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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.

Le temps qui s’est écoulé depuis le 7 octobre 2023 a été décrit de bien des manières – et les propos de Robi Damelin constituent «une vraie mise à l’épreuve de vos systèmes de croyances».

«Nous ne quitterons pas Gaza tant qu’il y aura une église debout.»

«Nous ne serons pas les derniers chrétiens à vivre à Gaza.»

«Nous avons tout perdu, mais nous ne perdrons ni notre mission, ni notre appartenance à ce lieu cher à nos cœurs.»

«Le christianisme a commencé ici et restera ici.» 

Tels sont les mots prononcés par Nader Abu Amsha, directeur exécutif du Département du service aux réfugiés de Palestine du Conseil des Églises du Moyen-Orient (DSPR-CEMO), qui tâche simplement de les aider à survivre jusqu’au lendemain. 

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.”

“We won’t leave Gaza as long as there is a standing church.” 

“We will not be the last Christians living in Gaza.” “

“We lost everything, but we can’t lose our mission and our belonging to this place dear to our hearts.”

“Christianity started here and will continue to be here.”  

These are the words people are uttering as Nader Abu Amsha, executive director of Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches (DSPR-MECC), tries to help them simply survive the next day. 

Le père Frans Bouwen, prêtre de l’Église catholique qui porte et œuvre pour l’œcuménisme à Jérusalem depuis 1969, dresse le portrait sans fard de la situation actuelle en Palestine et en Israël.

Father Frans Bouwen, a priest in the Catholic church who has been living and working for ecumenism in Jerusalem since 1969, has a stark description of the situation in Palestine and Israel today. 

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. 

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.

«Les militaires sont parti-e-s parce que vous regardiez.»

«Je peux faire paître mon troupeau près de la base militaire parce que je me sens en sécurité en présence des accompagnateurs et accompagnatrices œcuméniques, et les colons me harcèlent moins quand vous êtes ici, à proximité.»

«Nous nous sentons en sécurité en présence des accompagnateurs et accompagnatrices œcuméniques.»

"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.”