wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Palestine Israel: Obama, Tutu and many affirm peace is possible

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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 - 08/06/2009 15:26:57

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR, AS CHURCHES DO WEEK FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

>Listen to Desmond Tutu, see below

Change is in the air as churches in many parts of the world hold
a "World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel" that began on 4 June
2009. New voices are advocating steps toward peace that churches
have been promoting for years. 

"It's time for us to act on what everyone knows is true," US
President Barack Obama said in his address to the Muslim world
from Cairo, 4 June, in the section specifically dealing with the
Israel-Palestine conflict. "It's time for Israelis and
Palestinians to share a just peace," says the message (
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi/educate.html
)that churches are using for the World Council of Churches-led
action week, 4-10 June 2009. 

To begin the week in Bethlehem, local participants projected
prayers for peace onto the "separation wall" at night. As the
week goes on, prayers are being read out loud (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Lo2a5KFz0 )at checkpoints, in
schools and in refugee camps. 

"There is really no situation that is intractable – none," said
Nobel peace laureate and retired Anglican Archbishop of Capetown
Desmond Tutu in a speech at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey
near Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday, 7 June. 

"Each [situation] is capable of being resolved, even this one
that seemed so utterly intractable," he added, comparing the
Palestine Israel conflict to the seemingly deadlocked situation
in South Africa before the downfall of apartheid. 

Meanwhile, in at least seven of the participating countries (
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi/events-summary.html
), church delegations have organized to meet government officials
to urge concrete steps toward peace now. 

"It's time for people who have been refugees for 60 years to
regain their rights and a permanent home," the churches' action
week message says. For 60 years "the Palestinian people,
Christian and Muslim…have endured the pain of dislocation", the
US president said in Cairo. 

In Manila, the Philippines, Christian and Muslim groups came
together on 5 June to pray, to demonstrate peacefully at the
Israeli embassy, and for a candle-light vigil for peace. 

"It's time to assist settlers in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory to make their home in Israel," say WCC member churches
and others who join the week. "It is time for these settlements
to stop," said President Obama. 

People and parishes in the European Union can get help in
engaging local retailers about settlement products and lobbying
their governments by using an advocacy paper (
http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p3/worldweekforpeace/documents/2009_settlement_products.pdf
)on settlement products that was issued especially for this
"World Week for Peace". 

"All of us have a responsibility to work for the day…when
Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians
and Muslims," said the US president in Cairo. "It's time to share
Jerusalem as the capital of two nations and a city holy to three
religions," say the churches.

A public seminar in Norway tackled the topic of "Promised Land"
as part of the action week. The 5 June event featured a pastor
and author whose understanding had changed after a visit to the
conflict zone. 

"It's time to learn from past wrongs," says the World Week
message. "It's time for equal rights. It's time to stop
discrimination, segregation and restrictions on movement," it
adds. 

In Scotland, parliamentarians reported to church and civil
society leaders on solidarity visits to people in Gaza – one of
several events in the week of action there. 

Two church groups in the UK visited a local Israeli-owned
company that makes engines for drones used against Gaza. Then
they prayed at a local church. 

"Violence is a dead end," said the US president. "It's time to
be revolted by violence," say the churches, "and for civilians on
both sides to be safe."

Sunday, 7 June, is the focal point of "World Week for Peace in
Palestine Israel" for many participants. An ecumenical service in
East Jerusalem and services in dozens of countries used a prayer
( http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi/pray.html
)from Jerusalem's church leaders. Many parishes worshipped with a
special liturgy from Ireland (
http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p3/worldweekforpeace/documents/2009_Irish_liturgy.pdf
)that included testimonies from young Israelis and Palestinians.

Participants with access to the internet are invited to send
prayers to Bethlehem (
http://www.aeicenter.org/PrayersandWishes/InternationalPrayers2009.htm
)for "World Week" and to use the prayers collected there in
Spanish, German and Italian – now and in the future.

Now in its fourth year, the action week is organized by and
offered to Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches and
related ministries. Pax Christi International is the bridge to
people working for peace in the Catholic Church. 

The goal is to pray, educate or advocate (

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/wwppi/events-summary.html
)for a just peace in Israel-Palestine during one week in June.
>From Kenya to Canada, the UK, the US, Australia and Austria,
individuals, congregations and organizations in some 40 countries
take part in one or more of the suggested activities, judging
from information received by WCC. 

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

Listen to comments by Desmond Tutu (mp3, 5.9 MB, 6 min):
http://oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/sounds/2009/tutu_middle_east_comments.mp3

>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.