Theological Reflection on Accompaniment

172 Pages·2006·0.57 MB·English

THEOLOGICAL
THEOLOGICAL
REFLECTION
ON
ACCOMPANIMENT
REFLECTION ON
ECUMENICAL ACCOMPANIMENT
ACCPROGORAMMEM IN PALEPSTINAE ANDN ISRAELIMENT
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WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ACCOMPANIMENT
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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
ON ACCOMPANIMENT
A workshop organised by the
ECUMENICAL ACCOMPANIMENT PROGRAMME
IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL OF THE
COMMISSION OF THE CHURCHES
ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
in partnership with Faith and Order of the
World Council of Churches
Geneva, 28-30 September 2005
WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ACCOMPANIMENT
“Even though I walk
through the valley of
the shadow of death, I
fear no evil; for thou
art with me; thy rod
and thy staff, they
comfort me”.
(Psalm 23: 4)
EAPPI
Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
World Council of Churches
150 Route de Ferney
P.O. Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
4 Website: www.eappi.org
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
ON ACCOMPANIMENT
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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ACCOMPANIMENT
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Foreword 4
By Rifat Odeh Kassis
Introductory presentation
of EAPPI Theological Consultation 6
By Peter Weiderud
Theological reflection and testimony 17
By Bishop Dr. Munib Younan
Report of the Theological Consultation 30
by Deenabadhu Manchala
Personal Testimonies 51
of Ecumenical Accompaniers
Testimonies of the Accompanied 133
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FOREWORD
BY RIFAT ODEH KASSIS
International Programme
Coordinator
and Project Manager
EAPPI stands for Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in
Palestine and Israel. It is an initiative of the World Council of
Churches (WCC) under the Ecumenical Campaign to End the
Illegal Occupation of Palestine: Support a Just Peace in the
Middle East. Its mission is to accompany Palestinians and
Israelis in their non-violent actions and concerted advocacy
efforts to end the occupation. Participants of the programme
monitor and report violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law, support acts of non-violent resistance
alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli
peace activists, offer protection through non-violent presence,
engage in public policy advocacy and, in general, stand in
solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against
the occupation.
In September 2005, over 30 participants from different parts of
the world, consisting of former Ecumenical Accompaniers,
partners from Palestine and Israel, EAPPI national co-ordinators
and WCC staff, came together to reflect on their experiences
with EAPPI and what it meant to them spiritually. The seminar,
which was organised by the Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs (CCIA), a body of the WCC, in co-operation
with the Faith and Order department, aimed at discussing the
theological and spiritual insights gained so far in order to
sharpen the vision of the programme.
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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ACCOMPANIMENT
EAPPI is a special programme, with a special history. It all began
with a cry for help. Some years ago, the Heads of Churches in
Jerusalem launched an appeal to not only the WCC, but also
the UN, governments, politicians and the people of the world
to do something to end the all-encompassing Israeli occupation
of Palestinian people and lands. This cry, unfortunately, did
not evoke a response from politicians and decision makers but
touched the hearts and minds of churches, church agencies,
NGOs and civil society. Civilians around the world responded
and continue to respond to this cry. Civilians are the ones who
are ready to go to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and
plant themselves firmly at checkpoints, wall gates, roadblocks
and other vulnerable places to show solidarity and provide
symbolic protection with their presence. Civilians are the ones
who are ready to stand in solidarity with Israeli peace activists
who are struggling, just like Palestinians, to end the occupation,
because they believe it is not only strangling the Palestinian
people but is also corrupting and damaging their own society.
Civilians are the ones ready to try to prevent violence and lessen
the suffering of people, to try to make the Israeli army feel
accountable by their presence as accompaniers. Civilians are
the ones ready to try to stop settler aggression and to listen to
the pain, hopes and dreams of Palestinians.
These are unarmed civilians equipped only with their faith,
will and aspiration for a better world; unarmed civilians who
are ready to put themselves at risk to show the victims and the
oppressed that they are not alone and that the whole world is
watching. In short, civilians are the ones to don the
characteristic EAPPI jacket and intensively engage with the
situation on the ground for a period of three months.
Parliamentarians or policy-makers, however, who are in a better
position to really make a structural change, and hence would
benefit from such an experience, have not been participating
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in EAPPI. Accompaniers try to address this gap with advocacy
work, aimed at changing the attitudes and policies of these
parliamentarians and policy-makers.
The three-day seminar provided a space to hear the voice of
these concerned and determined civilians, as well as those
who host and welcome them and coordinate their stay in
Palestine and Israel.
This booklet documents the highlights and outcomes of this
seminar. In it you will find an introduction and background to
the EAPPI written by Peter Weiderud, Director of the
Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of
the WCC, a theological intervention written by Bishop Munib
Younan, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan
and the Holy Land and the seminar report, edited by
Deenabandhu Manchala of the WCC Faith and Order
department. You will also find testimonies written by twenty-
one previous Ecumenical Accompaniers, as well as testimonies
from the ‘accompanied’; our partners and friends, Rima Tarazi,
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, Nidal Abu Zuluf and Shareef Omar
Khaled.
Thank you to those who participated in the seminar, and to
those of you who have contributed to this collection. We
sincerely hope that it offers a valuable incite into the spiritual
and theological perspectives of those who have stood side by
side one another in the search for a just and lasting peace.
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THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON ACCOMPANIMENT
INTRODUCTORY
PRESENTATION OF
EAPPI THEOLOGICAL
CONSULTATION
BY PETER WEIDERUD
CCIA Director, WCC
Dear Bishop, dear sisters and brothers,
dear friends and colleagues.
Welcome to Geneva and to a WCC consultation!
I am grateful for the opportunity to be with you this evening
and to participate in the dialogue on how to deepen and further
our theological reflection on accompaniment. I sincerely regret
that my duties will not allow me to be with you for the whole
period but I am very much looking forward to reading all your
testimonies and hearing the deliberations of this consultation
and see how they will shape the EAPPI.
We are in an intensive period at the WCC as we prepare for
WCC’s next General Assembly in February 2006, where our
members will celebrate the mid term of the Decade to
Overcome Violence, take stock of its learnings so far, prepare
for the next 5 years of the decade, and of course review the
WCC’s agenda for the next 8 years. In this context, the EAPPI
has a lot to offer to the churches in terms of challenge and
responsibility.
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