The Conflict in the Middle East

Local Information

Northwest Washington Synod

• Prominent [City] Jewish, Christian And Muslim Leaders Announce Urgent Appeal To President Bush To Make Middle East Peace A Top Priority Of His Second Term 20KB
• An Urgent Appeal to the President to Make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace an Urgent, Top Priority 17KB
• April Soundings article ( 6 KB)

ELCA

• The ELCA publication called Seeds for the Parish has a list of resources on page 6 for issues of Israel and Palestine, as well as the tensions among Christians, Jews and Muslims. http://archive.elca.org/seeds/2005/JanFeb05web.pdf  
• ELCA Bishop Says Church Supports Key U.S. Mideast Policies ELCA NEWS SERVICE - June 27, 2002
• Letter from Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Rev. Mark Hanson, to President Bush (6 KB)
• Statement read to ELCA congregations on April 7 ( 23 KB)
• ELCA Church Council "Statement on Palestine"
• Statement of Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson on Recent Developments Regarding the Middle East 

Other

• An article about Jewish, Christian and Muslim women working together is "Women Building Peace"
  http://www.thelutheran.org/0502/page44.html
• A unique friendship between a Lutheran Palestinian couple and an Israeli couple came about in the midst of the tsunami crisis in Thailand.
  http://www.thelutheran.org/0502/page37.html
• "Annaliza's Hope" is a young woman's perspective on life in Palestine
  http://www.thelutheran.org/0502/page40.html
• A Call for Action from Christian Religious Leaders in the State of Washington ( 18 KB added 04/24/02), Rev. John Boonstra, Washington Association of Churches 
• International Interfaith Statement ( 6 KB)
• Breaking Our Silence on Iraq ( 15 KB)

In the News

Leaders of 3 faiths seek peace in Mideast (1/22/05)
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/01/22/100loc_peace001.cfm 

Religious leaders seek Mideast peace push
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/207708_mideast13.html?searchpagefrom=5&searchdiff=10 

A united appeal for peace in the Middle East (1/11/05)
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mirel11&date=20050111 

Resources

ELCA's comprehensive center for prayer, education and advocacy 

Augsburg Fortress is proud to announce the release of "Water from the Rock: Lutheran Voices from Palestine" by Ann E. Hafften.

A Style Sheet on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict 
An alphabetized listing of terms and their meanings.

U.S. Policy and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Where are we and how did we get here? 
Reviews the history of the conflict, US policy goals, the issues of peace, and suggests what Americans can do about US policy toward Israel and Palestine.

Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East 
Participation in the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Middle East Peace is growing rapidly. Learn more about the Prayer Vigil, sign-up your congregation and join in this national observance for peace in the Holy Land.

Prayer Ventures 
Prayers are offered and updated weekly.

Churches for Middle East Peace 
A Washington D.C. based program of the American Friends Service Committee, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service and Witness, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Mennonite Central Committee, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.

Offering Assistance

If you would like to offer assistance, here are the two general areas the ELCA offers:

1.  For the immediate, humanitarian crisis... food and medicine, assistance for immediate needs of refugees, etc., the ELCA International Disaster Response offers two types of help:

• For food and medicine for needs, and ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan (and Palestine) go to http://wwwtest.elca.org/dgm/disaster/palestine3.html 
• For food, medicine and education support among Palestinian refugees (mostly within the areas of the Palestinian Authority), via Middle Council of Churches; and the hospital needs at Augusta Victoria Hospital, go to http://wwwtest.elca.org/dgm/disaster/palestine4.html 

2.  For the ongoing needs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan (ELCJ), which now will most likely take on the form of long-term rehabilitation and rebuilding go to http://wwwtest.elca.org/dgm/steward/palestine.html  (This is not within ELCA International Disaster Response, but part of ongoing ELCA Division for Global Mission commitments.)

More Information

For general info about what's happening, you can always check the general Middle East page on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) website at http://www.elca.org/co/mideast.html  or at the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs website at http://www.loga.org .