ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 5, 2005
ELCA Presiding Bishop, LWF Leaders Meet With Palestinian President Abbas
05-165-JB
GAZA CITY -- Three top leaders of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) met here Sept. 3 with Mahmoud Abbas, president
of the Palestinian Authority, to discuss Middle East peace,
prospects for Lutheran schools, services offered by Augusta
Victoria Hospital and interfaith relations.
The LWF is a global communion of 138 Lutheran churches in 77
countries, representing 66 million Lutherans worldwide.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, LWF president and presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev.
Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, and the Rev. Munib A.
Younan, LWF vice president, met with Abbas at his offices near
the Mediterranean Sea for about 45 minutes. Younan is also
bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy
Land (ELCJHL).
Abbas presented the Bethlehem 2000 Medal to Hanson and
Younan, and read citations praising them for working for peace,
justice and reconciliation, for promoting interfaith relations
and for their work on behalf of the Palestinian people.
The LWF Council is meeting in Jerusalem and Bethlehem Aug.
31-Sept. 6, "to show a longstanding commitment to the Palestinian
people," Hanson said. Jerusalem belongs to all people, he said.
By meeting in this region the LWF is renewing its commitment to
the Palestinian people. "We will pray for you," Hanson told
Abbas.
Noko expressed hope that LWF Council members will have a
different perception of what people are facing here and will
share what they learned with other LWF churches, he said.
The group discussed the recent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
settlements. Hanson congratulated Abbas on the withdrawal and
noted that "much has changed and much remains."
Abbas emphasized that Palestinians now must rebuild Gaza and
said there are many needs among the population.
"People are living in a dire situation here," he told the
Lutheran leaders. Palestinians and Israelis "need to return to
the Road Map," he said, and Palestinians need to "engage" the
Israelis on peace issues. Gaza was a starting point, and
disengagement must continue, Abbas said.
The separation wall or security barrier, Abbas said, "is
uncivilized." Palestinians do not like the wall, and Abbas said
he does not believe it will protect the Israelis. The Berlin
Wall in Germany came down, and the wall is the only wall of its
kind left in the world, he said.
On Augusta Victoria, the LWF-operated health care facility
on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, Hanson said Lutherans
have a long history of providing for the humanitarian needs of
people.
"It's important to keep Augusta Victoria Hospital," Hanson
said.
Abbas and the LWF leaders discussed the services to
Palestinian refugees offered by Augusta Victoria Hospital, such
as cancer treatment, kidney dialysis and pediatric services. The
LWF offers vocational training at the hospital.
The LWF would like to further develop the LWF property on
the Mount of Olives by providing housing, sports facilities and a
community center for Palestinian Christians, Hanson said.
The ELCJHL operates six West Bank schools. Students, both
Christian and Muslim, performed music and dance for the LWF
Council members Sept. 2. Such performances are a sign of hope
for the future, Hanson said.
"What kind of future do we see? Do we see Palestinian
people living with freedom and justice in a land that is there
own? The seeds of that future we saw last night, Palestinian
young people [with] Muslims and Christians together. But we have
concern about the viability of the future of the schools," he
said.
"I know how much you are doing for our people, and Muslims
and Christians, and Jerusalem," Abbas told the Lutherans.
Hanson said the Lutherans are interested in working with
religious leaders and governments to develop protocols that
promote greater interfaith understanding and peace, an idea
suggested to them in a meeting with His Royal Highness Prince
Ghazi of Jordan one week earlier.
The same week the Lutheran leaders visited Yona Metzger,
chief rabbi of Israel. In that meeting, Metzger expressed
concern to the Lutherans about the fate of synagogues that remain
in Gaza now that Israeli settlers have left. Noko raised the
subject with Abbas in the meeting. The Palestinian president
said it would be better if the Israelis removed the synagogues
from the former settlements and relocated them, a point with
which Noko agreed.
"We have to respect the holy places for each other," Abbas
said.
Younan said he, Muslim and Jewish leaders are working
together to establish the Council for Religious Leadership in the
Holy Land, and he asked Abbas for his support of the council's
work. The LWF and ELCJHL want to promote "the right image about
Islam" to the world, Younan said. Palestinian Christians are the
voice for Islam to the West and the whole world, he said.
"That's on our hearts," Younan said.
"We don't want the extremists in any religion to define who
we are," Hanson said.
"Al-Qaida does not represent Islam. Never. Islam is peace,"
Abbas said in response. He said the "atmosphere" about Islam is
changing, and that Muslim leaders are speaking out openly against
terrorism, emphasizing they will not accept it.
Before the meeting ended, Hanson asked Abbas to tell him
what message he can take back to religious leaders in the United
States and what message should he be communicating to the U.S.
government. Hanson is a part of an interfaith group of religious
leaders that have called on the U.S. government to be involved in
promoting the Road Map for Middle East peace. The group has a 12-
point plan that addresses the governments of the United States
and Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.
"We are now on track. The train is on the right railway.
We have to take the momentum and work very hard to return back to
the Road Map," Abbas said in response. If these things can be
accomplished, "peace will prevail everywhere," he added.
Hanson said that in his conversations with U.S. government
leaders, they have expressed great confidence in the Palestinian
president.
Abbas and U.S. President George W. Bush met earlier this
summer, Abbas said. Bush promised he would put "some pressure" on
the Israelis to freeze construction of the wall and Jerusalem
settlements. These will be obstacles to peace in the future, he
said.
"We are determined to achieve peace for us, for the
Israelis, for everybody," Abbas said.
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Information about the LWF Council meeting is at
http://www.lutheranworld.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
