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Bishop Younan gave the keynote address on the last night of the Global Luther
conference which was on interfaith relations. The Bishop's speech,
Reforming Luther: Toward Prophetic Interfaith Dialogue for Life, may be edited
before publication in the conference's book.
Click here for a
draft of the talk.
For more information and the conference program click here.
Sunday, Feb. 17 - Arabic newspapers throughout Palestine carried the story today of Bishop Younan's condemnation of the recent bombing of the Gaza YMCA. A rough translation of the Al Quds story follows:
Bishop Munib Younan has denounced the ugly crime that took place recently in Gaza, the bombing of the library of the YMCA. He said that this atrocity only provokes division and aims to harm the brotherly and sisterly relations between the Palestinian Muslims and Christians. He said such an act is not just a crime against the YMCA but against the whole Palestinian people.
The Bishop said "We in the church strongly condemn this cowardly atrocity that aimed at a national institution that serves Muslims and Christians alike without any distinction. What happened harms everyone. I really am shocked how the hands of some people dare to explode a library that has thousands of books especially for children."
Bishop Younan added that such events sound an alert that violence is increasing and the rule of law is decreasing. He called on the authorities to act quickly before all of us reap the bitter consequences. He said that recently such crimes have not been investigated well, such as some attacks on some institutions or the killing of the late Rami Eyyad, the Christian bookseller who was recently killed in Gaza. This has encouraged those who commit these crimes and act contrary to the national interest of the Palestinian people to continue, he said. For this reason, Bishop Younan demanded that the responsible authorities act urgently and not give in until those responsible are caught and brought to justice. For word document click here.
Sunday, Feb. 17 - The Ramallah Church of Hope received and dedicated a peace pole that says "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in Arabic, English, Hebrew and Finnish.
The peace pole was given by the Church of the Brethren in Oakton, Virginia,
who have been working on a partnership with the Ramallah Church was years.
Click here for a higher resolution picture of the thumbnail
February,
2008 - The ELCJHL's Environmental Education Center in Beit Jala has an integrated program educating especially area youth about our responsibility to care for our environment. Teachers at the Center have been featured in local publications about the environment.
One of the main concerns about the Israeli occupation policies is the effect on the environment, especially of the construction of the separation barrier.
Click here for recent articles in This Week in Palestine's February Issue on the Environment and the summer 2007 issue of Cornerstone from Sabeel on the Environment:
Can We Protect Our Environment by Buthina Hannuneh and Dua' Salameh
Robin Visits EEC for the Fourth Time by Riad Abu Saada
Myths and Facts about Hyenas by Simon Awad
The Israeli Separation Plan by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem
Cornerstone Summer 2007 Issue by Sabeel on the Environment includes:
Simon Awad's The Effect of the Occupation on the Environment
Israeli Violations against the Palestinian Environment by Jad Isaac of ARIJ
Three ELCA bishops and their planning delegation traveled to Palestine and Israel in early February to plan the January, 2009, conference of bishops, where 55-60 bishops from the US and Canada and their delegations are planning to attend. The delegation visited Bishop Munib Younan and the congregations of the ELCJHL, the partner of both the ELCA and the ELCIC, to hear about faith and life in the Palestinian Lutheran church. The group met Palestinian and Israeli officials from the governments and other organizations to seek out information about prospects for peace and justice in the Holy Land. The people of the ELCJHL were heartened that their partners were coming to see for themselves the realities on the ground.
Click here to view Bishop Nelson's message to Christmas Lutheran.
Click here to read Pastor Eric Shafer's blog about the trip and links to his videos.
The
Third conference on Coexistence and Peacemaking in Amman, Jordan, sponsored
by the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center, issued a communique
pledging to uphold freedom of religion, respect for holy places, symbols and
writings, and seeking free access for all for holy sites.
For a report, click here.
For the final communique, click
here.
In October of 2007, 138 Muslim scholars issued "A Common Word" addressed to the Pope and other Christian leaders outlining that the heart of Islam and Christianity was love of God and neighbor and citing quotations from the Bible and the Quran illustrating this. For more, click here.
This all follows in the Spirit of the Amman Message, an initiative of King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to raise up the voices of moderation in Islam and speak out against violence and extremism committed in the name of Islam. For more information, click here.
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2000
Israelis and Palestinians Protest Gaza BlockadeAbout 2000 people from all over Israel and Palestine convoyed to Erez Crossing into Gaza on Saturday to protest the blockade of Gaza and to bring food and supplies of all kind. Car convoys from Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva and other cities converged at Erez at about noon, carrying water filters, diapers, flour, clothes, blankets and other assorted items.
Protest organizers had appealed to Israeli officials to take in the truckloads of goods Saturday, but were refused. They were told they would allow them into Gaza on Sunday.
For pictures click here. For a news story about the protest, click here.
The local heads of Jerusalem churches today released a statement urging action on the siege of Gaza:
We pray for the day when the people of Gaza will be free from occupation, from political differences, from violence and from despair. We pray for the Israelis and Palestinians to respect human life and God's love for every human life, and to take all possible measures to end this suffering. Only bold steps towards just peace and ending the violence will protect the human life and dignity of both people.
For the full statement, click here.
The Heads of local churches in Jerusalem and their delegations visited the Armenian Patriarchate to bring Christmas greetings Monday. The Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 19th. The churches visit one another on their Christmases, which are Jan 19th for Armenian, Jan 7 for Greek Orthodox and Dec 25 for Catholic, Evangelicals and others.
Jerusalem, January 19 - 27
Theme : " Pray without ceasing."
(1 Thess 5: 13b-18)
The 2008 “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the “Church Unity Octave”. To commemorate this fact the initial draft of material for this year was prepared by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, New York, in consultation with representatives of other churches and ecumenical bodies in the USA. The Graymoor Institute is directed by the “Society of Atonement”, founded by Fr. Paul Watson who introduced the first Prayer Octave.
In the same spirit the biblical text chosen for this year: “Pray without ceasing” emphasizes that life in the Christian community is possible only through prayer. Further, it shows that prayer is an integral part of the life of Christians precisely as they seek to manifest the unity which is given them in Christ – a unity which is not limited to doctrinal agreements and formal statements, but finds expression in the things that make for peace, in concrete actions which express and build up their unity in Christ and with one another.
