wfn.org | Jerusalem: Noko protests Israeli forces at LWF-run hospital

[FRANK.IMHOFF@ecunet.org]

GENEVA, 3 October 2000 (LWI) - As violent clashes continued between
Israeli security forces and Palestinians over the stand off in the
Middle East peace talks, the general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, has strongly opposed the
occupation by Israeli security forces of the LWF-run Augusta Victoria
Hospital in East Jerusalem and its use as a firing post by soldiers.

In a letter, dated October 2, addressed to Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak, Noko also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces
from the perimeter of the hospital where they have been stationed
daily since the September 29 shoot out. Dr. Noko said, "The presence
of the Israeli security forces around the hospital not only severely
reduces the hospital's capacity to provide medical care to the people
of East Jerusalem, including those injured in the recent violence,
but also tends to provoke a violent reaction by Palestinian
protesters."

The LWF general secretary noted that Israeli forces occupied the
hospital premises on September 29 and had used this vantage point to
fire on Palestinian protestors. Noko stated that "a repetition of
similar events should be avoided by all possible means."

"The Lutheran World Federation presence in East Jerusalem and its
operation of the Augusta Victoria Hospital are founded upon an ethic
of humanitarian medical care and assistance," Dr. Noko said. He
expressed the Federation's strongest objection to "such use" of the
hospital premises, describing what transpired towards the end of last
month as "a fundamental affront to this humanitarian purpose."

In the letter, the LWF general secretary said he is "confident that
in the interests of peace and of preserving dialogue, you will take
swift measures to prevent future incidents of this type at the
Augusta Victoria Hospital, and elsewhere, where violence has
erupted."

The hospital is one of the projects run by the Jerusalem program of
the LWF Department for World Service (DWS). Situated on the Mount of
Olives, the present-day hospital originates from the Augusta Victoria
Stiftung (Foundation), erected in 1910 by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany
in honor of his wife, Empress Augusta Victoria. It was used as
originally intended -hospice, recreation and community center-for
four years, then followed periods of occupation by foreign forces
with the outbreak of the First World War. After the Second World War
and the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the United Nations
Relief Works Administration (UNRWA) took over responsibility for
Palestinian refugees from the International Red Cross and, in 1950,
asked the LWF to manage the hospital. Seventy-five percent of
patients referred to the hospital are Palestinian refugees.

(The LWF is a global communion of 131 member churches in 72 countries
representing over 59 million of the world's 63 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF
secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). 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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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/