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Our series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors highlights those who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Sally Azar is a pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and currently serves as a pastor in Jerusalem for both Arabic and English-speaking congregations. 

The Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to be held in Egypt will offer participants an opportunity to gain a sense of the deep Christian spirituality of the region, according to Bishop Anba Suriel of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Sinéad Ní Bhroin, from the EAPPI UK and Ireland team, served as an ecumenical accompanier in Bethlehem from 31 August to 7 October. The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, based on an appeal from local church leaders to create an international presence in the country, accompanies the local people and communities, offering a protective presence and witnessing daily struggles and hopes. Below, a reflection on what she witnessed while in the field.

World Council of Churches (WCC) president for Eastern Orthodox Churches Metropolitan Vasilios of Ammochostos has three-quarters of his diocese on the island of Cyprus under Turkish occupation, but no Christians are still living in the occupied part.

After returning from a solidarity visit to Türkiye, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria appear in a video interview speaking about what they saw, how churches are working together, and their unique reflections on their visit—held 4-6 April—took place during western Holy Week.

“Affirming justice and human dignity”  was the theme of the fourth thematic plenary of the World Council of Churches(WCC) 11th assembly on 6 September. The presentation featured a wheelchair dance performance by Fadi El Halabi, a wheelchair user and Ms. Karen Abi Nader, an international artist. In the freestyle dance, Halabi effortlessly spinned around his wheelchair and,  with slow coordinated moves together with his dance partner, threw hands in the air symbolizing the joy that can only be felt when all exclusionary and disempowerment practices in church and society are addressed.

When Dr Michel Abs, secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches, speaks about living conditions in Lebanon, his compassion for his people—and his passion for peace—brim over. In a video interview with the World Council of Churches, he honestly shared his deepest concerns about the current socio-economic crisis in his nation, and how churches are helping.

Jack Munayer, coordinator for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (WCC-EAPPI), recently visited the South Hebron Hills area with diplomatic delegates from eight different countries, as well as Israeli activists. The visit was organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The group visited families and listened to their stories with the goal of discerning the nature of hardship and trauma that the occupation continues to cause.

يبدأ برنامج المرافقة المسكونية في فلسطين وإسرائيل التابع لمجلس الكنائس العالمي مبادرة القدس الشرقية التي يرافق فيها البرنامج – حتى دون حضور ملموس- الأسر التي تواجه الإخلاء والتشريد وكذلك الأشخاص الذين يواجهون انتهاكات أخرى لحقوقهم. ويشرح فيما يلي مديرُ لجنة الكنائس المعنية بالشؤون الدولية التابعة لمجلس الكنائس العالمي Peter Prove أهداف مبادرة القدس الشرقية والخلفية التاريخية لها.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is beginning an East Jerusalem Initiative, through which the WCC-EAPPI is accompanying—even without a physical presence—families facing eviction and displacement, as well as people facing other violations of their rights. Below, WCC director of the Commission for the Churches on International Affairs Peter Prove explains the goals and history behind the East Jerusalem Initiative.

أشرفت مبادرة مجلس الكنائس العالمي لقطاف الزيتون في عام 2020 على الانتهاء في بداية شهر كانون الأول/ ديسمبر، لذا أجرى قسم الاتصالات في مجلس الكنائس العالمي لقاءً مع نورا كارمي، وهي فلسطينية مسيحية تعمل من أجل السلام والعدالة طيلة حياتها، للاستماع إلى وجه نظرها بخصوص الوضع في الأرض المقدسة اليوم ودور الإيمان في المحافظة على الأمل.

ها قد اقترب موسم قطاف الزيتون من الانتهاء، وتعود الحياة تحت وطأة الاحتلال إلى "طبيعتها" للمجتمعات المحلية الفلسطينية في الضفة الغربية. وتعني "طبيعتها" هذه النزوح القسري والخوف المستمر من التهديدات والمضايقات، ويلوح في الأفق خطر ضم إسرائيل لمساحات كبيرة من الأراضي الخصبة التي يملكها المزارعون الفلسطينيون – وهي خطوة من شأنها أن "تقوض السلم والعدل وأن تمثل انتهاكاً صارخاً للقانون الدولي"، وفقاً لبيان مسكوني مشترك أصدره مجلس الكنائس العالمي ومنظمات مسكونية أخرى في وقت سابق من هذا العام.

As the WCC olive harvest initiative in 2020 drew to a close in early December, WCC News met with Nora Carmi, a Christian Palestinian who has worked for peace and justice her whole life, to hear her perspective on the situation in the holy land today, and the role of faith in sustaining hope.

With olive harvest season coming to an end, life under occupation returns to “normal” for Palestinian communities on the West Bank. Under that “normal,” which means forced displacements and constant fear of threats and harassments, now also looms a threatening Israeli annexation of large chunks of fertile land owned by Palestinian farmers – a move which would “undermine peace and justice and be in direct violation of international law,” according to a joint ecumenical statement by the WCC and other ecumenical organizations earlier this year.  

It is easy to feel despair of the unjust situation for the Palestinians, who are experiencing daily humiliation, annexation of land, growing settlements, land grabbing and poverty. This year Palestine has been illegally occupied for 53 years. But there are also many people in Palestine cultivating hope, faith and love for transforming the situation.

Illegal occupation of Palestinian lands has been ongoing for 53 years, imposing deep injustices on the daily life of local communities. In Nablus, in the northern West Bank, many Palestinians know what it can be like to live with settlements close by, not least in the villages around the city, where Palestinian landowners regularly face settler abuse. Yet there are many in the area who persist, in working hard on a daily basis to foster peace and justice. Below, Rev. Jamil Khadir reflects on what this means for him as a local pastor in Nablus.

Forty-year-old Shireen Elayan lives on the family farm outside Bethlehem; the family has owned the farm for generations.