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It was a bright and sunny morning when Rabbis for Human Rights organized a solidarity walk on Tuesday through the Israeli administered H2 area of Hebron, where growing tension has forced the World Council of Churches (WCC) to temporarily suspend its presence of ecumenical accompaniers.

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held its third meeting at the Patriarchal See of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in Lebanon on 22-23 January.

The World Council of Churches’ condemnation of antisemitism is clear and categorical. WCC regards antisemitism as irreconcilable with the profession and practice of the Christian faith, and a sin against God and humanity.

The WCC published an open letter to media in response to the new report released by the NGO Monitor criticizing the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.

The WCC-EAPPI works for just peace in the Holy Land. And as peace cannot be a one-sided process, efforts are made continuously to build partnerships along the full range of the spectrum.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned an attack on a bus in Egypt carrying tourists on Friday near the Giza Pyramids, killing four Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide. The blast wounded 11 other Vietnamese tourists as well as the Egyptian driver.

WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

‘History’ and ‘Time’ were the thirteenth and fourteenth subjects covered in a workshop which took place in Erlangen, Germany, 12-14 December as part of a project “Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses.”

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit hosted a lunch on 12 December in gratitude to the services rendered by the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura at the Château de Bossey with ambassador Heidi Grau, Head of the human security division at the Swiss FDFA, and the UN and WCC teams on Syria.

Respect for the other lies at the heart of peace education and was a key thread through a debate entitled “Education for Peace in a multi-religious world”. It was held on the 2018 World Human Rights Day at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Today, as the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches began its meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, we received news of another attack against our Coptic Christian sisters and brothers in Egypt.

On 22 October, church leaders in the Holy Land organized an ecumenical visit to the threatened Bedouin community of Khan El Ahmar. They shared Biblical prayers including references to the beatitudes from the sermon on the mount as a response to injustice, and as words of comfort to the people under threat of displacement.

Last week the 2,000-day mark since the abduction of two Syrian archbishops was passed. Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi haven’t been heard from since gunmen kidnapped them outside Aleppo in April 2013, almost five and a half years ago.

At 4.45, the Qalandiya checkpoint is already crowded, as thousands upon thousands of Palestinians try to make their way to Jerusalem each day. Qalandiya is the main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem, and ecumenical accompaniers WCC-EAPPI visit regularly in the early mornings.

”10 minutes is the rule, so you make a lot of noise in your room at 5.50 if the other EA isn’t up.” Shepherding is early morning business, and international accompaniers from the WCC-EAPPI play a particular role, as they offer protective presence to Palestinian communities on the West Bank.

Due date for demolition of Khan al Ahmar was 1 October. Though the Bedouin community still stands, the feeling is the bulldozers could show up anytime.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

The World Council of Churches is inviting its global fellowship and all people of good will to participate in the World Week of Peace in Palestine and Israel on 16-23 September.

Bishop Emeritus Munib Younan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land accepted a “Building Bridges of Understanding” award on 12 September at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The award is organized by the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

Representing hope in the face of adversity, the Antioch Syrian University opened its doors on 8 September in Ma’arat Sednaya, about 20 km from Damascus.