Note #9190 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06155 March 10, 2006
Churches to demonstrate solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land
by Michele Green Ecumenical News International
JERUSALEM - Congregations around the world will plant olive trees and hold vigils this week to express solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land who have urged them to press the cause of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The event is being organized by International Church Action for Peace (ICAP) in Palestine and Israel, the Roman Catholic organization Pax Christi and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Christian Solidarity Week runs March 12-19.
"From Oslo to Cape Town, from Toronto to Jerusalem, concerned groups will lobby parliamentarians, hold public meetings, observe vigils and plant olive trees," said Hermina Damons, local coordinator of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel.
Damons told Ecumenical News International that the initiative of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, which helps Palestinians in the occupied territories, comes in response to a call from church leaders in Jerusalem.
"Now, as the situation continues to deteriorate and opportunities for peace are forsaken, it is crucial for Christians to make their voices heard vigorously in the public arena," the church leaders said.
Solidarity week will begin with a prayer service in Jerusalem led by the heads of the churches. Fifty Christians from eight countries, including Korea, Japan, the Philippines, the United States and Britain, will visit the Holy Land to attend candlelight vigils along Israel's West Bank barrier and to plant olive trees in Bethlehem.
"Together with the strong and deeply treasured actions of prayer and Christian solidarity, the churches in Jerusalem and the Holy Land need you to speak with the moral authority of the church from the ethical perspective of the Christian faith," the Jerusalem church leaders said.
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