wfn.org | Bethlehem Lutheran Pastor's Encounter With Israeli Soldiers

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

East Jerusalem's LWF-run Hospital Cannot Easily Access Medical
Supplies

JERUSALEM/GENEVA 5 April 2002 (LWI) - As Israeli forces continued
their incursions on Palestinian territory late yesterday,
Jerusalem Lutheran Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan demanded that the
international community and Israel secure the protection and
sanctity of church compounds and properties, after Israeli Defense
Force (IDF) soldiers entered the compound of the Evangelical
Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem.

The church is one of six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan (ELCJ) working in Jerusalem, Palestine, Jordan
and Israel, a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member church.

Meanwhile, the LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) on the
Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem, is unable to access medical
supplies and drugs from West Bank factories, and is instead forced
to purchase provisions from Israel, and at a significantly higher
cost. Other hospitals in the West Bank encounter similar
difficulties since the Israeli troops began their operations on
Palestinian territories after a series of suicide bombings in
Israel over the past week.

According to an April 4 ELCJ press release, three groups of IDF
soldiers entered the Lutheran church compound at 1.45 p.m., local
time, "went from room to room in the compound... breaking into
offices and detaining [Rev. Mitri] Raheb in a corner of his
office."

Upon hearing the soldiers entering, Raheb had telephoned Younan
who contacted Israeli military and government authorities and
various diplomatic corps demanding the forces' removal from the
church property, and security and protection for Raheb. But the
soldiers' treatment of the pastor became "more rude and rough"
after they heard him speaking in Arabic over the telephone.
Finally a second commander arrived and ordered the soldiers out,
spoke kindly with Raheb and assured him of his family's safety.
The commander and the soldiers then secured broken windows and
doors facing the street so that the property would be protected,
said the ELCJ press release.

Reports received from the ELCJ today say " a quick look from
outside the [Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church] showed only
one minor stained glass window broken." A complete inspection
would only be done when the troops have left and the danger is
over. But the church's gift shop area sustained the worst damage.
Part of the building itself was destroyed and the door to the shop
could not be repaired. Although very shaken, Raheb reported that
he and his family were safe, but described as "extensive" the
damage and destruction to the church compound.

The AVH particularly needs medications and supplies for patients
undergoing treatment at its specialized dialysis and cancer units,
as well as for its general services as it continues to treat
Palestinian Authority patients who cannot get to hospitals in the
West Bank.

The hospital "is now supporting the dialysis needs of all the West
Bank," AVH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Tawfiq Nasser said in a
report April 4, after Israeli soldiers attacked the largest
Palestinian city, Nablus, which houses one of the largest
Palestinian Authority (PA) hospitals offering kidney dialysis.

"We will be receiving two additional children today and we do not
know how [many] more we will get in the next few days as more
patients will be unable to access PA hospitals," Nasser reported.
He said East Jerusalem hospitals would soon meet to determine a
collective strategy for handling issues of staff harassment by
Israeli military.

On April 3, Bishop Younan and LWF's Rev. Rudolf Hinz visited with
the hospital's patients. Hinz was director of the LWF Department
for World Service from 1995 until early 2002. Since March he
serves as coordinator of activities for the establishment of a
future LWF Center for International Encounter, Dialogue and
Reconciliation in Jerusalem.

(More information including statements from church leaders
concerning the situation in the Middle East is posted on the LWF
Web site under :
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OIahr/OIAHR-Documentation_Israel-Palestine.html

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical 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 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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