wfn.org | LWF Council Supports Palestinian Lutherans and Middle East Peace

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

LWF Council Supports Palestinian Lutherans and Middle East Peace
Efforts
Resolution Affirms Humanitarian Role of Augusta Victoria Hospital
in East Jerusalem

LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002

Press Release No. 19

WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) * The Council
of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has affirmed the role of
the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) as a guarantor and visible
sign of the Palestinian Christian witness in Jerusalem.

The LWF annual governing body also reiterated the AVH's
humanitarian role as a provider of essential health services for
the East Jerusalem and West Bank Palestinian populations. The
Council requested that the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael
Noko, all LWF member churches and related agencies, take all
efforts to protect the AVH's capacity to continue to fulfill both
roles.

Situated on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, the AVH is part
of the LWF/Department for World Service (DWS) Jerusalem program.

Call to Cease Military Occupation and Return to Peace Negotiations

In a September 16 Council resolution addressing a variety of
concerns about Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the Middle East,
the Council repeated its desire for "an end to the Israeli
military and civilian occupation of the Occupied Territories" and
called for "the Palestinian and Israeli leadership to return to
peace negotiations."

The LWF Standing Committee fo International Affairs and Human
Rights brought the resolution to the Council, meeting September
10-17 in Lutherstadt (Luther's city of) Wittenberg. In the
resolution's preamble, the committee expressed "profound regret"
that the Council meeting could not be held in Jerusalem as
originally planned, "due to the continuing violence and insecurity
in the region."

Call to LWF Churches to Participate in Ecumenical Accompaniment
Program

The Council resolution encouraged LWF member churches and related
agencies "to support and to actively participate in the Ecumenical
Accompaniment Program for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) as a
concrete expression of active solidarity with the Palestinian and
Israeli people, the churches of the region, and Israeli and
Palestinian peace activists." The World Council of Churches
created the EAPPI in 2001 "to accompany Palestinians and Israelis
in non-violent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the
occupation."

Before adopting the resolution unanimously, Council members raised
the need for Israel to observe United Nations resolutions that its
military and civilians leave the West Bank and Gaza, honoring 1967
borders.

LWF member churches and related agencies in member countries of
the European Union (EU) were asked to lobby their respective
governments "to raise human rights concerns related to the effects
of the illegal occupation more forcefully, in particular, within
the framework of the EU-Israel Association Agreement."

The LWF resolution expressed "admiration and support for the
Israeli civil society groups and individuals who are working for
peace with justice and for equal human rights for Palestinians and
Israelis alike."

Several resolves expressed support for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan [and Palestine] (ELCJ), an LWF member church. The
Council asked the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko to
establish an emergency fund "for victims of policies associated
with the occupation." The resolution praised peace education
taught in ELJ schools and asked the Israeli government to
compensate the church for damage done to its facilities during
recent military incursions into the Occupied Territories.

Staff of the LWF Office for Communication Services at the Council
meeting can be contacted at German mobile telephone No., +49-(0)
170-8345 177.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 75 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

*	*	*
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