wfn.org | Title: Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and

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World Council of Churches
Update 03-21
For Immediate Use
6 May 2003

Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI):
The incredible importance of being

Cf. WCC Press Release PR-03-01, of 17 January 2003

"Together we must wake the conscience of the world!", said Lutheran Bishop
Munib Younan to a group of twelve ecumenical accompaniers meeting after their
initial two-week placements in different parts of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. "The more you are critical of the present policy [of occupation
and colonization], the more you help strengthen the position of the Christian
church and community here as bridge-builders," the bishop said.

The twelve have been in the Occupied Territories since March 2003, and will
continue on the ground until the end of May. The second group of volunteers
to participate in a World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment
Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), they come from Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. 

Bridge-building, solidarity and witness are the focus for this diverse group
of people. As Israel announces that it will bar peace activists from entry
and deport them, those who have responded to the call to advocate for justice
are finding their place in an increasingly hostile environment of unabated
assassinations, home demolitions, siege and suicide bombings.  

Ecumenical accompaniers Tord from Sweden and Hallstein from Norway have
experienced what life is like under curfew and amidst settler violence in the
old city of Hebron. Tord confronted soldiers as they fired upon school
children. "The interaction with soldiers here is one of our most important
witnesses," he says. "How can such behaviour ever contribute to anything
connected with security?" Both Tord and Hallstein accompany children to
school and maintain an international presence through street patrols and
regular visits to families whose homes and lands are threatened with
demolition.

A diversity of backgrounds amongst the accompaniers results in a diversity of
placement and work. Jesper, a medical student from Denmark, has used his
presence to help facilitate passage of mobile health clinics and ambulances
through checkpoints. Lynne and Aaron, both from the US, both with education,
experience and interest in pastoral care, are well established in their
respective communities of Ramallah and Bethlehem in a network of church
community and refugee camp work. 

Similarly, in the primarily Christian town of Zababdeh, south of the northern
West Bank city of Jenin, Ken and Joel from the US and Hansruedi from
Switzerland have discovered a need they can fulfil in just "being".  While
all three have provided classic accompaniment - of school buses, and food and
water distribution in Jenin - Joel describes a unique role for western
Christians here. "I've discovered how important it is just to be present to a
community which feels isolated. As Bush justified the war on Iraq in
religious crusader-like terms, he put Palestinian Christians in a precarious
situation with their Muslim neighbours. We can be that alternative Christian
voice for justice, and reach out into the Muslim community on the ground." 

More information on the EAPPI, and regular updates from the ecumenical
accompaniers are available on our website:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/eap.html 
 
For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office,  
tel: +41 (0)22 791 64 21 / 61 53

**********

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.

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