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WCC NEWS South African accompaniers to work in Palestine,


From "WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>
Date Tue, 29 Jun 2004 13:02:08 +0200

World Council of Churches 7 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 29/06/2004 - pr-04-14

First group of South African accompaniers joins EAPPI

			   Free photo available - see below

It is now ten years since the successful but violent transition
from
apartheid to democracy, but South Africans continue to advocate
for human
rights in the face of conflict and oppression, this time a bit
farther from
home.

Of the thirteen new accompaniers who joined the WCC Ecumenical
Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine (EAPPI) last
week, four
come from South Africa * making them the first group from the
South.

"It is too easy for us to forget the dark and terrible days of
our own
struggle, but the world has not forgotten, and our mere presence
stands as
a sign of hope to others," said Canon Luke Pato of the South
African
Council of Churches (SACC).

This new group, which comes from the SACC with the support of
the Christian
Council of Sweden, is the first belonging to churches with
direct
experience of conflict and non-violent resistance.

The SACC has a strong history of political activism and
ecumenical
fellowship with the WCC through the Ecumenical Monitoring
Programme in
South Africa (EMPSA).  This programme, which served as a model
for the
EAPPI, was active between 1990 and 1994, bringing over 400
volunteers to
the anti-apartheid movement.

"We wouldn't have survived without international support,"
notes one new
accompanier, a student during the EMPSA days.  The ecumenical
family
"helped us cope with the realities of the situations we were
facing," he
adds.  "They were there for us, and it is important to be here
for them
now."

The four South African accompaniers, who include a social
service worker, a
legal officer and two members of the clergy, one a professor,
come with
nine others from Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK to join
two
accompaniers staying on from previous groups.

The complete group comprises six women and seven men ranging in
age from 26
to 72.	They will work with the churches of Jerusalem,
Palestinian and
Israeli non-governmental organizations, and Palestinian
communities, in
various capacities such as accompanying children going to school
and people
dealing daily with the effects of Israel's separation
barrier.

"South African churches joining the EAPPI marks a turning point
in the
international ecumenical solidarity and advocacy efforts to end
the illegal
Israeli occupation," says Salpy Eskidjian of the World Council
of Churches.
"The legacy of WCC and SACC in the struggle against apartheid is
a concrete
manifestation, demonstrating that when we join forces, we can
bring about
change. Now, through the EAPPI, the ecumenical fellowship has
the chance to
do it again."

Free high-resolution picture available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/f-luke.html

For more information on EAPPI and photos: www.eappi.org 
For more information on the WCC: www.wcc-coe.org 

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel
(EAPPI) was
launched in August 2002. Ecumenical accompaniers monitor and
report
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,
support acts
of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim
Palestinians
and Israeli peace activists, offer protection through
non-violent presence,
engage in public policy advocacy, and stand in solidarity with
the churches
and all those struggling against the occupation. The programme
is
coordinated by the World Council of Churches.

For more information contact:
	 Media Relations Office: tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 /  61
53
	 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org - http://www.wcc-coe.org 

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
342, in more
than 120 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, Netherlands. Its staff is
headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in
Kenya.


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