wfn.org | Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem Issues Situation Report

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Contact:
Rev. Dr. Mary E. Jensen,
Communications Assistant to the ELCJ and Bishop Younan
http://www.holyland-lutherans.org/

For information: Ann Hafften
ELCA Division for Global Mission
www.elca.org/dgm

JERUSALEM, May 8, 2002---Following is the text of a statement released here 
by the Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rev. Munib A. Younan.  (The 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem (ELCJ) is headquartered in Jerusalem 
but works in Israel, Palestine and Jordan.)

Update from Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem

Salaam and grace to you from Jerusalem, the city of Christbs death and
resurrection.

      We continue to watch and experience the suffering of the Palestinian
people as the Israeli military re-occupation continues in Bethlehem, Beit
Jala and Beit Sahour.  The Christmas Lutheran Church and Dar al-Kalima
Lutheran School in Bethlehem as well as the Lutheran churches in Beit Jala
and Beit Sahour and the Lutheran schools are closed and continue under
curfew.  

     The city of Hebron is subjected to repeated incursions.  Other
cities like Ramallah, Nablus, Kalkilya and Jenin are currently encircled
with Israeli tanks and soldiers, ready to move into the cities at a momentbs
notice.

1. The City and Refugee Camp of Jenin

     The people living in the Palestinian city of Jenin are
continuing to mourn their great losses as a result of the Israeli military
incursion, which included the bulldozing of many homes in a refugee camp.
The people of Jenin claim there has been a massacre and they continue to
search for and find more bodies in the rubble that used to be homes and
businesses.
                
     While it would be good for the world community to know the
truth from the United Nations and it certainly would verify the word of
Palestinian people in Jenin if a massacre were found to have happened, the
fact is that it does not really matter very much to Palestinian people what
the findings of any investigative group might be.  In the minds of
Palestinian people the event in Jenin was a massacre and it will remain so
in their remembrance, just as the massacres in Deir Yassin and Kufr Kassim
are forever imprinted in their minds.
               
     Many local Christian groups and organizations have helped to
bring food, medicine and other supplies to Jenin.  The very presence of the
people accompanying the convoys is important to the people of Jenin and
other Palestinian cities because the people can tell their stories of
suffering, injury and death to others who will listen.  Members and friends
of the ELCJ have helped with this effort, as well as Lutheran World
Federation.

2.  The Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah
             
     On Monday, April 29, Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan visited the
Lutheran school in Ramallah, the first time he had been able to make the
trip since the Israeli military left portions of the city on Sunday, April
21.
            
     bThe people of the city have been hard at work to clean and
repair the damage inflicted by the Israeli incursion,b the bishop said.  bIn
some ways it is hard to believe there has been such a terrible attack.  At
the Lutheran school, for instance, students, parents and school staff worked
hard for two days to clean and repair the damage done by invading soldiers
on all four floors of the building.  They were ready to open the school
again on Wednesday, April 24.b  

     Visitors from the New England Synod of the ELCA accompanied by Rev. Mary 
Jensen felt the same way when they visited on Saturday, April 27.  There is 
still much repair work to be done, including broken doors and windows, but 
children are going to school and the teachers are there to teach.  The damage 
to the school was extensive.  No monetary estimate has yet been made.
          
      bAn army can damage buildings in our cities,b the bishop said,
bbut no one can damage peace education.  It is imperative that we as the
church continue our policy of giving hope so that we can build a state and
society in which we can live in peace.  Furthermore, the Israeli incursion
did not kill the spirit of the people.  Instead, it revived our hopes and
desires for security, a just peace and our own state of Palestine.b
           
     The bishop highly commended the pastor, principal, members and
students of the Lutheran church and school, and all the people of Ramallah
and the other recovering cities for the voluntary work of the citizens who
are pouring out their energy and efforts to build and re-build their
society.  bIf we keep that spirit in our society,b the bishop said, bwe have
great hope for the future.b

3.  The Stockholm International Forum, April 21-27, 2002
              
     The Third Annual Stockholm International Forum was held in
Stockholm, Sweden, with the theme Truth, Justice and Reconciliation.  In
2000 the theme was the Holocaust and in 2001 Democratization of Society.
              
      Upon the strong recommendation of the Church of Sweden,
Bishop Younan was invited by Prime Minister Persson to participate in the
Forum as the only Palestinian representative of the civil Palestinian
society.  There were forty-four country representatives present, accompanied
by a justice minister or other dignitary from their respective countries.
               
     Before the Forum began, Bishop Younan was privileged to meet
with the Swedish Council of Churches, including Roman Catholic, Orthodox and
Protestant members.  The Council gave Bishop Younan its full support for a
continuing friendship and for the mission of the ELCJ.
               
     In the large Forum itself the Middle East was not on the
formal agenda.  Featured were South Africa, Rwanda, Cambodia and
Polish/German relations.  It was on the second day of the Forum that Bishop
Younan participated with Israeli Minister without Portfolio Zippi Livni in a
group presentation and discussion.  Minister Livni spoke for seven minutes
about Israeli fears stemming from the Holocaust.  When it was his turn to
speak for seven minutes, Bishop Younan stated that he had come to Stockholm
carrying the pain and suffering of his people in his own body, and also
carrying an olive branch.  Enough of war and hatred, he stated b enough of
demonization, racism and stigmatization.  It is time to build peace and
reconciliation.  The bishop spoke of himself as a Palestinian Christian, a
refugee, and challenged the media to hear new voices, voices of peace and
reconciliation.  He emphasized how important it is to find a just, peaceful
solution for the Palestinian and Israeli people.
             
     The Swedish Prime Minister commented, bWe have to invest in the
local Church of God and work to build peace, justice and reconciliation.b

4.   The Visits of the New England Synod (ELCA) and the National Council of 
Churches (USA)

     After one postponed journey to visit the ELCJ, representatives of the 
ELCA New England Synod arrived on April 25, ready to learn about the 
Palestinian situation and to stand in solidarity with the ELCJ pastors, 
congregations and the bishop and staff.  It was important to this group to be 
in Palestine and Jordan at this time bto get more information about the truth.
b  

     Associate Bishop Hans Arnesen, Maureen Andrews and Pam Engberg 
represented the New England Synod, and Rev. Sig Arnesen, Hansb father, also 
joined the group.  The ELCJ planned the program  for these friends from the 
United States.
                
     Dr. Robert Edgar, director of the National Council of
Churches, brought a group of about sixteen church leaders from the USA to
visit Istanbul, Damascus, Beirut, Amman and finally Jerusalem.  Rev. Mark
Brown of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs helped to organize the
study trip.  Rev. Jim Wetekam, Media Program Director for Churches for
Middle East Peace was a member of the group.  

     The International Christian Committee, Middle East Council of Churches, 
planned the NCC program.  In addition to hearing from many political leaders, 
the NCC group also accompanied convoys bringing food and medicine to Jenin 
and Bethlehem.
                
     The ELCJ has been delighted to welcome these visitors and
hopes that other groups will also come bto get more information about the
truthb and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian Christians.

5.   Archbishop Desmond Tutu Speaks about Apartheid in the Holy Land
             
     In a recent interview by the Guardian newspaper (United
Kingdom), Archbishop Tutu of South Africa made the following comments:
     
      bIn our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jewish
people.  They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the
disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting injustice, oppression and
evil.  I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews.  I am a patron of a
Holocaust Center in South Africa.  I believe Israel has a right to secure
borders.
         
     bWhat is not so understandable, not justified, is what it did to
another people to guarantee its existence.  Ibve been very deeply distressed
in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us
black people in South Africa.  I have seen the humiliation of the
Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young
white police officers prevented us from moving about. My heart aches.  I
say, Why are our memories so short?  Have our Jewish sisters and brothers
forgotten their humiliation?  Have they forgotten the collective punishment,
the home demolitions in their own history so soon?  Have they turned their
backs on their profound and noble religious traditions?  Have they forgotten
that God cares deeply about the downtrodden?
       
     bIsrael will never get true security and safety through oppressing
another people.  A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice.  We
condemn the violence of suicide bombers, and we condemn the corruption of
young minds taught hatred; but we also condemn the violence of military
incursions in the occupied lands, and the inhumanity that wonbt let
ambulances reach the injured.  We in South Africa had a relatively peaceful
transition.  If our madness could end as it did, it must be possible to do
the same everywhere else in the world.  If peace could come to South Africa,
surely it can come to the Holy Land.  People are scared (in the U.S.) to say
wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful b very powerful.  Well,
so what?  For goodness sake, this is Godbs world!  We live in a moral
universe.  The apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no
longer exists.  Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic and Idi Amin
were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust.b

Noted by