Vandalism targeting churches, cemeteries, and Christian properties in addition to physical and verbal abuse against Christian clergy have increased in the past months in the Holy Land, amid ongoing political tensions within Israeli society.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling on Azerbaijan for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, as more than 120,000 people—including 30,000 children—are suffering under an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.
تتوفر الآن موارد – بما في ذلك تأملات وصلوات والمزيد – لمساعدة الكنائس وجميع الأشخاص ذوي النوايا الحسنة للاحتفال بالأسبوع العالمي للسلام في فلسطين وإسرائيل خلال الفترة من 16-23 سبتمبر/أيلول 2023.
قام السفير إبراهيم خريشة، من بعثة فلسطين لدى سويسرا؛ والسفير الدكتور عمر عوض الله، مساعد الوزير لشؤون الأمم المتحدة والمنظمات المتخصصة؛ ودعاء نوفل، السكرتير الثاني في البعثة المراقبة الدائمة لدولة فلسطين لدى الأمم المتحدة والمنظمات الدولية الأخرى في جنيف، بزيارة إلى مجلس الكنائس العالمي (WCC) في 6 يوليو/تموز لمناقشة الوضع الراهن في فلسطين.
Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, Mission of Palestine to Switzerland; Ambassador Dr Omar Awadallah, assistant minister for United Nations and Specialized Organizations; 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 6 July to discuss the current situation in Palestine.
Resources—including reflections, prayers, and more—are now available to help churches and all people of good will to observe the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel from 16-23 September 2023.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay called for an end to the Israeli military’s assault in Jenin. The WCC condemns the assault and calls for the cessation of all violence in the West Bank including that from Israeli settlers.
“We carry the cross with dignity and hope.” These were the opening words as Middle East Christians stood to bear witness at the World Council of Churches central committee meeting, to the burdens and challenges – but also the resilience – that they live on a daily basis in the land where Christianity was born.
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.
World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed concern over a violent protest by rightwing Jewish activists against an Evangelical Christian event in Jerusalem on 28 May.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay shared joyful congratulations with Archbishop Hosam Naoum, who was installed as new primate of Anglican Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
خلال الذكرى الخامسة والسبعين للنكبة، أو "الكارثة"، الفلسطينية - حين تمّ تهجير مئات الآلاف من الفلسطينيين أثناء قيام دولة إسرائيل في عام 1948- أعرب الأمين العام لمجلس الكنائس العالمي، القس البروفسور الدكتور "جيري بيلاي" عن تضامنه مع الكنائس الأعضاء في الأرض المقدسة.
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.
During the 75th commemoration of what Palestinians refer to as the nakba, or “catastrophe”—when hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted during Israel's creation in 1948—World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with member churches in the Holy Land.
In a statement commemorating the Palestinians on the 75th anniversary of the “Al-Nakba,” the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem reiterates the churches’ call to strive for a just and lasting peace for in the Holy Land.
"أستطيع أن أرعى الأغنام بالقرب من القاعدة العسكرية لأني أشعر بالأمان بوجود المرافقين المسكونيين، ومضايقات المستوطنين تصبح أقل بكثير عند وجودكم في الجوار"
מועצת הכנסיות העולמית (WCC) הוציאה גיליון עובדות בנוגע להריסות במזרח ירושלים המשמש כמקור למידע אמין עבור הכנסיות החברות ב-WCC, עבור מלווים אקומניים והתקשורת.
Marking 10 years since the kidnapping of archbishops of Aleppo Paul Yazigi and John Ibrahim, the Middle East Council of Churches held an “Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented” on 24 April.
"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.