CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), this month signed letters of support for church leaders in Jerusalem who oppose the Israeli policy that has resulted in confiscations of Jerusalem residency cards from Palestinians.
Since 1996 there has been a "tremendous" increase in the number of Palestinian Jerusalem identification cards confiscated by Israeli authorities compared to the previous 30 years, said the Rev. Mark B. Brown assistant director of the Lutheran Office for Government Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C. LOGA is the federal public policy office of the ELCA.
"The impact this policy has on the Christian communities in Jerusalem is alarming," Bishop Anderson said. "The confiscation of ID cards from Palestinians, along with other difficulties related to housing and residency, has prompted church leaders in Jerusalem to fear for the future survival of their communities."
As an expression of ecumenical solidarity, Bishop Anderson signed two letters about the issue. In one letter Bishop Anderson, along with other United States church leaders, wrote a letter of support to three church leaders in Jerusalem who previously raised this issue with the minister of the interior of the state of Israel.
Last October the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Diodoros I, the Latin Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah and the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch Torkom Manoogian, all of Jerusalem, signed a letter expressing opposition to the confiscation of Jerusalem identity cards and the eventual loss of residency rights in Jerusalem. The letter was sent to Eli Suissa, Israel's minister of the interior.
A second letter, supporting the letter of the Patriarchs, was sent by U.S. leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic churches to Zalman Shoval, Israel's ambassador to the United States.
Signers included Bishop Anderson, Archbishop Spyridon of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, president of the National Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Khajag, diocese of the Armenian Church in America. =20
This letter said the practice of confiscating Jerusalem residency cards from Palestinians is "detrimental to the continued presence and witness of Christian churches in Jerusalem and an infringement upon the rights of all Palestinians -- Christian and Muslim."
The church leaders called on the government of Israel "to restore identity cards that have been confiscated and to refrain from further confiscation," in their letter to Ambassador Shoval.
In 1996 Israel implemented a policy which provides Jerusalem ID cards and Israeli welfare services only to Palestinians who can document they actually live within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, according to the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Bethlehem. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are in the process of losing their legal status as residents of Jerusalem. =20
In May 1997 the Israeli Interior Ministry announced it had confiscated 1,500 ID cards since early 1996, BADIL said. Since the Oslo accords were signed Israel has confiscated identity cards from Palestinians at the rate of two or three a day, it added.
The confiscation of identification cards is a human rights issue that has been raised at various times by the Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, said Brown. Dr. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva, expressed LWF's concern over the implications of the policy in a letter to the government of Israel in September 1998.
In 1996 the ELCA Church Council said Jerusalem should be shared, and in 1993 the ELCA Churchwide assembly said those forced to leave should be given help to return to Jerusalem. In 1995 the Rev. Herbert Chilstrom, former presiding bishop of the ELCA, said Palestinian rights and interests in Jerusalem should be recognized and supported.=20
LOGA and the coalition Churches for Middle East Peace, chaired by Brown, have raised the issue of the confiscation of identity cards numerous times with U.S. government officials.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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