Eleven-year old Shahad receives treatment at the LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem. AVH is the only hospital that offers pediatric hemodialysis for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. LWF/Ben Gray

Leaders of Lutheran, Catholic and Episcopal (Anglican) churches in the United States have jointly called on the US President to restore vital funding for four church-associated medical institutions in East Jerusalem. By halting this humanitarian assistance “lives are being threatened unnecessarily,” they say in a joint statement issued on Nov 1.

The five church leaders, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry (The Episcopal Church), Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), Bishop William O. Gafkjen (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and Bishop Joseph C. Bambera (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) say restoring the vital financial support “is a morally correct thing to do” so that patients can “continue to receive the treatment and care they need.”

One of the affected institutions is Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), which is run by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF). For decades, AVH, St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital and Princess Basma Rehabilitation Centre (Anglican /Episcopal), and St. Joseph’s Hospital (Catholic) had been assured of US humanitarian assistance. Recently, President Donald Trump’s administration decided to discontinue such support as part of a wider move to curtail funding towards Palestinians.

“These hospitals provide life-saving and, in some cases, unique forms of health care not available otherwise to Palestinians,” the church leaders say. They refer to kidney dialysis for children, state-of-the-art cancer care and pioneering rehabilitation centers for autism treatment as some of the critical services for the most vulnerable populations in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

The decision to discontinue funding “leaves the patients, the wider Palestinian community, and us disappointed and perplexed,” the church leaders add.

Read the full statement

Above text from the LWF story about the statement

Read ELCA news story (includes full statement)

ELCA Conference of Bishops statement on Augusta Victoria Hospital and East Jerusalem hospitals is available here and copied below.

In early September, members of the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were saddened and dismayed to hear reports that the U.S. government was planning to discontinue financial assistance to Augusta Victoria Hospital and five other East Jerusalem hospitals.

We appreciate and strongly affirm ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s Sept. 6 letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, calling for the “release of $25 million of U.S. FY 2017 funding that will help to ensure that there is no interruption in the treatment of Palestinians at the East Jerusalem hospitals, especially the most vulnerable cancer and kidney patients referred to Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) from Gaza and the West Bank.”

She noted that, as an institution owned and operated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), “Augusta Victoria Hospital is able to operate because of the support of LWF member churches, like the ELCA, and long-standing partnerships with countries like the United States. In the last decade the U.S. government, through USAID, has invested nearly $10 million in AVH to bolster its capacity as a cancer center. In addition, the U.S. government has provided over many 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.”

Eaton stressed the urgency of U.S. government action, saying: “The delay in the disbursement of the 2017 funding for the East Jerusalem hospitals is contributing to an acute and severe cash-flow crisis for AVH and the other hospitals,” and that immediate release of the funds is necessary “so that AVH can make payments to pharmaceutical suppliers of cancer medications, pay staff and avoid any interruption in the treatment of patients.”

In the past several weeks, neither the LWF nor the ELCA have received any official announcement about the status of this funding and, therefore, we appeal to President Donald Trump to instruct the U.S. Department of State to release this vital funding so these patients will receive the treatment and care they need.

On Sept 27 the ELCA joined other churches and church organizations in a letter to President Trump on UNRWA and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

“Mr. President, we ask that you restore U.S. funding for UNRWA to $365 million, as it has been in previous years. ​We also ask that all funds appropriated by Congress for the Palestinian territories be directed to its intended recipients. U.S. policy already ensures that these funds are channeled through credible humanitarian organization​s working in the Palestinian territories. Assisting these organizations to provide education and healthcare services is in the United States’ best interests in the region and a necessary step toward helping to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As faith leaders we are called to stand together with the vulnerable and oppressed in Israel/Palestine and throughout the world. We appeal to you to at this critical moment to reverse your decision and reaffirm U.S. humanitarian and economic assistance to the Palestinians.”

Read the full letter: Letter to President Trump on UNRWA and Humanitarian Aid 

Take action: Tell Congress cutting aid to Palestinians won’t bring peace. You can fill out this simple form and send a letter to your members of Congress.

Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, needs your urgent help. Owned and operated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), it is the main cancer and kidney center serving Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The U.S. Congress committed $25 million in assistance for East Jerusalem hospitals for 2017 – funding that is now under threat of being cut.

Call and Write: White House

Please call the White House hotline (202-456-1111) or write a comment in their comments submissions area to urge them to ensure there is no interruption of assistance for children and others in need of treatment for cancer and additional life-threatening diseases. The hotline is open M-F 9am-4pm ET.

Write: Congress

Write to your senators and representatives to urge them to contact the White House as well. It takes a couple minutes to send a note using our sample letter.

Share

Include this AVH Bulletin Insert in your congregation’s bulletin this Sunday. Print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and cut in half.

Pray

Prayer of Intercession: Look with mercy, gracious God, upon people everywhere who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death. We remember before you today the Palestinians who come for healing to East Jerusalem hospitals, including the Lutheran hospital on the Mount of Olives. As these hospitals struggle now with keeping their doors open, send your Holy Spirit upon us and all government authorities to provide the support needed for your healing work to continue in Jerusalem; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Give

The ELCA provides ongoing support to Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem through ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response. Give now and your gifts will be used over and above our church’s ongoing, annual support in order to prevent interruptions to the lifesaving, critical care provided to children and other patients.

Contributions to AVH will support the operating budget of the hospital, and thereby help to ensure that patients continue to receive treatment without interruption and continue to receive help with transportation to the hospital, accommodations (especially for Gaza cancer patients often needing to be in Jerusalem for many weeks), food, and psycho-social care.  Here is the link to a document with examples of what contributions to AVH will accomplish: Sponsorship Document

Learn

For more background information:

Questions and Answers Sheet About Augusta Victoria Hospital

A nurse at The Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem tends to Areen, a 10-month-old hemodialysis patient from Ramallah in the West Bank on Saturday morning, 8 September, 2018. AVH is the only hospital that offers pediatric hemodialysis for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Photo by Ben Gray / LWF

Media reports say the Trump Administration will not continue to fund the Lutheran World Federation-operated Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem.  Please call the White House hotline (202-456-1111) to urge them to ensure there is no interruption of assistance for children and others in need of treatment for cancer and additional life-threatening diseases.

Prayer of Intercession:

Look with mercy, gracious God, upon people everywhere who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death. We remember before you today the Palestinians who come for healing to East Jerusalem hospitals, including the Lutheran Hospital on the Mount of Olives. As these hospitals struggle now with keeping their doors open, send your Holy Spirit upon us and all government authorities to provide the support needed for your healing work to continue in Jerusalem; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

On August 15 the ELCA joined 15 other international faith-based, human rights, and civil society organizations in a joint statement on the planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, a Palestinian Bedouin community.

The statement explains that “The demolition order against Khan al-Ahmar is part of a broader, troubling trend in which the government of Israel is systematically demolishing structures and displacing Palestinians in Area C to allow for the expansion of Israeli settlements and, potentially, the full annexation of Area C.

Khan al-Ahmar is located in E1, a strategic area linking Jerusalem and the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Legal experts explain that demolishing Khan al-Ahmar paves the way for the Israeli government to link Ma’ale Adumim settlement directly to Jerusalem.”

The statement is calling for action: “We collectively call on our governments to take action to stop the precedent-setting demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and to denounce this potential war crime. We urge our governments to call on the Israeli government to reverse its decisions to demolish the village of Khan al-Ahmar and forcibly evict its residents before it is too late.”

The full Joint Statement on planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar can be found here.

In her Aug 6 letter to Bishop Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), Presiding Bishop Eaton joins Bishop Azar in calling on the Israeli Knesset to rescind the recently adopted law titled: “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People”.

Bishop Azar’s statement on the Jewish Nation-State law calls “on the many citizens of Israel and all people of goodwill to voice their objection to this law, and to stand for a future in which all the people in the land will enjoy equal rights, with equal responsibilities.”

In Bishop Eaton’s letter she writes “Like you, I am quite disturbed about several aspects of this new law. It excludes ethnic and religious groups that have been living in this land for centuries, restricts the international human right to self determination solely for Jews within Israel, determines the status of Jerusalem outside of any negotiation or international agreement, sets forth one language as that of a multilingual nation, and encourages Jewish settlement, which appears to be not restricted to within the de facto pre-1967 borders. A number of these provisions effectively codify a second-class status for all who are not Jews, yet who are citizens or residents of areas under the control of the State of Israel. This is a violation of fundamental democratic principles and internationally-recognized human rights.”

Bishop Eaton calls “upon my own elected officials to object to this law and its intent. I encourage the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and our ecumenical and inter-religious partners to continue together in the urgent pursuit of a future of peace with justice in Israel and Palestine.”

In a statement issued May 15, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) Bishop Sani-Ibrahim Azar condemns the killing of unarmed protesters in Gaza and asks  “people of faith around the world to join us in prayer, as well as in advocacy with your respective governments.”

Bishop Azar writes “Israel’s violent action against unarmed protestors at the Gaza border has resulted in the deaths of at least 60 human beings and more than 2000 injuries among whom are children and women. Our church, the ELCJHL, strongly condemns these killings and the unjustified and disproportionate use of force against unarmed civilians, as we condemn all violence.”

In response, ELCA presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton shared a pastoral message about the situation in Gaza.

Bishop Eaton writes:

“Like so many here in our country and around the world, I am appalled and saddened by yesterday’s escalation of Israeli military action against protestors in Gaza. Many reports indicate that at least 60 Palestinians, including six children, have died and more than 2,000 have been injured as a result of Israel’s disproportionate use of force. Our church will support a planned medical mission from The Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem to Gaza to assist the wounded.

I join Bishop Sami-Ibrahim Azar of our partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), who today said:

We mourn with the families of the dead and dying and pray for the recovery of the injured. We believe that violent actions against the Palestinian civilians will hinder the potential for peace and reconciliation efforts between Israel and Palestine and will only lead to more violence and bloodshed.

I endorse his call “upon the Israeli government to show restraint and to pursue negotiations with Palestinian leaders rather than choosing violent action against unarmed protestors.”

Yesterday’s events should also be seen in the context of the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. When that decision was announced late last year, I said:

This unilateral action would not support the cause of peace and a two-state solution but rather would unnecessarily create further tensions and possible violence that would make efforts to bring them back together for talks much more difficult.

I also support the ELCJHL’s long-standing position, affirmed by Bishop Azar today, that “any final status agreement will include Jerusalem as a shared city for Jews, Christians and Muslims with free access to holy sites for all and that it must serve as capital of both Palestine and Israel.”

Always, but especially in this time of deep distress, I urge us all to join his call to “continue to pray, advocate and faithfully work towards a peaceful and just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.””

Full text of ELCJHL Statement by Bishop Azar

Full text of ELCA Pastoral Message by Bishop Eaton

In joining in this ecumenical statement, the ELCA recalls a number of desired outcomes it has stated previously with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

1. Israelis and Palestinians co-existing in justice and peace, as citizens of viable and secure Israeli and Palestinian states.

In that regard, our Palestinian Lutheran partners have often said, the security of Israelis depends on the freedom of Palestinians and the freedom of Palestinians depends on the security of Israelis.

2. An end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

3. An end to terrorism and violence by individuals, groups, and states.

4. The establishment of and international support for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

5. An end to further expansion of the separation wall on Palestinian territory and the related appropriation of natural resources (e.g., water, farmland).

6. A cessation of all settlement activities and withdrawal from settlements on Palestinian territory to the 1967 boundaries.

7. A negotiated, final status agreement, which includes a “shared Jerusalem” that can serve as a capital to both Palestine and Israel, with access by and full rights in the city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Full text of the “70 Years On: Seeking a Hopeful Future in a Time of Yearning” statement.

Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land shares a statement concerning the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem:

“The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land stands in strong opposition to the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. This move is in violation of international law and reverses decades of foreign policy regarding Israel and Palestine. Such a unilateral decision undermines any potential for achieving just peace based on the UN Resolutions, and in fact has increased tensions and conflicts throughout the region.      

Jerusalem is a very special city, holy to three religions, and therefore it should be a place of peace, justice, and reconciliation. Our church continues to pray and advocate for a peaceful and just solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict in accordance with the International Law. We want to see two viable and sovereign independent states, living side by side with agreed upon borders, and with Jerusalem as a shared city for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. We insist that there should be freedom of access to holy sites for all.  

We are deeply concerned about what the opening of the US Embassy means for the future of this city and of the Holy Land. Nevertheless, we will continue to pray, to advocate, and to work for peace, justice, and reconciliation for all the people of Jerusalem. 

We call upon our partner churches to urge their governments to respect the International Law concerning Jerusalem.”

Find a PDF of the full statement from the ELCJHL on the US Embassy move here.