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Middle East Network Newsletter
August 26, 2009
In this issue:
Churchwide Assembly reaffirms commitments in ELCA Strategy for
Engagement in Israel and Palestine
Talking with Jews and Muslims about Israel-Palestine in our
local communities
Update on Holy Land youth mission
Churches for Middle East Peace: Church leaders send letter to
Secretary Clinton on East Jerusalem home evictions
Latest reports from United Nations OCHA-OPT
Churchwide Assembly reaffirms commitments in ELCA
Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine
On August 22 by a vote of 690-125, the 11th ELCA Churchwide
Assembly reaffirmed the ELCA's commitment to eight tasks
relative to the Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and
Palestine. Specifically, the assembly voted "to reaffirm the
commitment of this church to:
1. Continue its awareness-building, accompaniment, and advocacy
on behalf of a peaceful resolution of the conflict between
Israel and Palestine;
2. Evaluate and refine its peace-making efforts to demonstrate
as fully as possible the "balanced ... care for all parties"
expressed in the Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel
and Palestine (2005; Sect. II.A), while continuing our unique
relationship with and accompaniment of Palestinian Christians
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
(ELCJHL);
3. Learn more about the experiences of both Israelis and
Palestinians and their mutual fears, aspirations, and hopes;
4. Work to convey the concerns and perspectives of Palestinians
and Israelis that dispel stereotypes and caricatures and promote
better understanding;
5. Lift up the voices within both communities, especially those
of victims of violence, that seek peace with justice through
nonviolent responses to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
6. Continue to help alleviate the humanitarian needs of all of
those affected by the conflict, especially in Gaza;
7. Support U.S. funding that promotes peace and cooperation for
all parties to the conflict; and
8. Continue to pray for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Jordan and the Holy Land and for the Israeli and Palestinian
peoples."
The second task above was added by the Assembly to the report of
the Memorials Committee which included the other seven tasks.
The new task was moved by voting member Pr. Richard B. Geib of
Lower Susquehanna Synod.
The second task quotes from Section II A of the Strategy, from a
list of "assumptions" which "undergird the ELCA's commitment to
intensify its work for peace with justice in Israel and
Palestine." The sentence from the Strategy reads in full:
2. Balance. Effective ELCA action will be
balanced in terms of its care for all parties in the conflict,
but must address forthrightly imbalances of power as they play
out in the lives of people in Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
Peace Not Walls staff welcome comments about how the ELCA can
best fulfill these tasks.
Earlier at the Churchwide Assembly, on Tuesday, August 18, a
hearing was held on the Strategy. The meeting place was
"standing room only," and initial comments were made by Bishops
Bruce Burnside, Dean Nelson, Duane Pedersen and Margaret Payne.
Peace Not Walls staff responded to questions such as how we can
interact with our Jewish neighbors when discussing the
Israel-Palestine conflict, what we can do if we can't travel to
the Holy Land, how the church can speak more clearly than
governments which are often constrained in what they can and
cannot say, what the ELCA is doing to promote economic progress
in the West Bank, and what resources are available to teach
about peace in our congregations. Voting members also described
personal experiences and offered opinions, such as having been a
medical staff volunteer at Augusta Victoria Hospital, the value
in meeting with the "Living Stones" in all three faith
communities when visiting the area, the importance of being
aware of the conflicting narratives and concerns of Israelis and
Palestinians and the need to build trust and come to discussions
and encounters with humility, the benefit of doing critical
biblical and theological work about the conflict, and the dire
need for the Mount of Olives Housing Project to provide shelter
and a way for the Christian community to remain a significant
part of the Palestinian population.
Talking with Jews and Muslims about Israel-Palestine in
our local communities
Voting members at the August 18 Churchwide Assembly hearing on
the Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine raised this
issue and were referred to the following existing resources:
a. Jewish-Lutheran
Talking Points
b. Windows
for Understanding: Jewish-Muslim-Lutheran Relations
c. Covenantal
Conversations book, exploring the shared theological
framework, special historical relationship, and post-Holocaust
developments and current trouble spots that situate the
Jewish-Christian relationship today (accompanying video in
production)
d. ELCA
Christian-Muslim resources
e. National
Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle
East (NILI) statements that can be used in local
relationships.
Update on Holy Land youth mission
Apply now for the Holy Land Youth mission trip scheduled for
July 8-22, 2010, sponsored by ELCA Global Mission, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the
Southeast Michigan Synod. The trip will be a mix of a
leadership, peace-building camp with Palestinian youth from the
ELCJHL and an opportunity to see ancient holy sites and meet
people of all faiths who are working together to advocate for
peace with justice.
Complete and return the application available online.
Cost is expected to be $2000 in addition to airfare. Although
the deadline is in December, spaces are filling and limited. It
is expected the trip will include about 25 youth (from sophomore
year in high school to age 22) and about 7 adults. Fundraising
suggestions will soon be available online. Email
peacenotwalls@elca.org or call Julie Rowe at 1-800 638 3522 Ext.
2720 with questions.
Churches for Middle East Peace: Church leaders send
letter to Secretary Clinton on East Jerusalem home
evictions
Church leaders including ELCA presiding bishop, the Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, sent a letter from Churches for Middle East Peace to
Secretary of State Clinton this month in response to the
eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East
Jerusalem. The letter thanks Clinton for her August 3 statement
that "'eviction of families...in East Jerusalem is not in
keeping with Israeli obligations.'" The letter notes that "this
action took place in the sensitive Sheikh Jarrah section of East
Jerusalem close to the 1949 Armistice Line or Green Line," and
that the action "undercuts U.S. efforts to create an environment
for starting talks for a comprehensive peace agreement and is
therefore harmful to both the Palestinians and Israelis hopes
for peace." It concludes by calling for "the immediate reversal
of this ill-considered eviction" and "the restoration of these
houses to their former residents."
Read the full text
of the letter at www.cmep.org .
Read the ELCA August 12
news release on the letter, click
here.
For more, see the August 2009, Fact Sheet: "Sheikh Jarrah" at
http://www.ochaopt.org .
Latest reports from United Nations OCHA-OPT
August 2009 Special Focus: The
humanitarian impact of two years of blockade on the Gaza
Strip
West
Bank and Gaza Closure Maps June 2009
(also at Peace
Not Walls Web site)
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