with all who seek justice, peace, human wholeness, and the well-being of creation [ELCA Constitution, Chapter 4.03.f].”

Also, from the strategy:

• “Balance. Effective ELCA action will be balanced in terms of its care for all parties in the conflict, but must address forthrightly imbalances of power as they play out in the lives of people in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
• Among the foreseen Interfaith Outcomes, one is: “Increased cooperation and collaboration between the ELCA and Jewish groups in the U.S.—and with groups within Israel—that seek peace with justice in Israel and Palestine.”

The “Peace Not Walls” campaign staff have been carrying these (as well as other) aspects of the churchwide strategy as, in the context of accompaniment, it engages with persons who hold a range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Text of Assembly Actions

Below is the text of the Assembly Actions as they were presented in the Report of the Memorials Committee (the official text of the Assembly Actions will be provided at a later date). You can find the original language of the memorials in the Report of the Memorials Committee starting on page 26.

Category B1: Just Peace

To acknowledge the adoption of the human rights social message [CC17.11.26] and the human rights social criteria investment screen [CC18.04.12i] developed in part to address concerns related to investments; and

To commend and encourage Portico Benefit Services to continue its implementation of the human rights social criteria investment screen as it relates to investments in Israel and Palestine.

Category B2: Palestine (No Way to Treat a Child)

To urge ELCA members and the presiding bishop to correspond with the U.S. president, the U.S. Department of State and members of Congress, asking them to:

1. a) urge the State of Israel to guarantee basic due process rights in the Israeli military court system; respect the absolute prohibition against torture and ill-treatment in accordance with international law; and carry out its operations and procedures, from the moment of arrest, in accordance with international juvenile justice standards; and
2. b) fully implement and enforce established law, including the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, by monitoring and tracking gross human rights violations committed by Israeli armed forces and police and ensuring that the U.S. military and financial assistance is provided to the government of Israel in accordance with internationally recognized human rights standards;

To request that the “Peace Not Walls” campaign create a resource enabling congregations to learn more about the lives of Palestinian children and how Israel is spending U.S. military assistance to detain Palestinian children; and

To urge the presiding bishop and the bishops and staff of every ELCA synod to advocate with federal elected officials, encouraging them to:

1. a) ensure that U.S. taxpayer funds not support military detention, interrogation, abuse or ill-treatment of Palestinian children, and
2. b) support legislation, such as H.R. 2407 (116th Congress), that prohibits U.S. foreign aid to be used in ways that violate human rights for Palestinian children.

Category B3: Augusta Victoria Hospital

To request the presiding bishop, ELCA synods, and congregations to petition the U.S. president and all relevant legislators to release FY2018 funding intended by Congress to support the East Jerusalem hospitals in FY2018, and continue funding at previous levels until the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is resolved;

To request the presiding bishop, ELCA synods, and congregations to petition the U.S. president and all applicable legislators to restore FY 2018 funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and beyond, and continue funding at previous levels until the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is resolved; and

To request the presiding bishop, ELCA synods, and congregations to petition the U.S. president and all relevant legislators to amend the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 in order to remove legislative barriers to future funding of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Category B4: Engagement in the Holy Land

To reaffirm that the ELCA, in its various expressions, continue to listen to the voices of persons holding various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem shared an Easter message: read it here.

On March 28, 2019 the ELCA joined other US churches and Christian organizations in a statement rejecting President Trump’s recognition of Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights. Read the full statement here.

On March 25, 2019 the ELCA joined other churches and church organizations in a letter to Congress advocating for the disbursement of funds appropriated for UNRWA and bilateral ESF assistance to the West Bank and Gaza and the inclusion of this funding in the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations process. Read the full letter here.

In April of 2018, the ELCA Church Council approved a Human Rights social criteria investment screen. Following this, at its August board meeting, Portico’s Board of Trustees approved the ELCA Human Rights screen for future use in its Social Purpose investment portfolios. Currently Portico is examining possibilities for implementing the screen taking into account both the need to ensure implementation is aligned with the ELCA screen, but also the need to consider the impact of all eight ELCA screens on the risk and return objectives of the social purpose portfolios. Consistent with the language of the screen, Portico’s approach will focus on disputed or occupied territories, including among others, those territories in the Israel/Palestine region. Portico hopes to implement human rights screening in the first half of 2019 and will continue to work closely with the ELCA Corporate Social Responsibility review team as it considers options for implementing the new screen. Additional updates and details on human rights screening at Portico will be provided on Portico’s website during the first half of 2019.  If you have any questions about the implementation of the human rights social criteria investment screen you may email peacenotwalls@elca.org.

Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) shares a message of joy from Jerusalem.

Read the full message here.

Bethlehem Simulcast Service