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A global ecumenical prayer hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 18 September focused on the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, and the meaning of finding a spiritual home in the Holy Land.

A global ecumenical prayer on 18 September will commemorate the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel, being observed this year from 16-23 September. The World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting online or in-person participation for people to pray, advocate, and stand in solidarity with people in the Holy Land.

Bethlehem and its basilica are signs of hope, not just to one community or church, but to the whole human family, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and All Palestine told a gathering at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.

After thousands of Orthodox Christians were denied access to Mount Tabor, in the Lower Galilee—site of the transfiguration of Jesus—World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed concern about the infringement on religious freedom in the Holy Land.

A rising trend of violence in the West Bank led four Palestinian communities to leave their villages and move somewhere else, due to the residents living in constant fear and occupation-related coercive measures.

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.

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.