Der Ökumenische Rat der Kirchen (ÖRK) veröffentlichte ein Datenblatt zu Abrissen in Ostjerusalem, das ÖRK-Mitgliedskirchen, ökumenischen Begleitpersonen und der Presse als Quelle zuverlässiger Informationen dient.
Between the period of the 13th of September 1993 (when the Oslo Agreement was signed) and the 31st of December 2022: Israel demolished 2787 structures in East Jerusalem including 213 donor-funded structures, and it displaced 5093 persons including 2582 children. These included homes; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities; and agricultural structures.
"The soldiers went away because you were watching.”
“I am able to herd my sheep near the military base because I feel safe in the presence of ecumenical accompaniers, and settler harassment is much less when you are around.”
“We feel safe when the ecumenical accompaniers are present.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) released a fact sheet on demolitions in East Jerusalem that serves as a source of credible information for WCC member churches, ecumenical accompaniers, and the media.
Six ecumenical accompaniers participated in a Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, entering Jerusalem with hundreds of faithful from around the world—commemorating the journey taken by Jesus some 2,000 years ago.
In the aftermath of the attack against the Gethsemane Orthodox Church on 19 March, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Jerusalem Liaison Office co-organized a solidarity visit to the church.
Below, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Public Witness and Diakonia, reflects on the relevance of ecumenical diakonia and public witness today.
Rev. Sally Azar, of the Lutheran Church in the Holy Land, met with ecumenical accompaniers from Ecuador, Finland, and Norway at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City on 3 March.
Alexander Brock, an international development practitioner from Ireland, recently returned from a deployment with the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. On 1 March, he gave an eyewitness account of what it’s like to monitor human rights in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank. He was part of a group of 27 ecumenical accompaniers from all over the world.
חנה ברג, אישה ישראלית המתארת את עצמה כ“דיפלומט לזכויות האדם” חברה בארגון מחסום ווטש, בילתה עשרות שנים בצפייה לדברים הקורים לפלסטינים במעברי גבול, והמסקנה—במילה אחת—“הפיכה ללא אנושי,” היא אומרת.
Hanna Barag, una israelí que se autodenomina “diplomática de los derechos humanos” para la organización Machsom Watch, lleva décadas observando lo que viven los palestinos en los puestos de control. Y es —en una palabra— “deshumanizante”, asegura.
Die Israelin Hanna Barag nennt sich selbst „Menschenrechtsdiplomatin" und arbeitet für die Organisation Machsom Watch. Sie beobachtet seit Jahrzehnten, wie die palästinensische Bevölkerung an den Checkpoints behandelt wird, und nennt es – schlicht in einem Wort – „entmenschlichend".
Hanna Barag, une Israélienne qui se décrit comme une «diplomate des droits de la personne», observe depuis plusieurs décennies ce que subissent les Palestinien-ne-s qui passent par les points de contrôle. Pour cette membre de l’organisation Machsom Watch, en un mot, c’est «déshumanisant».
Hanna Barag, an Israeli woman who has described herself as a “human rights diplomat” for the organization Machsom Watch, has spent decades observing what happens to Palestinians at checkpoints, and it’s—in a word—“de-humanizing,” she says.
Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; and Doa Nofal, second secretary at the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 1 February.
A group of Ecumenical Accompaniers completed their service in Palestine and Israel, handing their ministry over to the next wave, and celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the same time.
In a statement released 27 December, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the storming of its land by an Israeli radical group in Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, south of the Old City of Jerusalem.
As Christians around the world look to the Advent season, preparations are in full swing in the place where it all started, Bethlehem, to celebrate that one story that lies at the heart of all Christian traditions.
