Ecumenical accompaniers, land experts, and the United Nations are all documenting increasing instances in which Palestinians are not granted the construction permits needed for natural growth and development. When they build without permits they open themselves to demolitions.
A school principal near Jerusalem is expressing grave concerns for her students and staff as harassment by settlers increases, and fear keeps young people from learning.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel convened online for its annual meeting from 4-7 November.
Reports from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (WCC-EAPPI) revealed that Palestinian communities are defenseless against violence and are living in fear.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has released a new fact sheet, “Demographics of East Jerusalem,” as part of the work of the WCC-Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
The most recent group from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel has shared observations and feedback from local people on the ground who describe the accompaniers “a light to the world.”
World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay joined all those grieving the loss of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip on 31 August.
A delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC), accompanied by partners from the Middle East Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, and Caritas Internationalis, met online on 7 August with staff from the WCC Jerusalem Liaison Office and with accompaniers from the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
As a new report came in from ecumenical accompaniers on the ground in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and the Jordan Valley, their documentation of incidents shows that settler violence is increasing and becoming more blatant—and has residents wondering if anyone is answering their calls for justice.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has announced the theme for the 2024 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, to be observed 16-22 September. This week includes the UN International Day of Peace on 21 September, now in its 25th year.
Medical doctors working with mobile health units in Gaza operated by the Middle East Council of Churches Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees described the serious needs they are seeing among people who don’t have enough safe water, food, or medicines.
The most recent group of ecumenical accompaniers from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, in their latest report, highlighted settler violence as a key issue in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and the Jordan Valley.
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.
On Palm Sunday, accompaniers from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel walked in the traditional procession, carrying messages of solidarity with Gaza Christians during an especially painful time.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has published online new materials related to the 2024 WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative: “Out of the darkness – Easter solidarity with the Holy Land.”
Six ecumenical accompaniers have returned to Palestine and Israel, resuming in-person operations for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. Ecumenical accompaniers, who were evacuated beginning of October 2023, had been continuing their support and accompaniment online.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay marked 11 January as a “significant moment for justice and the rule of law,” as public hearings commenced in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on allegations against the State of Israel of violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
