Council Press Release No. 19 - LWF Council Supports Palestinian Lutherans and Middle East Peace Efforts
LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002
Resolution Affirms Humanitarian Role of Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem
WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) – The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has affirmed the role of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) as a guarantor and visible sign of the Palestinian Christian witness in Jerusalem.
The LWF annual governing body also reiterated the AVH’s humanitarian role as a provider of essential health services for the East Jerusalem and West Bank Palestinian populations. The Council requested that the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, all LWF member churches and related agencies, take all efforts to protect the AVH’s capacity to continue to fulfill both roles.
Situated on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, the AVH is part of the LWF/Department for World Service (DWS) Jerusalem program.
Call to Cease Military Occupation and Return to Peace Negotiations
In a September 16 Council resolution addressing a variety of concerns about Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the Middle East, the Council repeated its desire for “an end to the Israeli military and civilian occupation of the Occupied Territories” and called for “the Palestinian and Israeli leadership to return to peace negotiations.”
The LWF Standing Committee for International Affairs and Human Rights brought the resolution to the Council, meeting September 10-17 in Lutherstadt (Luther’s city of) Wittenberg. In the resolution’s preamble, the committee expressed “profound regret” that the Council meeting could not be held in Jerusalem as originally planned, “due to the continuing violence and insecurity in the region.”
Call to LWF Churches to Participate in Ecumenical Accompaniment Program
The Council resolution encouraged LWF member churches and related agencies “to support and to actively participate in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) as a concrete expression of active solidarity with the Palestinian and Israeli people, the churches of the region, and Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.” The World Council of Churches created the EAPPI in 2001 “to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in non-violent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation.”
Before adopting the resolution unanimously, Council members raised the need for Israel to observe United Nations resolutions that its military and civilians leave the West Bank and Gaza, honoring 1967 borders.
LWF member churches and related agencies in member countries of the European Union (EU) were asked to lobby their respective governments “to raise human rights concerns related to the effects of the illegal occupation more forcefully, in particular, within the framework of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”
The LWF resolution expressed “admiration and support for the Israeli civil society groups and individuals who are working for peace with justice and for equal human rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
Several resolves expressed support for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan [and Palestine] (ELCJ), an LWF member church. The Council asked the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko to establish an emergency fund “for victims of policies associated with the occupation.” The resolution praised peace education taught in ELCJ schools and asked the Israeli government to compensate the church for damage done to its facilities during recent military incursions into the Occupied Territories.
If you want to edit this article yourself and adapt it to a given format, follow our editing information
