wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Churches in many countries preparing “World Week” of action for peace in Israel and Palest

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 05/05/2009 11:53:04

CHURCHES IN MANY COUNTRIES PREPARING “WORLD WEEK” OF ACTION FOR
PEACE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel, 4-10 June 2009 is
intended to generate joint church action for a just peace.
Churches in 20 countries have already sent news of their plans to
the convenors, the World Council of Churches (WCC). A Palestinian
community organization is offering a way for many more countries
to join – by sending peace prayers to Bethlehem. 

"When the children of Shufa [in the West Bank] play too close to
the settlement, the Israeli settlers feel their security is
threatened. Children have been held and questioned for hours," an
Ecumenical Accompanier in Occupied Palestinian Territory writes
in a blog on the World Week website (
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5740 ).

"Ask everyone to bring a small stone to build a cairn in your
place of worship. Use the stone to remember those who have had
their houses demolished. Let the stone be a reminder of the
'Living Stones'," is one of many suggestions circulating in the
UK among 12 participating churches and specialized ministries.

Norway's plans include a civil society debate with politicians
on ethical investment and settlements, report seven
church-related organizations there. Their country has elections
in October. 

"Prayers and letters [will be] sent to Palestine from children
refugees in Mindanao displaced by the intensifying war between
government and Muslim insurgent forces," an organizer in the
Philippines writes the World Council of Churches.

"We decided to organize a chain of storytelling events, starting
at the beach and then into the country, every day in another
place," says a World Week planner in the Netherlands. "We will
coach our respective constituencies to do the same in their own
town or village." The idea was inspired by Dutch parish events
during the Gaza war.

People and parishes around the world are invited to send peace
prayers to Bethlehem ( mailto:aei@p-ol.com ). A church-related
community organization there will share the prayers for worldwide
use online ( http://www.aeicenter.org/ )during World Week and to
be read aloud locally at the Wall, near settlements, and in
Palestinian parishes and schools including in Gaza. 

The WCC-led week of action is in its fourth year. Participants
are invited to pray, educate and advocate, inspired by the theme
"It's time for Palestine". A prayer offered by the Heads of
Churches in Jerusalem has been sent to more than 120 countries,
along with invitations to join World Week. 

In 2008, evidence reached WCC that people, parishes and
organizations in 40 countries took part. Each year so far, the
numbers of participants and the scope of their activities have
increased. From the beginning, there has been strong
international and national participation by members of the
Catholic peace movement, Pax Christi.

For 2009 participants are encouraged to focus on Israeli
settlements in occupied territory. Links to the topic as well as
a message, prayers and liturgies for the week are available on
the WCC website.

In Canada, a joint Canadian-Palestinian church delegation will
lobby parliament in May. 

Two recent violent incidents in Northern Ireland are motivating
Irish church members to do more to end the violent occupation in
Palestine, reports Susan Hood, a Church of Ireland librarian and
action week participant. 

Inspired by an Irish church leaders visit to Israel-Palestine in
connection with the week last year, Hood has led the preparation
of a liturgy this year that shares testimonies from young
Palestinians and Israelis. It may be broadcast on Irish national
television and has already been sent to churches in dozens of
countries. 

In France, the focus is on candidates in European elections on 7
June 2009. An NGO forum which includes five Catholic and
Protestant organizations is campaigning for Palestinian rights.

"We should be satisfied if pastors put the message 'It's time
for Palestine' ( http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6560 )and/or the
prayer from church leaders in Jerusalem (
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6562 )into their Sunday service,"
writes Gerhilde Merz, an Austrian parish organizer. Such an
initiative is still new to many parishes, she says.

The action week starts on 4 June each year to mark the last day –
4 June 1967 – of internationally recognized borders between
Israel and a future Palestine. The action week is part of the
WCC's Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum. It was initially called
International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel.

>World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel
>http://worldweekforpeace.org

>WCC member churches in Israel/Palestine
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4746

>WCC Living Letters visit to Israel/Palestine
>http://www.overcomingviolence.org/?id=6661

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.