Peace Not Walls

Peace Not Walls

Below is the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East statement welcoming the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, with endorsements by thirty-three national Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders.

August 14, 2014

Jewish, Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders Welcome Ceasefire;

Call Urgently for Renewed Negotiations for a Two-State Peace Agreement

As leaders of American Jewish, Christian, and Muslim national religious organizations, united in the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI), we welcome the ceasefire agreement of Israel and Hamas, and the negotiations to make it permanent. We were appalled by the kidnappings and murders of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers. We believe the loss of even one human life is a tragedy that grieves God. In the recent weeks of war between Hamas and Israel, we mourn the innocent civilians killed. We offer our prayers as well for the wounded and for the families of all the victims of violence.

This tragic escalation of violence demonstrates once again that there is no such thing as a stable status-quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ideas being promoted in some circles for returning to the previous status quo or managing the conflict are dangerous. Acknowledging the recent failed negotiations, we call on Israeli and Palestinian political leaders to renew negotiations to achieve a two-state peace agreement, the only realistic resolution of the conflict in which both people can live in peace, security, and mutual recognition. The crucial choice leaders on both sides face now is between negotiating a two-state peace agreement with a new sense of urgency or condemning Palestinian and Israeli children and youth to continued conflict — more violence, more suffering, and more deaths.

We strongly supported Secretary of State Kerry’s efforts to achieve a negotiated peace agreement, and urge the United States to renew efforts to reach a two-state agreement as soon as possible. Recalling President Obama’s words in Jerusalem, “Peace is necessary…peace is also just…and peace is possible,” we believe the outline of a possible two-state agreement is widely known, including ideas drawn from previous official and informal negotiations for fair, realistic compromises. While none of the previous plans present a complete outline, the Taba Agreement (2000), the Arab Peace Initiative (2002), People’s Voice Initiative (2003), Geneva Accord (2003), and the (unofficial) Israeli Peace Initiative (2011) are sources for principled and practical ideas to help resolve all the issues, including borders and security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem.

It is more urgent than ever that the United States and the international community press for a two-state peace agreement. While appreciating that maintaining a sustainable ceasefire is now the priority, we would welcome an early opportunity to meet with Secretary of State Kerry to discuss how we can assist with renewed U.S. efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state peace agreement. We pledge to mobilize active public support from members of synagogues, churches and mosques across the country for active, fair and determined U.S. leadership for peace.

List of Endorsers follows.

NILI Statement Welcoming the Ceasefire

In Israel and Gaza – August 2014

List of Endorsers

Christian Leaders:

Bishop Richard E. Pates, Chairman, USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace

Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington

Archbishop Vicken Aykasian, Director, Ecumenical Affairs, Armenian Orthodox Church in America

Archimandrite Nathanael Symeonides, Ecumenical Officer, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Jim Winkler, President/General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Christ USA

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr., President, Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church

Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Reverend Geoffrey Black, General Minister & President, United Church of Christ

Reverend Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister, President, Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ)

Reverend Leighton Ford, President, Leighton Ford Ministries, Board Member, World Vision US

David Neff, former Editorial Vice-President, Christianity Today

John M. Buchanan, Editor and Publisher, Christian Century

Jewish Leaders:

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union of Reform Judaism

Rabbi Rick Block, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Steven A. Fox, Chief Executive Officer, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Ph.D. Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, American Jewish University

Rabbi Burt Visotzky, Jewish Theological Seminary

Rabbi Jason Klein, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Amy Small, Past President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, Past President, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Peter Knobel, Past President, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Paul Menitoff, Executive Vice President Emeritus, Central Conference of American Rabbis

Rabbi Alvin M. Sugarman, Rabbi Emeritus, The Temple, Atlanta Georgia

Muslim Leaders:

Imam Mohammed Magid, President, Islamic Society of North America

Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, National Director, Islamic Society of North America

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder of the ASMA Society and Chairman of the Cordoba Initiative

Dawud Assad, President Emeritus, Council of Mosques, USA

Imam Yahya Hendi, Founder and President, Clergy Beyond Borders

Eide Alawan, Interfaith Office for Outreach, Islamic Center of America

Iftekhar A. Hai, Founding Director, United Muslims of America Interfaith Alliance

*Organizations for Identification Only

For More Information Contact: Ron Young (425) 327-7545  (usicpme@aol.com)

Peace Not Walls

In a 23 July joint statement by Lutheran World Federation President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan and General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, the global Lutheran communion reiterated its call on all parties for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and expressed its “deepest concern and dismay” over the flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law and other binding legal instruments, as fatalities from the Israeli and Palestinian conflict have now surpassed 1,422 Palestinians, 56 Israeli soldiers, and three Israeli civilians (latest count according to the Washington Post).

“The LWF states with all firmness: conflicts and wars do not, and cannot provide any excuse to cease observing international obligations. As we have seen in the past, tampering with these obligations only opens the floodgates for atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Younan and Junge emphasized.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to escalate the Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospitaldispatched a medical team to Gaza on Friday, August 1, 2014.

Find below the LWF Statement on Gaza, ELCA presiding Bishop Eaton’s letter to Bishop Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), and Bishop Younan’s response to Bishop Eaton.

The Lutheran World Federation Statement on Violence in Gaza (July 23, 2014)

LWF Press Release: Abide by International Law in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (July 23, 2014)

Bishop Eaton’s Letter to Bishop Younan (July 17, 2014)

ELCA Press Release: ELCA presiding bishop joins call for peace in the Holy Land (July 17, 2014)

Bishop Younan Responds to Bishop’s Eaton’s Letter to ELCJHL on Gaza Ceasefire (July 29, 2014)

Take Action here by writing to your representatives:

ELCA Peace Not Walls Action Alert: Call on Congress: Stop Gaza Assault

During the past two weeks, two events have caught the attention of the international community: the shooting deaths of two teenage protesters in Beitunia and the destruction of thousands of fruit trees on a farm south of Bethlehem. The Nassar family has endured years of harassment by Israeli authorities and set up a retreat center known as Tent of Nations. For Christians affiliated with Lutheran churches throughout the world, these two incidents were heaped on top of the financial crisis facing Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), an institution of the Lutheran World Federation on the Mt. of Olives providing Palestinians with regular cancer and dialysis care.

These three crises exemplify different aspects of how Palestinians experience Israeli control over their lives. In Beitunia, Nadim Nuwara and Muhammad Salameh, both minors, experienced the deadly threat of confrontation with Israeli military forces. The Nassar family experienced the looming threat of Israeli claims to land, either through outright confiscation or prohibited usage for reasons of security. AVH is experiencing institutional threat due to funds not being transferred in a timely fashion from foreign aid agencies, including USAID. Each level—personal, to family, to institutional—is a direct effect of Israeli occupation. Each level is cloaked in excuses and attempts to make the case for the occupation—claims are made that the trees needed to be removed since they could be used to hide terrorist activity; the video of the shootings was forged by Palestinian propagandists.

None of these situations is unique. In February of this year, Amnesty International released a stinging report titled “Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank,” documenting tremendous abuses of power by Israeli police and military units. With this context in mind, Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has expressed “grave suspicion that forces willfully killed two Palestinians, injured two others” in the Beitunia incident. In the same way, the Nassar family is experiencing the same threats against farmland in “Area C” portions of the West Bank since the Oslo Accords were signed twenty years ago. Their case is more public, in part, because they have built an international network to support their claims. Many other farmers—especially along the so-called “seam zone” between Israel’s separation barrier and the Green Line denoting Israel proper—have not been so fortunate. And AVH is one in a network of East Jerusalem hospitals, all facing funding shortfalls due to restrictions by western governments. Each of these threats—not just the shootings of unarmed teenagers—present the overwhelming violence, both direct and structural, of the Israeli occupation, harming every aspect of Palestinian life.

These three incidents are related. International advocates seeking to raise awareness about the human toll of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict ought not focus on one without addressing or acknowledging the others. Even among progressive American activists aware of many aspects of life in Israel and Palestine, the deaths of two Muslim teens previously unknown to them can seem distant. Even while we seek to preserve necessary humanitarian institutions like AVH and seek to show solidarity with all farmers with generations owning land in what remains of Area C, the blood of these boys cries out for justice. Because each person has inherent dignity in the eyes of God, these matters are related when this dignity is horribly violated. There is no doubt which one demands swift investigation and swift justice.

The occupation must end. Human dignity must be respected and allowed to flourish. People in Gaza and the West Bank should have access to necessary health care. No more trees should be uprooted under the guise of security concerns for nearby colonies. No more children should die.

Julie Rowe

19 March 2014 – Joining voices of the churches in Palestine and Israel, the World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed “grave concern” about a law recently passed by the Israeli Knesset or parliament.

The law passed by the Knesset on 24 February would define the status of Palestinian Arab Christians in the state of Israel.

Top officials of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land have said that this new law “introduces a distinction between Christian and Muslim Palestinians and states that Christian Palestinians are Christians and not Palestinians”. The church added: “This campaign clearly has as its aim to divide Christians from their Muslim compatriots. However, it is equally dangerous because it will divide Christians among themselves even further,”

In a statement issued on 18 March, Tveit called on “Israeli authorities to reverse this law to stop an injustice against the Christian citizens of Israel”. He encouraged the WCC member churches to “raise this issue with representatives of Israel and with their own governments”, urging reversal of this law.

Tveit said that this law establishes a “legislative distinction between the indigenous Palestinian Arab Christians and Palestinian Arab Muslims, both of whom are citizens of the State of Israel”. This distinction, he stressed, is an “unacceptable severing of entire communities from their cultural identity”.

Tveit added that the “Knesset has transgressed all proper distinctions between state and religious authority by attempting to define the nature and character of Christian communities within Israel against their own will and self-understanding”.

Warning of the adverse implications of this law, Tveit said that “rather than creating divisions among communities, the Knesset should pave the way for breaking down barriers that divide people according to ethnicity and religion.” Tveit echoed heads of the Catholic Church in Israel, who stressed that “it is not the right or the duty of the Israeli civil authorities to tell us who we are”.

The WCC has long affirmed the right of religious communities to define themselves, condemning the manipulation of religious identity for political gains.

Read full text of the WCC general secretary’s statement
Statement on Knesset law by he Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries
WCC’s Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum
WCC programme “Churches in the Middle East”

Julie Rowe

Please join in prayer with your sisters and brothers in The Lutheran World Federation for Dr. Tawfiq Nasser who is undergoing surgery today at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto. Dr. Nasser, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in Jerusalem has been instrumental in bringing remarkable improvements to the care, treatment and administration of AVH during challenging times.

The LWF and the ELCA recently issued an action alert to resolve a financial crisis created by the non-payment of $18 million in fees for patients that were referred to the hospital by the Palestinian Authority. Find out how you can help.

Please include Tawfiq, his family, those who care for him and the patients and staff at AVH in your prayers.

Karin Brown

Call for critical financial support for Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem to avoid interruption of essential health care.

Click here to contact your representative and senators.

Augusta Victoria Hospital, operated by the Lutheran World Federation in East Jerusalem, continues to provide life-saving health care to Palestinians but is facing a critical financial situation. The essential medical services provided by the hospital are currently threatened by a financial crisis caused by the non-payment of fees for patients that are referred to the hospital by the Palestinian Authority. The debt is now EUR 18 million.

Augusta Victoria Hospital is managed efficiently and effectively. It operates in the black and, had all fees been paid by the Palestinian Authority, the hospital would be able to meet all of its current financial obligations.

In an interview Dr. Tawfiq A. Nasser, chief executive officer of the hospital, said, “It is frustrating for us to be running a very successful hospital serving tens of thousands of patients only to be hindered by external factors beyond our control that are negatively affecting the wellbeing of our patients. The lives of our patients are held hostage to the political economy of the region that is beyond the control of anyone at the hospital. We appeal to anyone who can make a difference to put politics and bureaucracy aside, think of the lives of these poor cancer patients who can only be treated at Augusta Victoria Hospital, and rush to help in any way they can. It is the right thing to do. It is the human thing to do.”

Augusta Victoria Hospital provides life-saving health care to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, including specialized treatment offered at its cancer, diabetes and pediatric centers. The hospital is widely acknowledged in governmental and church circles for its excellent treatment and care and is internationally accredited.

Augusta Victoria Hospital is the first and only hospital to provide radiation therapy for cancer patients in the Palestinian territories and is the only medical facility in the West Bank offering pediatric kidney dialysis. The accumulating debt will cause a humanitarian crisis that will punish the most vulnerable in society, those who depend vitally on the hospital’s medical care.

In 2012, Augusta Victoria Hospital cared for nearly 28,000 inpatients and outpatients. Its specialized care centers offered more than 13,200 dialysis sessions, nearly 10,000 chemotherapy sessions, and over 14,000 interventions in the radiation oncology unit on an outpatient basis.

In order to prevent a catastrophic interruption to these critical health services the U.S. government needs to step in and help find a solution to this financial and humanitarian crisis.

See ELCA Press Release and LWF Press Release for more information.

Click here to contact your representative and senators.

Ask them to:

Contact Secretary of State John Kerry and USAID and ask for the U.S. government to help find a solution that will enable the Palestinian Authority to honor its financial commitments to humanitarian institutions such as Augusta Victoria Hospital.
Ask Secretary of State John Kerry to recognize the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding and to respond immediately by providing funding to the Palestinian Authority that is restricted to paying down the debt to Augusta Victoria Hospital. This earmarked funding for Augusta Victoria Hospital will help to insure that there is no interruption to patient services.

Julie Rowe

processionweb Over 150 international companions from around the world and local Christians gathered for the dedication of the new Evangelical Lutheran Church at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, built on the Jordan side of the river, said to be the site of where John the Baptist baptized Jesus and crowds of others. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan gave land to 7 churches, including the ELCA’s companion the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, to build pilgrimage sites around the baptismal sites.

Rev. Rolf Pearson and his wife Kerstin were installed as aretakers of the new site. He will be developing worship services and spiritual practices and both Rev. Pearson and Kerstin will be working on creating a pilgrim center.

Click here to see more images of the dedication from Danae Hudson, Communications Assistant at the ELCJHL.

Julie Rowe

The ELCA released a statement today urging increased financial support for Syrian refugees and internally-displaced persons as well as encouraging refugee resettlement in the US and other countries. The ELCA presented the statement to the hearing on the Syrian Refugee Crisis held by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. Read full statement.

The ELCA’s recent statement concluded:

As the Subcommittee considers how best the U.S. can help protect and support vulnerable Syrian refugees, the ELCA recommends the following:

• The U.S. Government should increase its financial support to the region as a necessary to means to meet the basic short-term needs of Syrian refugees. The ELCA recommends that the U.S. government further appropriate resources in order to keep up with the growing basic food and housing needs of refugees living in either camp or urban settings. An increase in financial support to help Syria’s neighbors meet the basic needs of its refugees is necessary. The U.S should also encourage its international partners to increase support for refugee-hosting countries through development assistance, bilateral aid, and increased funding of U.N. humanitarian appeals.

• The U.S. must help the international community to open all parts of Syria for humanitarian access. Any effort to ease the refugee situation in neighboring countries should take in to consideration measures that can alleviate the dire conditions of IDPs and IDDPs. Such measures require that the U.S. help the international community to open all parts of Syria for humanitarian access. NGO and church partners are prepared to further carry out these important humanitarian aims should additional resources be made available and should Syria be opened so that humanitarian help can reach those who need it.

• All vulnerable Syrian refugees should have access to the U.S. Resettlement Program. Supplementary resources need to be made available for Syrian refugees so that additional Syrian arrivals into the U.S. do not disrupt the regional allocations as outlined in the FY2014 Presidential Memorandum for Refugee Admissions. Syrian refugees should be welcomed in addition to the 70,000 already allocated for arrival in FY2014.

090613_Disaster_donate

Find out more about the ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response in Syria and how you can help support it.

Julie Rowe

Sixteen ELCA young adults from all over the US are in the Holy Land right now visiting holy sites, experiencing everyday realities and meeting their Palestinian sisters and brothers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and others working for peace with justice in the Holy Land. They plan to go back to the US and plan similar trips when they return.

Follow the trip’s blog at http://peacenotwalls.wordpress.com/.

From the blog:

What do you get when you mix 16 ELCA young adults from all over the United States who have flown to Israel and Palestine (with a quick stop in Jordan for a dedication of a church), asking them to learn more about Israel and Palestine in the context of their shared Christian faith, to grow in their leadership skills, connect with other young adults engaged in social justice, get involved with the Peace Not Walls Campaign of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and blog about it?

You get us! (and a ridiculously long sentence).

The sweet 16 are in the midst of a two week experience of a lifetime and will be using this blog to share their reflections along the way.

Thanks for joining us along the journey! leave a comment, lift up a prayer, and spread the word! The opinions expressed are the opinions of the individuals writing them and not necessarily the opinions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Julie Rowe

ELCA missionary Kirsten Fryer serves St. Andrew’s International Congregation and the St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo. In her blog, Cairos, Kirsten describes Christmas Day worship in Cairo where Sudanese refugees from various tribes who are fighting in South Sudan came together to worship, sing and commune around the table of the Lord.

Christmas service_Cairo_1-7-14

From Kirsten’s blog:

If you’ve been following the news from South Sudan, you’ll understand why I will treasure Christmas Day 2013 for a very long time. Even while Nuer and Dinka in South Sudan fight and kill one another, the two communities in Cairo, as well as the Sudanese Lutheran congregation that worships at St. Andrew’s, and representatives from the Shilluk congregation that worships elsewhere in the city, came together for worship on Christmas Day. In Arabic and English, Nuer, Dinka, and Shilluk, we prayed and sang and came together at the Lord’s Table. For those 3½ hours, differences were set aside and prayers were lifted up, together, in thanksgiving and celebration. Prayers were lifted up for peace, in South Sudan and Syria and throughout the world.

There was lots of music. The song leader would begin to sing, and soon voices were raised throughout the sanctuary, not just by one group, but by the whole congregation. Even at the point when the different congregations sang a special song, everyone joined in. Women danced in the aisles and voices were raised throughout the old, dusty sanctuary, decorated in its Christmas finest. We were welcomed at the Lord’s Table and came forward with outstretched hands, each fed with the bread of life, regardless of where we came from or what marks might otherwise distinguish us.

The Spirit moved among us and did not distinguish us by tribe or language but called us together as brothers and sisters in Christ and made us witnesses of the good news of great joy for all the people. The good news of great joy that brought us together. The good news of great joy that takes strangers and enemies and calls them brothers and sisters.

On Christmas Day, I looked out over this congregation that the world news would lead us to believe shouldn’t be together. Couldn’t be together. And yet we were. In peace and joy and celebration. I was struck by the promise of incarnation. By the promise that we celebrate on Christmas — that God comes to us. That God comes, not as the mighty and powerful warrior, but as the humble and vulnerable child. And then continues to breathe life and hope and promise into the lives of people, even with all of the baggage that we bring. With all of the joys and sorrows that we bear. With all of the struggles we face. That God continues to come to us, God’s beloved people, is worth remembering and celebrating, not just on Christmas but always. It is indeed good news of great joy for all the people. And light that shines in the darkness.

Jewish, Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders Welcome Ceasefire; Call Urgently for a Two-State Peace Agreement

LWF and ELCA Respond to Violence in and around Gaza

“Peace Process” or not, Israeli Occupation Grinds On

WCC General Secretary Calls for Reversal of Israeli Knesset law Categorizing Palestinian Christians

Prayers for Dr. Tawfiq Nasser and Augusta Victoria Hospital

Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem Needs Urgent Financial Assistance

Dedication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan

ELCA urges US Senate hearing to increase aid to Syrian refugees and IDDPs

Follow the ELCA Peace not Walls/Young Adult Leadership Trip to the Holy Land

Christmas Peace and Unity in Cairo