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Feature story
Yacoub Rajabi

In Silwan, Jerusalem, “we want to see justice for everyone”

The following feature story is part of a series that begins this year’s Easter Initiative, which will offer a glimpse into the daily lives of Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, living in and around Jerusalem, some of the challenges they face, and what gives them hope. The concept of sacredness underscores these stories. Below, Yacoub Rajabi’s story speaks to the sacredness of human dignity—and the sacredness of life itself.

16 March 2022
Event
Easter Initiative 2022

WCC-EAPPI Easter Initiative 2022

16 March - 17 April 2022

An Easter initiative by the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (WCC-EAPPI) sets out to connect the sacredness of Jerusalem with what is sacred to us as human beings: home, worship, family, identity, human dignity and life, and solidarity.

News
Group of people standing around large table all looking into the camera.

WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca visits Middle East Council of Churches

Middle East Council of Churches secretary general Dr Michel Abs welcomed World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca on 14 December at the headquarters of the Middle East Council of Churches General Secretariat in Beirut. The president of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and president of the Council for the Evangelical Family, H.E. Rev. Dr Habib Badr, as well the General Secretariat team in Beirut, also received Sauca.

20 December 2021
News
View of Jerusalem from a vantage point above the city.

WCC executive committee calls “conscience of the world” to “obstruction of legitimate Palestinian aspirations for equal human dignity and rights”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, in a public statement, expressed grave concern over recent developments in Palestine and Israel, which indicate “a deteriorating situation in the region, emblematic of the many ways in which the ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian territories obstructs achieving a just peace among the people of the Holy Land, and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it which have resulted in further restrictions on the space for civil society action in the region.”

17 November 2021
Interview
Dr Michel Abs

In Lebanon, “without peace there is no justice”

When Dr Michel Abs, secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches, speaks about living conditions in Lebanon, his compassion for his people—and his passion for peace—brim over. In a video interview with the World Council of Churches, he honestly shared his deepest concerns about the current socio-economic crisis in his nation, and how churches are helping.

21 July 2021
Interview
Silwan, East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem Initiative: accompanying families facing eviction and displacement

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is beginning an East Jerusalem Initiative, through which the WCC-EAPPI is accompanying—even without a physical presence—families facing eviction and displacement, as well as people facing other violations of their rights. Below, WCC director of the Commission for the Churches on International Affairs Peter Prove explains the goals and history behind the East Jerusalem Initiative.

08 July 2021
Feature story
Olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Battir, West Bank, 2020.

As olive harvest draws to a close, who is helping the farmers?

Olive farming should be a peaceful activity, but for many Palestinian farmers the harvest season is a time of tension, violent attacks, and destruction of precious olive trees. Farmers in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories face a barrage of such threats from nearby Israeli settlers.

08 December 2020
Interview
PhotoByAlbinHillert_20181012_AH1_3637.jpg

Fr Jamal Khader: “We need to keep hope alive” in Palestine

It is easy to feel despair of the unjust situation for the Palestinians, who are experiencing daily humiliation, annexation of land, growing settlements, land grabbing and poverty. This year Palestine has been illegally occupied for 53 years. But there are also many people in Palestine cultivating hope, faith and love for transforming the situation.

25 November 2020
News
A fence marks off the nearby area, as a group celebrate Easter Sunday on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

World Week for Peace highlights humanity and equality

Under the theme “Humanity and equality in God’s creation”, people of faith all over the world are encouraged to bear common witness by gathering in prayer and acts of support during the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel. This yearly manifestation of solidarity and hope takes place 15 – 22 September and as usual it includes the International Day of Peace on 21 September.

15 September 2019
News
Rev. Dr Saïd Ailabouni, director for Europe, Middle East & North Africa region at the Global Mission Unit of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

Dr Saïd Ailabouni: God is on the side of rejected, oppressed, occupied

Born in Nazareth, Galilee, Rev. Dr Saïd Ailabouni moved to the US at the age of 19 to become a physician. But he was so angry at God that he went to study theology instead, becoming a Lutheran pastor. Now he is leading the Middle East & Europe desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since leaving his hometown 50 years ago, he visits his Palestinian family regularly. As the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel approaches, Ailabouni agreed to share some of his lifetime observations with the Word Council of Churches.

12 September 2019