wfn.org | WCC - Ecumenical monitoring programme in Palestine and

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

Israel

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-01-40
For Immediate Use
29 October 2001

Ecumenical monitoring programme:  working towards peaceful
resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict 

cf. WCC Press Release, PR-01-34, of 14 September 2001

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has established an
ecumenical monitoring programme in Palestine and Israel (EMPPI)
to coordinate the work of church and ecumenical monitoring and
observer teams there. The principle of  "an accompaniment
programme that would include an international ecumenical
presence, based on the experience of the Christian Peacemaker
Team" was approved by the WCC Executive Committee at its meeting
in Geneva 11-14 September. EMPPI is seen as part of a much wider
ecumenical response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and is a
result of discussion with a broad range of local and
international church and ecumenical partners.  

Several church-related pilot projects already underway will be
connected to the EMPPI framework. These include a "United
Civilians for Peace" campaign coordinated by Dutch development,
ecumenical and peace organizations, a Church of Sweden ecumenical
monitoring effort, an observer programme developed by
DanChurchAid, with the Council on Interchurch Relations of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark and the Ecumenical Council
of Denmark, and an ecumenical accompaniment programme being
developed by the Middle East Forum of Church World Service (USA).
 

A newly opened "WCC fund for the ecumenical response to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict" will enable the WCC to widen its
coordination efforts following the Executive Committee's
resolution.  

Commenting on EMPPI, WCC International Relations programme
executive Salpy Eskidjian notes that the WCC "has now decided
that it is most important to 
focus our immediate attention on the establishment of an
international ecumenical  presence, as the situation in Israel
and Palestine is more alarming than ever".   

The full scope and coordinating mechanism for EMPPI will be
developed over the next two months. Here, the WCC's prior
experience with the Ecumenical Monitoring Programme in South
Africa (EMPSA) will stand it in good stead, Eskidjian judges.  

EMPPI is expected to focus on monitoring and observing human
rights violations in sensitive situations such as at checkpoints,
accompanying people in their daily activities like going to
school, work or hospitals, observing public action, and
participating in non-violent direct action. It will work with
local churches as well as human rights and peace groups. "Where
church and local partners are in need - that's where we'll be,"
Eskidjian promises.  

To her mind, the programme "is a powerful way that churches
worldwide can be in active solidarity with our brothers and
sisters in Palestine and Israel as they struggle to resist a
harsh military occupation using non-violent means".  

EMPPI also will be a foundation for further education and
advocacy to support a peaceful and just resolution of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "From our previous work in other
parts of the world, we know that first-hand experience is the
most effective way to raise awareness and support an alternative
voice in advocacy work," Eskidjian concludes.  

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer,
Tel.:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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