wfn.org | World Council of Churches developing ecumenical strategy on Mideast conflict

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-216

World Council of Churches developing ecumenical strategy on Mideast conflict

by James Solheim
jsolheim@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) A high-level consultation at the headquarters of the World Council of 
Churches in Geneva has decided to develop a coordinated ecumenical in the search 
for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on justice and security for 
both the Palestinian and Israeli people.

     Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Episcopal Diocese in Jerusalem said in his 
sermon at the opening worship, "Peace, as you all know, is neither the absence of 
war nor the cessation of hostilities. Peace is that relationship between the so-
called enemies, from which all the causes that made for war are no more. Making 
peace requires greater courage than going to war."

     The August 6-7 consultation comes in the wake of a visit to the region by a 
seven-member ecumenical at the end of June with a mandate to develop a response 
to the conflict by exploring local ecumenical needs, strategies and plans of 
action. The delegation examined the feasibility of an ecumenical "witness for 
peace" program that might support non-violent resistance to the Israeli 
occupation and a presence for protection, monitoring and reporting.

     The delegation's report said that the church community in Palestine is 
caught in deep despair as the result of the escalation of violence but that the 
desire of both Palestinians and Israelis for a "just and durable peace" has 
deepened.

     The Geneva consultation decided to form a small consultative group to 
develop realistic proposals for action with local and international partners in 
seven areas: coordinating advocacy with governments; boycotting goods produced in 
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories; strengthening the "chain of 
solidarity" through prayer vigils; resisting the destruction of property and 
uprooting of people from their homes; encouraging and enabling the presence of 
ecumenical monitoring teams; improving communication, interpretation and 
reporting on the conflict and its causes; and increasing the number of 
delegations to and from Israel and the occupied territories.

     In response to a recommendation from the June delegation, the WCC executive 
committee will be asked at its September meeting to consider a special focus on 
"ending the violence of occupation in Palestine" in the context of the WCC's 
Decade to Overcome Violence, and perhaps call an international conference on the 
subject.

     WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser described continued Israeli occupation 
of Palestinian territory as a "clear violation of international law" in an 
interview after the consultation. When asked if the WCC might be regarded as 
taking sides with the Palestinians in the conflict, he said that it had been "the 
consistent position of the WCC not to be drawn into advocacy of any particular 
position but to underline the fundamental importance of agreed norms of 
international law and agreed norms of human rights."

     Raiser argued that "there is no doubt to all those who share this ethical, 
moral and legal approach that Israel's continued occupation, continued 
settlements, even the expansion of settlements, is a clear violation of 
international law to which Israel is a signatory."

     The WCC will consider establishing a permanent presence or office in 
Jerusalem to coordinate ecumenical action, in consultation with the churches in 
Jerusalem and the Middle East Council of Churches.

--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service.