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Note #7406 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

WCC sends people to accompany those vulnerable in Palestine, Israel 
02330
August 30, 2002 
  
WCC sends people to accompany those vulnerable in Palestine, Israel  

by Jerry Van Marter  

Geneva - Ten European Christians, soon to be joined by two more, have arrived in Israel and Palestine to "accompany" religious leaders, social and other service workers and peace activists - all of whom are particularly vulnerable to the violence that is plaguing the region.  
  	The 10 - from Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway - are the initial  participants in the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, approved late last year by the WCC's executive committee.  
  	At a 30 August press briefing during the WCC's central committee meeting here, program coordinator Salpy Eskidjian called the program "dynamic solidarity" with Palestinians and Israelis who are seeking non-violently to "end the illegal occupation of Palestine".  
  	She acknowledged that the Israeli government "knows and is not pleased" about the accompaniment program, "but as of today they have not formally  complained".   
  	Described by the WCC as "accompaniers", those in the program will travel with such people as ambulance drivers, medical and mental health workers, local bishops and religious leaders, Israeli peace activists and other social service workers for agencies such as the YMCA and YWCA.  
  	Ranging in age from 27 to 63, Eskidjian said they include medical students, journalists, theologians and community development workers. The "accompaniers", she noted, have been chosen by their churches based on expressed needs of partner churches and organizations in Israel and Palestine.  	The first group anticipates staying in Israel and Palestine for three to six months.  
  	"There is a real humanitarian crisis going on in Palestine," said Bernice Powell-Jackson, a central committee member from the United Church of Christ in the US. Jackson has made three trips to the region in the last 18 months, the most recent in late July with a US delegation headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.   
  	"There is real power in presence, seeing for yourself and being with and talking with the people," Powell-Jackson said, "particularly when they feel the world has forgotten them".  
  	She noted that - according to US government statistics - 51 per cent of Palestinian children are malnourished, nearly half of them "seriously". She also recalled seeing trash heaped up on West Bank streets because garbage trucks are not allowed in - a situation she called "a real health crisis."  
	Eskidjian emphasized that the accompaniment program is "the way of non-violence". Those accompanying, she said, are "providing protection and deterrence for the sake of both Palestinians and Israelis, for Christians and Jews and Muslims".  
	The "accompaniers" received extensive training - coordinated by their program - from their own churches prior to their departure and are getting further training by a local coordinating committee based in Jerusalem. A myriad of security precautions and procedures has been set up to maximize their safety.  
	Still, Eskidjian acknowledged, the accompaniment mission would be risky. "It's dangerous," she said, "but too important not to do." 
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