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As the latest set of World Council of Churches (WCC) ecumenical accompaniers left Palestine and Israel, ushering in a new set who will take the mantle, a handover ceremony brought heartfelt prayers for a just peace in the region. 

Mount Zion, located just outside the current walls of the Old City, via Zion Gate, is of great importance to Christians because this is the area of Dormition Abbey, the Cenacle (the traditional spot for remembering the Last Supper and washing of the Apostles’ feet), and where the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the event of Pentecost.

وُصفت الفترة الزمنية منذ 7 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 2023 بأوصاف مختلفة—  فبحسب "روبي داملين" فهي "اختبار حقيقي لأنظمتنا العقائدية ".

The stretch of time since 7 October 2023 has been described in many ways—and Robi Damelin’s words are “a real test of your belief systems.”

Women and children in Gaza are bearing the heavy brunt of the ongoing war, according to reports from the United Nations, with close to a million women and girls displaced and 12,882 women and children already perished in a war that has now raged for more than 100 days.

Despite the war, security concerns, and travel restrictions, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel and the WCC Jerusalem Office continue to operate. Ecumenical accompaniers have observed increasing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7. 

With olive picking about to begin in earnest for Palestinian farmers, they are sharing joy in their deep tradition of the harvest—and deep apprehension about harassment and aggression that seems to have already set in.

The latest group of ecumenical accompaniers from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (WCC-EAPPI) have reported growing incidents of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

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. 

"ابتعد الجنود لأنكم كنتم تشاهدون ما يحدث"

"أستطيع أن أرعى الأغنام بالقرب من القاعدة العسكرية لأني أشعر بالأمان بوجود المرافقين المسكونيين، ومضايقات المستوطنين تصبح أقل بكثير عند وجودكم في الجوار"

"نحن نشعر بالأمان بحضور المرافقين المسكونيين"

"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.”

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. 

أمضتْ حنا باراج، وهي امرأةٌ إسرائيليةٌ تصف نفسها بأنّها "دبلوماسيّةٌ في مجالِ حقوقِ الإنسان" وتعملُ لصالحِ منظمةِ ماخسوم ووتش، عقوداً في مراقبةِ ما يحدثُ للفلسطينيين عند نقاطِ التفتيش، وتقولُ - باختصار- "الوضعُ لاإنسانيٌّ".

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.

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.

Here comes the bride. Donned in a wedding gown, Ribhieh Rajabi is walking over a pile of rubble in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem. She’s surrounded by family, friends, journalists, and even strangers who came to show solidarity.

Im Omar—as named after her eldest son—mother of six, must scrape every day for something most people take for granted: water. For her, water is scarce—and it’s directly connected to her family’s livelihood.