GENEVA, 20 March 2010 (LWI) – The Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has welcomed the “clear and forceful language” used by representatives of the United Nations, Russian Federation, United States and European Union (the Middle East Quartet) in denouncing new settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West bank.

In a statement issued in Geneva on 20 March, the LWF Executive Committee said such activity was a “principal obstacle” to progress toward the objectives of “a two-state solution, to the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, to peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians, and to Jerusalem as a city shared between the two peoples and three religions.”

The Quartet, meeting in Moscow, Russia, on 19 March, issued a statement reaffirming its previous declarations urging the government of Israel to stop settlement activity in the contested areas, dismantle outposts erected since 2001 and refrain from demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem.

The LWF governing body said it concurred with the Quartet’s call “for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity (including ‘natural growth’)” It endorsed the group’s expressed support “for the negotiated resolution of all final status issues, the end of the occupation, and the establishment of a Palestinian state within 24 months.”

The Quartet expressed deep concern about the continuing deterioration in Gaza, including the humanitarian and human rights situations of the civilian population.

On that subject, the LWF leaders said “We reiterate our special concern about the accelerating emigration of Christians from the land of Christ’s birth. We call for urgent and continuing international solidarity with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and its sister churches in the Holy Land and for enhanced support for their ministries for education and social services, and for justice, peace and reconciliation.”

For many years, Lutheran churches have provided humanitarian services to people in Jerusalem and the West Bank, largely through the Augusta Victoria Hospital and related programs. The LWF remains committed to continuing those services, the Executive Committee said.

The 13-member Executive Committee met in Geneva from 19 to 21 March. It comprises the LWF President – Bishop Mark S. Hanson, as chairperson – five Vice Presidents, the Treasurer and chairpersons of the Program Committees. It oversees the proper functioning of the LWF between meetings of the Council, and acts as the LWF Board of Trustees and Personnel Committee.

The LWF governing body further called “for the immediate lifting of the economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, for urgent international action to alleviate the suffering of its people, and for all parties to refrain from violent or provocative actions.” (465 words)

The full text of the LWF Executive Committee statement is available on the LWF Web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2507.EN.html

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(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the world, representing over 70 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Dr. Jill Biden, the Second Lady of the United States of America and Vice President Joe Biden’s spouse, visited the Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem on March 10.    Dr. Biden was accompanied by the spouse of the American Consul General in Jerusalem, the Deputy Mission Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development and members of the delegation accompanying the U.S. Vice President during his visit to the region.  Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, CEO of AVH, and Reverend Mark Brown, the Regional Representative of the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem and the Middle East, received the guests and introduced them to the administrative and medical teams managing the hospital.

Dr. Nasser expressed his deep gratitude to the American people and government for their support to the hospital’s ongoing and future projects.  He explained the major role that AVH and other Jerusalem hospitals play in providing support to the Palestinian health system and in building Palestinian civil society institutions.

Dr. Biden and the visiting delegation talked to the women who were waiting to receive radiotherapy treatment.  This visit comes in the light of the assistance provided to the hospital in the field of cancer screening and treatment.  Augusta Victoria Hospital is the only Arab Palestinian hospital providing comprehensive services to cancer patients, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgical interventions.

While in the Radiotherapy Unit, Dr. Nasser detailed the hospital’s future plans to expand cancer treatment services.  This was followed by a visit to the site where a second linear accelerator for radiotherapy would be installed in the future.

Dr. Biden also visited the Kidney Dialysis Unit for adults and the Pediatric cancer care and kidney care unit, where she met with some children suffering from cancer who receive treatment at the hospital.  One of the children presented a present to Dr. Biden.

At the end of the visit, Dr. Biden expressed her deep thanks to Dr. Nasser and Reverend Brown for the warm reception she received at the hospital and acknowledged the huge efforts exerted by the hospital staff and management.

Gil and Frances Shultz from Canada work at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) as volunteers seconded from Canadian Lutheran World Relief. Gil is a doctor of Molecular and Developmental Biology. He is assisting the CEO of AVH as the “Research and Development Project Officer.” Frances holds a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and joined the AVH Continuing Health Education Academy as a “Visiting Faculty” to give various courses in technical and proposal writing, technical communication skills, documentation and writing for medical, nursing, clinical, and administrative staff.

Brittany Moyer from Takoma Park, Maryland, is the 2009-2010 LWF Jerusalem Program intern and is working for one year as an administrative assistant in the LWF Jerusalem central office. A recent graduate of Juniata College with a major in Environmental Studies, Brittany is also working on environmental initiatives for the LWF’s Mount of Olives campus.

Stephanie Bliese from St. Paul, Minnesota, has been volunteering for three months this fall and will be returning to the U.S. at the end of November. Stephanie is a second-year Masters student at Luther Seminary studying Church History and Theology. She has been conducting research related to the 60 years of the LWF ministry on the Mount of Olives, as well as assisting in the olive harvest that began October 15.

The LWF center in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood local to Jerusalem, has 247 trainees this term, seven of whom are women. The Beit Hanina center will be incorporating an apprenticeship program into its training scheme. This program will increase the cooperation between the students and the local market, thereby increasing a student’s employment opportunities after graduation.

The LWF center in the West Bank city of Ramallah has 64 trainees this term, eight of whom are women. The first three to four months of the term, students will be in the classroom learning theory and methodology. In the winter they will start apprenticeships at local businesses.

Students in the LWF VTP study in the fields of carpentry, aluminum, metalwork, auto-mechanics, auto-electronics, telecommunications, and plumbing and central heating.

The LWF VTP has provided vocational training to Palestinian youth since 1949. The VTP continues to provide quality training and to promote the human right of access to education for hundreds of Palestinian youth every year.

2008 Department for World Service Global Report

The LWF Department for World Service Annual Report covers the main programmatic activities carried out by World Service in 2008. It also includes general information related to the organizational priorities as described in the DWS Global strategy.

View full text of 2008 LWF-DWS Global Report »

CHICAGO (ELCA) — U.S. President Barack Obama “extended an invitation to a different way of living together in the world,” said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in response to the president’s long-awaited speech June 4 in Cairo, Egypt on U.S.-Muslim relations.

Obama said he came to Cairo to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” based on mutual interest and respect.

In an interview with the ELCA News Service, Hanson said the speech may be “historic, not for its words but for how those words become foundational for us to live together in a world that has too often turned differences into grounds for domination rather than reason for reconciliation.”

Hanson was appointed recently to a White House task force on interreligious dialogue and cooperation, through the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He is also president of the Lutheran World Federation, based in Geneva.

He said the content of Obama’s speech affirms the ELCA’s commitment to interfaith dialogue and is consistent with the church’s “Peace Not Walls” campaign for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The president’s remarks also relate to subjects Hanson discussed with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in two meetings earlier this year: preserving Palestinian Christianity, the concept of Jerusalem as a “shared city” and the deepening of Muslim-Christian relations.

In his speech, Obama said he is a Christian but his father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. The president said he is familiar with Islam.

“I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam where they appear,” Obama said, adding that the same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. “Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire,” he said.

Obama addressed specific issues to Muslims in his remarks: violent extremism in all forms, the situation among Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world, responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons, democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and economic development and opportunity.

“His (Obama’s) tone was calm, and he exemplified what he called for — calm, thoughtful, reasoned response to potentially explosive issues,” Hanson said. The bishop noted the president’s acknowledgement of the difficulty Palestinians — including Palestinian Christians — face because of the Israeli occupation. He said Obama challenged those who deny the Holocaust and called for Hamas to recognize Israel.

In response to Obama’s speech, Hanson suggested Lutherans engage locally in interfaith dialogue and cooperative responses to human needs, learn more about people of other faiths, and hold the government accountable through advocacy for peace with justice in the Holy Land.

Hanson joined a diverse group of 50 religious leaders in a June 4 letter Obama to continue to make Israeli-Palestinian peace a top priority of his administration. The leaders also expressed serious concern over the “deteriorating situation in the Holy Land” and urged the Obama administration to make real and concrete progress in achieving a “just peace” between Israel and the Palestinians.

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

Original Text

“Living Witness – Creative Diakonia” was the theme of festive gatherings, worship, parades, dances, exhibitions and many other activities, marking three important anniversaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) from 16-17 May 2009.

ELCJHL Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan described the anniversary celebrations—50 years of the ELCJHL, 30 years of its Arabic bishopric, and 170 years of evangelical mission in the Holy Land—as a morale boost for church members and for Arab Palestinian Christianity.

“We were thankful that local and international society could appreciate the work of this church and tell us, ‘Go forward in what you are doing.’ We are thankful for those who worked before us and handed us what they have received,” said Younan. “But at the same time, we want to ask our people to continue in this line of serving, because being loyal to our Christian witness, our Christian call and apostolic vocation is in continuity with Christ’s call at the ascension, ‘Go to the whole world.’”

In his congratulatory message, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) said the ELCJHL was an “integral part of the mother church in Jerusalem; part of an unbroken history of Christian witness and ministry in the Holy Land since the days of Christ’s life on earth.” He noted the anniversary was also an occasion to celebrate the church’s commitment to interfaith dialogue and cooperation and the search for peace in the region and globally.

Younan, LWF vice president for the Asian region, noted the days around the celebration coincided with the visit of the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI to the region. “We are very happy, after the visit of the pope, to show that there is a witnessing evangelical Lutheran community that is an integral part of the Christian community in Palestine-Israel, Jordan and the Middle East,” added the ELCJHL bishop.

The ELCJHL currently has some 3,000 members. It joined the LWF in 1974. (342 words)

The LWF Jerusalem Annual Report covers the main programmatic activities carried out byLWF Jerusalem Program in 2008.

View full text of 2008 LWF-Jerusalem Annual Report »

Noko Calls for Prayers, Advocacy, as North American Lutheran Bishops Visit Middle East

GENEVA, 6 January 2009 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) reiterates its commitment to a vision of peace for both Israelis and Palestinians, urging an immediate cessation of both Israeli military operations on Gaza and Hamas missile attacks on southern Israel, and the swift establishment of a workable ceasefire agreement.

In a statement released today, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko says, “The present bloodshed and destruction will not secure peace for either Israelis or Palestinians. It will only plant the seeds for more conflict, marginalizing the peacemakers, breeding despair, promoting radicalization and strengthening the appeal of violence.”

Reports citing local medical sources put the Palestinian death toll at more than 550 and nearly 3,000 civilian injuries, since Israel launched its 27 December operation on Gaza, including ground assaults since 3 January, aimed at stopping Hamas militants from firing rockets and mortars into southern Israel. Hamas says it has killed five Israelis by rocket fire and in combat.

Pointing to the impact of the Israeli siege on the entire civilian population of Gaza during the six-month ceasefire, Noko notes the blockade “imposed severe suffering on the entire civilian population of Gaza, fostering despair and rage rather than promoting an atmosphere for negotiations and peace.” He adds however, that attacks by Hamas and other militant organizations “are condemned by the LWF as an unacceptable response threatening the lives of another civilian population.” Equally, while Israel has an obligation to protect its people and territory, its current military operations “are disproportionate to the actual threat and have resulted in an intolerable number of civilian deaths and injuries.”

The general secretary expresses grave concern for the critical humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, urging the Israeli government to ensure full humanitarian access to the people compelled to survive this conflict “without electricity, medical supplies, or sufficient food or water.”

Citing the LWF’s long-standing support to its member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) in various activities fostering the establishment of peace with justice in the Holy Land, Noko insists the root cause of the Middle East conflict must be addressed. “The interpretation of God’s promise to Abraham and differing understandings of who may rightfully claim his legacy, which lie at the very heart of this conflict, can only be resolved by dialogue and reconciliation among all his children,” he says.

He criticizes both parties’ short-sighted focus on political gains through “displays of armed power,” rather than on the “difficult search for peace,” saying this approach was a betrayal of the Israeli and Palestinian “peoples’ hopes for a peaceful future.”

Noko released his statement as a delegation of bishops from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, led by LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson, proceeded with their visits with Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian religious, community and political leaders under an annual event hosted by the ELCJHL. (See separate story at: www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2317.EN.html)

He appeals to all LWF member churches to pray for peace, advocate for justice, and convey these concerns to political leaders. “Without a just peace in the Holy Land, there can be no true or sustainable peace for any of us,” Noko concludes. (558 words)

The full text of the general secretary’s statement is available on the LWF web site at: www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-Statement_Gaza_Jan_2009.pdf