wfn.org | Christians Express Fear, Concern to North American Lutheran Bishops

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Christians Express Fear, Concern to North American Lutheran Bishops
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>January 15, 2009  

Christians Express Fear, Concern to North American Lutheran Bishops
09-017-JB

RAMALLAH, West Bank (ELCA) -- Israel is targeting the small
Palestinian Christian community here, threatening a key
connection to the West and worrying Christian leaders, said Dr.
Rafiq Husseini, chief of staff to the president, Palestinian
National Authority (PNA).  He made the comment Jan. 13 in a
meeting here with seven North American Lutheran bishops.

The bishops were part of a group of 44 bishops representing
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), who visited the
West Bank and Israel Jan. 6-13.  The bishops met with religious,
political and community leaders, and visited sacred sites. Their
visit focused on support and encouragement for the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

More than 1,000 Palestinians have died and nearly 5,000 have
been injured in the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.  Many
of the dead and injured are women, children and elderly people.
"Civilians are paying the price," Husseini said. Thirteen
Israelis have died.

"We can't talk peace with Israel right now," he said.
Husseini said he believes Israel intends to sever all relations
between people in Gaza and the West Bank, expand settlements and
take up to 20 percent of the Palestinian land, because of the
separation barrier.  Israel does not intend for there to be
separate states for Israelis and Palestinians, Husseini said.

About 1.5 percent of the 2.5 million Palestinians who live
in the West Bank are Christians.  Many are suffering under the
Israeli occupation, the bishops were told.  "A good message from
your side is to push to end the occupation," said a member of the
Palestinian President's Committee for Christian Affairs.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop and president
of the Lutheran World Federation, said the committee's comments
were disturbing and showed regression for Christians here.  He
said the war in Gaza fails to meet the test of Christian "just
war" principles and the Israeli response to Hamas is
disproportionate.

"As leaders we are called to obstruct injustices and (to)
open doors," he said.  Hanson pledged that Lutherans in the
United States will engage the Obama administration, which he
hopes will exercise power in ways different than the Bush
administration has.

"The war in Gaza has made it difficult for us as moderates.
Extremists are winning the day," Hanson said.  He pledged to use
his influence to help U.S. religious leaders speak with one voice
on the Middle East.

The Rev. Munib A. Younan, ELCJHL bishop, proposed that the
Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land meet with the
committee to develop a strategy that addresses concerns and
provides hope to Palestinian Christians.

The bishops met with PNA Prime Minister Salam Fayaad. He
told them Palestinians are positive people, but decades of
Israeli occupation have hurt. Palestinians need spirit, Fayaad
said.  "That is not going to happen unless we can defeat
defeatism."

Fayaad told the Lutherans that a Christian presence in the
Middle East "is highly important to us. It's who we are," he
said.  There is richness in diversity, Fayaad said.

The bishops visited the Russian Orthodox Patriachate in
Jerusalem to sign a book of condolences in memory of world
Patriarch Alexei II, who died last month.

The bishops placed a wreath at the grave site of Yitzhak
Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in 1995.
The previous day the bishops placed a wreath at the grave site of
Yasser Arafat, the PNA president who died in 2004.  The two men
signed a Declaration of Principles for peace between Arabs and
Israelis, commonly known as "The Oslo Accords," in 1993 at the
White House.

>---

Information about the 2009 Bishops' Academy is at
http://blogs.ELCA.org/09cobacademy/ on the ELCA Web site.

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