ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 2, 2007  

Holy Land Lutheran Bishop Says Past 6 Months 'Disaster' for Middle East
07-015-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Describing the past six months as "a
disaster for Palestinians and indeed the whole Middle East," the
Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem urged U.S. Lutherans to join their
Middle East brothers and sisters and say they are "fed up" with
stigmatization, bloodshed, hatred and occupation affecting both
Israelis and Palestinians.
     The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), visited the United
States Jan. 18-31.  During that time he gave a series of lectures
on the situation in the Middle East and the future of Palestinian
Christianity.  Younan spoke in schools, congregations and
meetings in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York,
Pennsylvania and Texas.  His public appearance here was Jan. 25
at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, one of eight
seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  About
100 people attended.
     Younan reminded his audience that he is both a refugee and
an "Arab Palestinian Evangelical Lutheran Christian."  Many
people ask when the Palestinians "converted" to Christianity, he
said.  "We have to remind them that we've been here since the
first Pentecost when we are mentioned in Acts 2:11," Younan said.
     A recent study reported 162,000 Palestinian Christians live
in the Holy Land, Younan said, adding that 120,000 live in Israel
(within 1949 borders), 40,000 live in the West Bank including
East Jerusalem, and 2,000 live in Gaza.  Before 1948, Christians
made up about 15 percent of the population in historic Palestine.
Today Christians are less than 2 percent of the population in the
West Bank and one-quarter of 1 percent in Gaza, he said.
     The ELCJHL consists of about 2,000 members in six
congregations.  In the West Bank and Israel there are
congregations located in Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Bethlehem,
Jerusalem and Ramallah.  The church also has one congregation in
Amman, Jordan.
     Despite claims of Christian persecution by Muslims as the
reason for the Christian population decline in the Middle East,
Younan said the study concluded that the decline is a result of
"the political situation manifested in the occupation and the
loss of hope in a just peace."
     "We are very worried about the future of Palestinian
Christianity.  If present trends continue there will be no
living, local Christian community (there) in 15 to 20 years," he
said.
     The future of Palestinian Christianity is not in occupation,
violence, war or extremism, Younan told the audience.  "It is in
a just peace, for we believe that Christ has come to give us
life, and life abundantly," he said.
     Younan cited several examples of "unbearable" conditions for
people in the Middle East: land confiscation; building of
"illegal" settlements while Palestinian homes are demolished and
building permits are denied; the path of the Israeli separation
wall that cuts through Palestinian towns and neighborhoods,
separating families and farmers from their land; and the Qassam
rockets that fall on Israeli towns near Gaza despite several
attempted cease-fires.
     In addition, an international aid boycott of the Hamas
government of the Palestinian Authority has devastated an already
depressed economy, Younan said.  "According to U.N. statistics,
45 percent of Palestinians are unemployed and 65 percent are
under the poverty line," he said.
     The "siege" on Gaza and the 2006 war in south Lebanon
between Israel and Hezbollah left the Israelis and the whole
Middle East in "a cloud of uncertainty," Younan said.
"Politically, in some ways, we have gone back almost 20 years, as
both Israelis and Palestinians are struggling with the
recognition of the other," he said.
     Younan said there are some promising developments including
the possibility of renewed efforts at peace talks -- with help
from the U.S. government -- provided there are "solid efforts to
achieve justice."
     "We continue to affirm that we want Israel to have security
and Palestinians to have justice and freedom.  The security of
Israel is dependent on freedom and justice for Palestinians, and
freedom and justice for Palestinians is dependent on security for
the Israelis.  This is a symbiotic relationship that is the only
formula that will bring a lasting peace," he said.
     Younan argued that the conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians is at the heart of Middle East turmoil because Arabs
and Muslims see this as the test of the Western world's
relationship with it.  "It has created a great divide between the
East and the West, the occupied and the occupier.  We continue to
believe that the road to peace in this region is first through
Jerusalem and then through Baghdad and the rest," Younan said.
     The bishop said he believes several actions are needed to
help bring about peace in the Middle East. Both Israelis and
Palestinians must recognize each other based on 1949 borders;
renounce violence, including targeted assassinations and
excessive use of force; honor past agreements on both sides
including the freezing and/or dismantling of settlements on
Palestinian land; include religious leaders in advising
negotiators on religious issues; and hold an international
conference and negotiations to deal with the core problems of the
conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians.
     Other factors have a significant effect on Palestinian
Christians, Younan said:
+ Peacemaking is a biblical calling, the essence of the ministry
of reconciliation Jesus brought to the world. Palestinian
Christians are called to be ministers of reconciliation, brokers
of justice, defenders of human rights, instruments of peace and
prophets to speak the truth to power.
+ Palestinian Christians and Muslims "walk together ... as
Palestinians, not separated from one another."
+ Americans should speak up against "Christian extremists" in the
United States who don't want Palestinians to have justice, good
relations with Muslims and good relations with Jews.
+ Lutheran schools focus on teaching peace, co-existence and
democratic principles, where Muslim and Christian students learn
to live with one another.  "We are teaching our children --
Israelis and Palestinians -- how to live together without walls,
fences or barriers, without occupation or violence.  We are
teaching our children how to turn anger into love and our fear
into healing."
+ Jerusalem must be shared by Christians, Jews and Muslims, and
it must be the capital for both Israel and the future state of
Palestine.
     Younan laid out three principles that could lead to
reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis: a culture of
"truthfulness" and breaking a silence that hides the suffering of
people who are "vulnerable and violated;" reconciliation built on
justice, the fruit of which is peace; and a willingness by both
Israelis and Palestinians to forgive, which can bring "true
reconciliation."
     "I always make a point to urge Israelis to see God in the
Palestinians and urge Palestinians to see God in the Israelis.  I
urge both to accept the other's humanity with all of its pain and
suffering.  If we do so in the spirit of forgiveness, then we can
recognize each other's human, civil, religious, national and
political rights.  Only then will justice come.  Only then will
the Holy Land be the Promised Land of milk and honey for
Palestinians and Israelis," Younan concluded.
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     Information about the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan and the Holy Land is at
http://www.holyland-lutherans.org/ on the Web.

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