wfn.org | Lutheran Bishop Allowed to Enter Gaza Strip on Third Attempt

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Lutheran Bishop Allowed to Enter Gaza Strip on Third Attempt
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>March 20, 2009  

Lutheran Bishop Allowed to Enter Gaza Strip on Third Attempt
09-068-AS*/JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- After three attempts in five weeks, three
bishops from Jerusalem were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip March
10 to visit churches and humanitarian projects. The three were
the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), the Rt. Rev. Suheil
Dawani, Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, and Greek Catholic
Archbishop Elias Chacour, according to an ELCJHL news release.

On Feb. 4 Dawani and Younan -- part of a delegation of five
bishops -- were denied entry at the Erez Crossing between Israel
and the Gaza Strip. The ELCJHL said Younan and Dawani were the
only Palestinians in the delegation. Both said they had obtained
permits from Israeli officials to enter the region.

Younan, Dawani and Chacour later applied for permission to
enter the Gaza Strip on Feb. 24 but were denied for undisclosed
reasons.

On the March 10 trip the bishops visited the Anglican Al
Ahli Hospital, which served more than 400 patients and
causalities during the war between Israel and Hamas. They were
briefed by hospital director Suheila Tarazi and Dr. Maher Ayad.
The bishops visited staff and patients. In the hospital chapel
they prayed for the war dead and wounded, and for peace and
justice, the ELCJHL report said.

Constantine Dabbagh, director, Near East Council of Churches
Refugee Works, updated the bishops about its outreach. The clinic
was bombed during the conflict in the Gaza Strip, forcing the
organization to resume its work in a small provisional center,
the release said. Other personnel are working in one of the most
impoverished areas of Gaza City to restart programs for women and
children, as well as a program for malnourished children.

"We urge our partners to continue to support our diakonia
and relief work in Gaza," Younan said. He called for the
implementation of international law and human rights in Gaza "so
the border points will be opened and all the necessary building
material will be allowed in for rebuilding," the ELCJHL release
said.

Younan, Dawani and Chacour also asked all parties to abstain
from acts of violence and to work for a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the conflict based on justice and international
law.

After Younan and Dawani were denied entry into the Gaza
Strip, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Most Rev.
Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal
Church, sent a letter Feb. 5 to Israel's ambassador to the United
States. They expressed "grave concern" and requested help to
determine why Younan and Dawani were denied entry. They asked
that the bishops be allowed into the area for a pastoral visit.

A March 10 news release from the Embassy of Israel said the
bishops were denied entry into the Gaza Strip "because both
bishops are legal residents of the State of Israel."

"Israeli citizens and legal residents are prohibited from
entering the Gaza Strip for security reasons and out of concern
for their safety," the Israeli news release said.

The March 10 visit by Younan, Dawani and Chacour was
facilitated by Israel, the embassy's release added.

>---

Information about the ELCJHL is at http://www.elcjhl.org/ 
on the Web.

* Allison Schmitt is communication assistant with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog