Jerusalem (Judith Sudilovsky), 16 May 2008:
Church groups in about 100 countries will join together in demonstrating their concern for peace in the Middle East as part of a global week of action for Middle East peace led by the World Council of Churches, and supported by Roman Catholic groups.

“The action of international churches makes it more encouraging for local churches in their struggle for freedom and human dignity,” said Yusef Daher, executive secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre. “It is also encourages us to do more locally.”

The week of “International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel 2008″ takes place from 4-10 June. It is the third year such an action week has taken place.

Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace organization, helped plan the week, and requested its 100 member organizations around the world to take part.

World Vision International as well as churches in Germany, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Hungary are taking part for the first time, the WCC said in a statement issued on 15 May, the day after the 60th anniversary of the declaration of Israeli independence.

Separately, the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, noted the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians over the past 60 years had been marked by deepening divisions, exclusion, hatred and brutal violence. This “can never secure a sustainable peace for either community”, he said.

In a letter to Israel’s President Shimon Peres made public on 16 May, Noko said peace could only be achieved through a dialogue that does not exclude any one. He said the official Israeli refusal to talk to Palestinian party Hamas, and Hamas’ refusal to recognise the State of Israel both lead to the “the same dead-end”.

Activities planned for the church peace action week include a multi-cultural peace service in Oslo with Arabic and Jewish music, a “human clock” counting off 60 years in Bethlehem, study sessions in Sri Lankan parishes, and children affected by violence in the Philippines writing to their Palestinian counterparts.

A common prayer for the week, sent out by the heads of churches in Jerusalem, asks that God “send us leaders ready to dedicate their lives to a just peace for their peoples”.

The prayer says, “In the land you made holy, free all of us from the sin of hatred and killing. Free the souls and hearts of Israelis and Palestinians from this sin.”

Daher said that in reciting the common prayer and other prayers for peace the local churches try to “keep a good balance” of praying for all three religions – Jews, Christians, and Muslims – and two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians. “We always pray for the benefit of all humans no matter their religion, but usually we ask more for the weakest,” he said.

For more about the initiative on the WCC website, click here.

To find out about Australian initiatives connected with the Week, click here.

To download the Jerusalem Prayer (pdf, 81 KB), click here.