wfn.org | LWI 2008-026 Israel's 60th Anniversary Should Be an Opportunity for Reorientation and Renewal

["Dirk-Michael Grötzsch" <dmg@lutheranworld.org>]

>Deutschsprachige Version folgt in Kuerze.

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>Dirk-Michael Groetzsch
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Israel's 60th Anniversary Should Be an Opportunity for
Reorientation and Renewal
LWF General Secretary Appeals for Dialogue for Just Peace in
Holy Land

GENEVA, 16 May 2008 (LWI) - As the State of Israel marked the
60th anniversary of its founding this week, the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) affirmed the Lutheran communion's responsibility
and challenge to continue working "to remove any vestiges of
antisemitic attitudes toward our Jewish sisters and brothers,
through processes in which we encounter each other as human
beings with a shared faith heritage."

In a 15 May letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres on the
anniversary's occasion, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko said the LWF joined "in celebrating the survival and
flourishing of the Jewish people after their centuries of exile
and the genocidal catastrophe of the Second World War." He
underscored the LWF's recognition of the burden of responsibility
borne by Lutheran churches for antisemitic and discriminatory
attitudes toward Jewish people. 

Anniversaries are also a time for reflection, reorientation and
renewal, noted Noko in his letter to Peres, in which he expressed
concern for the relationship between Israel and Palestine. He
pointed out that the week also marks the 60th anniversary of the
Palestinian people's Nakba  - when they were dispossessed of
their homes and land, and became refugees.

The LWF general secretary noted the relationship between Israel
and Palestine had been marked by deepening divisions, exclusion,
hatred and brutal violence, which "can never secure a sustainable
peace for either community." 

Peace, noted Noko, could only be achieved through a dialogue
that does not exclude any one, and expressed appreciation for
efforts to break down the barriers of "non-dialogue" in the
Middle East situation such as those initiated by former US
President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jimmy Carter. He said
the official refusal to talk to Palestinian party Hamas and
Hamas' refusal to recognize the State of Israel both lead to the
"the same dead-end." In the absence of dialogue and encounter,
enemy images and the desire to obliterate the 'other' only
increased. "The 'other' will always be present, and peace will
either be achieved with them or not at all," he cautioned. 

The LWF general secretary also underscored the responsibility of
the international community to accompany, support and encourage
Israelis and Palestinians in the search for a just peace in the
Holy Land "as it did in the birth of the State of Israel." He
appealed to the global religious communities that hold the Holy
Land holy to "be catalysts for peace, acting not in support of
one community against the other but in support of the
establishment of a just peace."

Saying peace could not be postponed for the sake of all Israelis
and Palestinians, Noko urged concerted efforts from both sides
and global support "to ensure that no more anniversaries of this
date will pass without a just peace in the Holy Land." 

The LWF is present in the Holy Land through its member church,
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and
the East Jerusalem-based LWF Department for World Service
regional program.   (515 words)

*       *       *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith 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 LWF’s information
service. 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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