wfn.org | Capps to Encourage Colleagues to Visit Mideast with ELCA Bishops

[NEWS@elca.org]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 23, 2004

Capps to Encourage Colleagues to Visit Mideast with ELCA Bishops
04-008-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif. 23rd), who
accompanied two bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) on a fact-finding trip to the Middle East, said
she will encourage her colleagues in Congress to accompany other
ELCA bishops on future educational trips to the region.
     Capps visited Israel and the West Bank Jan. 9-16 with the
Rev. Murray D. Finck, bishop of the ELCA Pacifica Synod, Yorba
Linda, Calif., and the Rev. Dean W. Nelson, bishop of the ELCA
Southwest California Synod, Glendale.  Capps, a graduate of
Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), Tacoma, Wash., is a member of
Grace Lutheran Church, Santa Barbara, Calif.  PLU is one of the
28 ELCA colleges and universities.
     Capps' visit to the region was sponsored by the ELCA,
according to a news release from her Washington, D.C., office.
The trip was organized through the Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs (LOGA), the ELCA's federal public policy
office in Washington, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Jordan (and Palestine) (ELCJ), headed by the the Rev. Munib A.
Younan, ELCJ bishop.  The Lutheran World Federation, the State of
Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other partners worked in
cooperation with LOGA and the ELCJ.
     "This (trip) was excellent," she said in a telephone
interview with the ELCA News Service. "I was honored to be
invited by the ELCA.  This was a balanced visit."
     The group met with such Palestinian Authority leaders as
Ahmad Qureia, Palestinian prime minister, and Israeli government
leaders such as Shimon Peres, chair of the Labor Party, as well
as with Dov Weisglas, chief of staff for Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon; U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer; heads of
Christian churches in Jerusalem; ELCJ leaders; representatives of
Augusta Victoria Hospital, East Jerusalem; and a variety of local
political and business leaders in Israel and the West Bank.
     The most important message communicated to the ELCA group
was "a plea to the United States to be more engaged and to be
more consistent" in helping Israelis and Palestinians resolve
their longstanding conflicts, Capps said.
     The conflict must be resolved through diplomacy, she said.
"This will not happen without third-party involvement."
     When the ELCA group visited Israeli political leaders they
discussed the plight of the Palestinian people living in Israel
and how the numbers of Christians living in Jerusalem have fallen
dramatically because many have moved away, Finck said.	With the
Palestinian leaders, the ELCA group challenged them to denounce
violence such as suicide bombings and the targeting of West Bank
settlers, he said.
     Nelson said, after meeting with Palestinian leaders, he
realized the "staggering task" they have in trying to maintain
unity among their diverse political and social interests while
trying to talk about peace with Israelis.
     Traveling with Lutheran bishops affords members of Congress
an opportunity to hear from both Palestinians and Israelis, Capps
emphasized.
     "I am aware that most of my colleagues travel to the Middle
East under different auspices," Capps said, noting that Middle
East tour guides for members of Congress are often associated
with groups that lobby for Israeli interests.  "I covet the
opportunity to see for myself," she said.
     Capps said she was impressed that the 65 ELCA bishops are
making an effort to visit the Middle East in small groups.  The
purpose of such trips is to learn first-hand from people who live
in the region and to support the ELCJ, said the Rev. Mark B.
Brown, LOGA assistant director for international issues,
Washington, D.C.  Brown and his wife, Susanne, accompanied Capps,
Finck and Nelson.
     To date about 12 bishops, plus the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA
presiding bishop, and his predecessors, have participated in
these educational trips, Brown said. This was the first time a
member of Congress had been part of such a trip, he said.
     Capps said she planned to work on two specific issues that
she learned more about on the trip.  One relates to Augusta
Victoria Hospital, located on the Mount of Olives in East
Jerusalem and operated by the LWF.  The hospital's ministry,
which serves mostly Palestinians, is threatened by the
possibility of being required to pay an employer's tax to the
State of Israel, from which the hospital has been exempt since
1967.  In 2003 an Israeli tax court ruled the hospital could be
held liable for the tax. If the ruling stands, the hospital may
have to pay about $350,000 in taxes annually to the State of
Israel.  Hospital officials have said paying the tax could
threaten many of the hospital services.  The case has been
appealed, and hospital supporters are asking for U.S. government
intervention with the Israelis.
     "We are working on this," Capps said.  Another issue Capps
said she'd work on is trying to influence Israeli policy on how
nongovernmental organizations operate there.
     During the trip, the ELCA group witnessed the impact of a
nearly completed "security wall" separating Palestinians from
Israelis and West Bank settlements.
     "The world doesn't understand what's happening because
there's not much information," Capps said.
     The security wall will most likely heighten conflict and
tension, Finck said. "I am appalled that another wall of
separation and segregation is being built in this day and age,"
he said.
     "We saw first-hand some of the disastrous effects of the
building of the wall," Nelson said.  "But we also got many
insights into how difficult it is to resolve this conflict,
because of a variety of ideological and political issues.  There
are significant numbers of people on both sides who want to work
not only for peace, but for justice as well."
     The role of churches in resolving conflict in the Middle
East is "critical," Capps said.  She said she is impressed with
an "ecumenical accompaniment" program organized through the World
Council of Churches, in which outside observers live for short
periods of time in the West Bank to learn about the people in the
region and document their observations.
     The two bishops said they learned that many people, with
diverse backgrounds and expertise, must be involved to resolve
conflict in the Middle East. "A mixture of people could open up
some doors for pursuing cries for peace and resolution," Finck
said.  He added that he is pleased the ELCA helped sponsor the
trip and that LOGA's work "continues to keep us in the midst of
the real world and what's going on."
     For Nelson, the highlight of the trip was meeting with
church leaders and members trying to minister to people in a
difficult situation.  Visiting the region to support other
Christians -- and Lutherans in particular -- was also important.
     "The Lutheran community is a global family," Nelson said.
"This helps us recognize each other as sisters and brothers in
Christ."
-- -- --
     Information about LOGA is at http://www.loga.org on the
Web.
     Photos from the Middle East trip are at
http://www.elca.org/co/news/images.congresswoman.html on the
ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news