wfn.org | Israeli Soldiers Use Lutheran Pastor as Human Shield, Search Church

[JerusalemRelOrgs@aol.com]

For Information Contact
Rev. Gustaf Odquist 
or Rev. Dr. Mary E. Jensen
Communications Assistant for the ELCJ
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jerusalem
Tel: 972 - 2- 67-255733

Courageous Pastor Insists Soldiers Not Carry Guns Into Sanctuary

JERUSALEM, April 8, 2002--At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, April 7, 2002, a 
group of nine or ten Israeli soldiers came to the door of the Rev. Ramez 
Ansara in Ramallah, asking him to accompany them as they searched the 
Lutheran Church of Hope, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
Jordan and Palestine (ELCJ). 

The pastor went with the soldiers and unlocked doors for them, requesting 
that they not bring their weapons into the church sanctuary.  

Two soldiers left their weapons and went with the pastor, searching the 
sanctuary, the altar, the organ and the pews, all of which are holy places 
for the church.  They also searched several levels of the bell tower 
including the bells themselves before moving to the church hall and the kinder
garten.

Using Pastor Ansara as a human shield, the soldiers first pushed him into 
each room, then jumped into the room with weapons leveled.  

The search lasted about two and one-half hours. No gunmen, weapons or 
ammunition were found, as Pastor Ansara had told them at the beginning.  

At one point the soldiers asked the pastor if he himself had a weapon to 
defend himself.  Pastor Ansara answered, "I don't need a weapon.  God defends 
me."

The soldiers left the pastor to walk to his home alone, and this was 
dangerous since Israeli snipers are posted to shoot at people who are not in 
their houses.  Pastor Ansara arrived safely at his home at about 3:15 pm.

The city of Ramallah, Palestine, is in the eleventh day of re-occupation by 
the Israeli Defense Forces.  People are living under twenty-four hour curfew 
and may not leave their homes.

"We in the Lutheran church denounce the acts of invading and searching 
churches and church sanctuaries and demand that the international community 
and the State of Israel secure the protection and the sanctity of church 
sanctuaries, compounds and properties," said the Lutheran Bishop, the Rev. 
Munib Younan.

DETAILED STORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF HOPE INVASION
April 8, 2002

Today we are able to report that Rev. Ramez Ansara is safe and the church 
building only slightly damaged after a two and one-half hour invasion and 
search of the Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah by Israeli Defense Forces 
(IDF) soldiers yesterday, April 7, 2002.

According to Rev. Ansara, nine or ten Israeli soldiers came to the door of 
his home about 12:30 pm on Sunday, April 7, 2002.  The soldiers had asked 
neighbors who was in charge of the church building, and one of Rev. Ansara's 
cousins brought them to the pastor.  

Rev. Ansara stated later that he was not surprised to see the soldiers 
because other churches in Ramallah had already been searched.

The soldiers escorted the pastor down the hill to the church, speaking to him 
in English.  

Part way to the church some shooting was heard, and the soldiers all ran to 
hide behind a nearby tank, leaving Rev. Ansara standing alone in the street.  

"What about me?" the pastor asked.  "What am I supposed to do?"  

"Sit down," the soldiers said.  So Rev. Ansara sat down in the street close 
to the tank.  After about ten minutes the soldiers said, "Let's go." 

The keys to the church were in the pastor's car, parked in a garage near the 
church.  The soldiers accompanied him to the car where he was able to 
retrieve the keys.  

Arriving at the church building, Rev. Ansara unlocked the doors, but told the 
soldiers that he would not allow any weapons to be brought into the 
sanctuary.  The soldiers protested, saying it was too dangerous, but the 
pastor insisted. 

Finally two of the soldiers left their large weapons with other soldiers, and 
went with the pastor into the sanctuary.  They did keep a small gun with 
them.  

The two soldiers then searched in the altar, the organ, the piano and the 
pews.  The pastor also accompanied the soldiers up into the church tower 
where they searched boxes stored there and searched a broken, hollow cross 
kept in the tower, as well as the bells themselves.  

After searching the pastor's office, the soldiers brought the pastor 
downstairs to the church hall.  They spent an hour searching in the kitchen, 
the bathrooms, the classrooms and the large meeting room.  Every cupboard and 
every drawer was opened.  The soldiers put things back after they searched.  
A few times the pastor pointed out items that were left out, and the soldiers 
put them back.

Then the soldiers brought the pastor to the bottom level of the building 
where the kindergarten is located.  The pastor did not have the key to the 
outside aluminum door so the soldiers removed it, damaging the door slightly. 
 For the next hour every room and every closet in the kindergarten was 
searched.

Rev. Ansara described the search process:  "The soldiers used me as a human 
shield. They would push me first into each room and then would jump into the 
room with their weapons leveled."  The pastor could laugh about it later, 
saying it felt as if he were in a movie.

At one point the soldiers asked the pastor if he had a weapon.  "Why would I 
have a weapon?" Rev. Ansara asked.  "To protect yourself," the soldiers 
answered.  "I don't need a weapon," the pastor answered.  "God defends me."

After about two and one-half hours the soldiers were satisfied there were no 
people or weapons hidden in the church building.  "Now we will take you 
home," they told the pastor, but when they reached the tank in the street 
they sent the pastor on his way, leaving him to walk alone.  

"Okay, go home now," they said.  Rev. Ansara protested, saying that it was 
dangerous with snipers stationed on rooftops to shoot people outside their 
homes.  The soldiers talked on their phones and again assured the pastor it 
would be okay.

"My walk home was probably the most nerve-wracking part of the experience," 
Pastor Answara said later.  He arrived home safely.

We denounce such invasions and searches and demand from the international 
community and the Israeli government the protection and sanctity of church 
sanctuaries and church property.

Noted by Rev. Dr. Mary E. Jensen

-end-