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The plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and the need to hold the Israeli State accountable under international law were highlighted at a roundtable hosted by the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on 31 May. The roundtable was one of the events marking the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel.

Initiators of a World Week for Peace have urged Christians to pray and act for a just peace in Palestine and Israel. The call is "timely", they said, as peace activists have reportedly been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip this morning.

Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land need to go beyond a mere homage to ancient sites and instead show concern for the Palestinian people living there, whose lives are severely constricted by the Israeli occupation of their land.Â

"Our commitment to peace as churches and as Christians is something we have inherited at birth, or, indeed, from the birth of the baby of Bethlehem," said Bishop Dr Martin Schindehütte of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) at a day preparing for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation.

In countries across six continents, a wide diversity of religious communities, people of faith, human rights and peace organizations are preparing to mark the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel.

While seeing holy sites and ancient structures remains popular for Christian tourists visiting the Holy Land, there is an emerging concern that Christian tourists have an ethical obligation to engage with the people living there, to become witnesses to their struggle for freedom, human dignity, equality, justice and peace.

Recent violence in Iraq has led Iraqi church leaders to issue a statement calling on “all government officials and political parties in order to give priority to the public interest and the security of citizens.”

In a keynote speech on the theme of the 13 th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) "Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal", the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) said: " There is no true prophecy that does not speak both the critical truth and contribute to the building up of a vision, a dream of the new life in common."

In an Easter message, more than 60 South African church leaders and Christian, Jewish and Muslim lay theologians have conveyed their solidarity with Palestinian Christians in their Kairos call.

By Kimmy and Stefan, Ecumenical Accompaniers in Bethlehem

Concerned about the security of Christians in Egypt, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has encouraged the churches in the country to continue their involvement in Muslim-Christian dialogue. "

"With great hope and deep satisfaction" the World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the news that a Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq has been established.

http://pief.oikoumene.org is a new website launched by the Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum geared to providing a springboard for advocacy, public education, and mobilization. The forum's role consists in convening networks for common action in order to generate church-based awareness raising and advocacy for peace in the Middle East. The website will provide support for actions with partner churches and ecumenical organizations focussing on the following areas:

World Council of Churches general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, said the endorsement by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem of the “Kairos Palestine” document “adds integrity, authority and force to the message of the document.”

By Ranjan Solomon (*)

A group of Palestinian Christians representing a variety of churches and church-related organizations have issued an animated and prayerful call for an end to occupation of Palestine by Israel.

By Patrick Franks and Miranda Rosoux (*)

Churches and other ecumenical partners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have received an appeal to "mobilize their members and the public" in resistance to Israel's approval for the construction of 900 new housing units in the Gilo settlement on traditionally Palestinian land in East Jerusalem. The WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, called on organizations related to the Council "to act with resolve, in concert," with the intention "to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement programme it represents."

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has asked the United Nations secretary-general to make sure that recommendations of a key report about war crimes committed during the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian armed forces in Gaza at the beginning of 2009 are properly followed up.