World Council of Churches - News Release
For immediate release - 21/02/2005
WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE ENCOURAGES CONSIDERATION OF ECONOMIC MEASURES FOR PEACE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE
The World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee reminded the Council's member churches that "with investment funds, they have an opportunity to use those funds responsibly in support of peaceful solutions" to the Israel/Palestine conflict. The WCC governing body encouraged the Council's member churches "to give serious consideration to economic measures" as a new way to work for peace, by looking at ways to not participate economically in illegal activities related to the Israeli occupation. In that sense, the committee affirmed "economic pressure, appropriately and openly applied," as a "means of action".  Click here for full text (PDF)

World Council of Churches
For immediate release - 18/03/2005
CAN REFUSAL STOP THE OCCUPATION?
By Martin Smedjeback (*)
The refusal movement in Israel has grown rapidly over the last few years. It has become more accepted in Israeli society to refuse military service in the occupied territories and become what is known as a "refusenik". According to a very optimistic Arik Diamant, director of Courage to Refuse, the movement can lead to what many believe to be the unthinkable. "We are getting very good vibes," says Diamant. "We will be ending the occupation within five years." A member of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) gives an account of this new phenomenon. Click here for the entire article, links and photo (PDF)

The World Council of Churches condemns the assassination of Sheikh Yassin

New illegal Israeli restrictions on foreigners entering Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) - Kairos Letter

Paths to Peace in Israel and Palestine (GC 38 position).

Amid Mideast despair, hope. The Moderator and others in Kairos delegation write from Jerusalem, March 2004 (more).

A CALL FROM THE HEADS OF CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS HOLY LAND, PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS

Canadian Christian Leaders call for Peace with Justice in the Middle East

No Peace Without Justice: A Statement of the Middle East Working Group* of Inter-Church Action in solidarity with partners in the Occupied Territories

Open letter to the member churches of the World Council of Churches, regional and national councils of churches and ecumenical partner organisations

Resolution on a just peace in the Middle East: Approved by the Division of World Outreach

Links:
Sabeel - www.sabeel.org – a United Church partner organization that expresses a Palestinian Christian liberation theological perspective.

Middle East Council of Churches – www.mecc.org – a United Church partner organization

World Council of Churches www.wcc-coe.org look for their End the Occupation campaign information and the Ecumenical Accompaniment programme in Palestine and Israel.

Kairos – an ecumenical partner organization in Canada with a programme focus on the Middle East – www.kairoscanada.org.

United Church – www.united-church.ca there are letters and actions and positions that the United Church has taken vis-à-vis the Middle East.

General Council Resolution - Paths to Peace in Israel and Palestine

Whereas the Executive of General Council has affirmed its conviction that "a necessary step towards true peace in the region will be through the implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions specifically 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948) and that these resolutions require...the withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank and Gaza including settlements”; and

Whereas the World Council of Churches and global partners such as the Middle East Council of Churches have stated their clear understanding that an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine is necessary and required step for a lasting and just peace in the Middle East; and

Whereas the current situation of instability and hatred in the Middle East requires concerted action of all people to find a path to a just and peaceful solution of the conflict;

Therefore be it resolved that the 38th General Council record its conviction that a just peace in the Middle East will require:

• the recognition by the State of Israel of a fully sovereign State of Palestine with secure borders, and territorial contiguity encompassing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip;

• the recognition by the emergent State of Palestine and other neighbouring Arab States of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state within safe and secure borders;

• the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza;

• the ending of suicide bombings as well as other forms of violent attacks directed towards civilians on the part of Palestinians;

• the withdrawal of Israeli military forces to pre-1967 borders and the ending of all forms of collective punishment and violence by the State of Israel on the Palestinian people;

• the recognition by the State of Israel and the emergent State of Palestine of equal citizenship rights, protections, privileges and responsibilities for all of their respective citizens regardless of religious or national origins.

Copyright © 2004 The United Church of Canada