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The latest group of World Council of Churches (WCC) ecumenical accompaniers reported incidents between 14 April and 22 May that ranged from violence to displacement, from harassment to intimidation in the West Bank. 

Marking 75 years since Al-Nakba—the Arabic term for the events of 1948, when many Palestinians were displaced from their homeland by the creation of the new state of Israel—religious leaders reflected on what Al-Nakba means today.

“Los soldados se fueron porque ustedes estaban observando”.

“Puedo cuidar a mi rebaño de ovejas cerca de la base militar porque me siento seguro en presencia de los acompañantes ecuménicos, y el acoso de los colonos es mucho menor cuando ustedes están por aquí”.

“Nos sentimos seguros cuando los acompañantes ecuménicos están presentes”.

"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.”

Para los 380 000 palestinos que viven en Jerusalén Este, la vida diaria se ve a menudo empañada por desigualdades que afectan a todo: desde la vivienda, los servicios sanitarios, las guarderías y hasta la recogida de basuras. Aunque los palestinos representan el 39% de la población de la ciudad, existen muchas discrepancias en los servicios que reciben.

El Dr. Jad Isaac suele pensar en números. Por lo que respecta a las tierras de la Ribera Occidental a las afueras de Jerusalén y el valle del Jordán –que se conocen simplemente como E1 (abreviatura de Este 1)–, Isaac sopesa una cifra descarnada: la pérdida de dos mil millones de dólares cada año para los palestinos frente a la capacidad de obtener la misma cantidad de ingresos netos, saldar deudas y, a su vez, ayudar a países más pobres. La cifra astronómica equivale a las oportunidades desaprovechadas en el ámbito del turismo debido a la falta de acceso al área E1, el valle del Jordán y el mar Muerto, según el Estudio del coste económico de la ocupación realizado por el Instituto de Investigación Aplicada de Jerusalén.

For the 380,000 Palestinians that live in East Jerusalem, daily life is often marred by inequalities related to everything from housing, health services, childcare, and even garbage pickup. Even though Palestinians make up 39% of the city, there are many discrepancies in the services they receive.

Dr Jad Issac tends to think in numbers. When it comes to the land in the West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley—known simply as E1— Issac is weighing a stark figure: a loss of $2 billion a year for Palestinians versus the ability to net the same amount of revenue, pay off debts, and, in turn, help poorer countries.  The astronomical figure amounts to lost tourism opportunities due to the lack of access to E1, Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea—as per the Economic Cost of the Occupation Study done by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem.

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. 

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.

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.

Mientras continuaban las operaciones de búsqueda y rescate en Turquía y Siria tras el fuerte terremoto, las iglesias se movilizaron para ofrecer ayuda humanitaria y oraciones.

As search-and-rescue continued in Turkey and Syria following a massive earthquake, churches mobilized to offer humanitarian aid and prayers.

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.

En 1919, Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs, entonces gobernador militar de Jerusalén, trajo a Jerusalén a tres familias armenias —las familias Balian, Karakeshian y Ohanessian— para renovar los mosaicos del siglo XVI de la Cúpula de la Roca de la mezquita de Al-Aqsa.