ELCA NEWS SERVICE
May 27, 2003
ELCA Presiding Bishop Meets President of Israel
03-110-JB
JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- The new leaders of the
Palestinian people must take responsibility and stop terror attacks against the
people of Israel for the new "road map" plan for peace to succeed,
said Moshe Katsav, president of the State of Israel, during a one-hour meeting
May 26 with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Hanson, who is leading an eight-member ELCA
delegation here and in the West Bank, emphasized the ELCA's commitment to
nonviolence, peace and human rights for Palestinians and Israelis during the
meeting. He noted that during the ELCA delegation's visit, the Israeli cabinet
voted in favor of the so-called road map, a peace plan for the Middle East
proposed by the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
"This is an historic week, a week we've
prayed for and longed for," Hanson told Katsav. Hanson's first visit to the
Middle East includes visits with Palestinian Lutherans and representatives of
Lutheran organizations. The visit was arranged by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan (and Palestine) (ELCJ), led by the Rev. Munib A. Younan,
Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem.
For nearly half the meeting, Katsav explained his
view that Yasser Arafat, Palestinian president, is responsible for the escalated
violence in the region. For example, Katsav said the last 1,000 days have been
"bad days" for the Israeli people. "Whether you believe it or
not, the Israelis came to the peace process with 'clean hands,'" he said.
From 1993 to 2000, the Palestinian people enjoyed their "best seven
years," until Arafat declared the "Intifada" that began in 2000,
Katsav said. The Intifada began a campaign of "brutal terrorism that
stopped this (peace) process," he told the ELCA presiding bishop.
"We can destroy the Palestinian people,"
Katsav said. "But, we don't want to miss a chance to make peace with
them."
"We don't want to wait any more," he continued. "We want as much
as possible not to escalate the conflict with the Palestinians. They are not our
enemy. Terrorists are our enemy."
In recent years the number of Christians in the
Middle East has declined significantly. Today about 2 percent of the population
-- 2,000 to 3,000 people -- here are Christian. Christians are leaving because
of the growing numbers of Muslims, not because of Israel, Katsav said.
The Israelis have worked to prevent terror and
have not retaliated, avenged or punished the Palestinian people for such
violence, Katsav told the ELCA delegation.
"We can stop the violence now if the
Palestinians will stop it," he said. "We don't want to occupy
Palestinian territory, but it's for security. We are under terrible terrorist
attacks. We don't have any choice."
Katsav said the decision of the Israeli government
to endorse the road map is historic. In his view, however, Arafat is trying to
interfere with the efforts of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister,
to rein in violence and build peace, the Israeli president said.
Hanson presented Katsav a copy of the ELCA
Declaration to the Jewish Community, adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 1994,
in which the church repudiated the anti-Jewish writings of Martin Luther, a
German monk for whom Lutheran churches are named. He also told Katsav that this
month the ELCA held an informal dialogue with representatives of the Commission
on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism in Chicago, and more dialogue is
expected.
Hanson and Younan raised with Katsav a
controversial employer's tax case involving the State of Israel and Augusta
Victoria Hospital, a 53-year-old health care facility that serves mostly
Palestinians. Located on the Mount of Olives here, the hospital is operated by
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In a recent decision by an Israeli tax court, the
court said the LWF had a valid tax exemption with the State of Israel for many
years, but ruled the taxing authority canceled the agreement in 2000. If the LWF
accepts the court decision, it may be liable for $350,000 in annual employer's
taxes retroactive to 2001. LWF representatives say they do not have the money,
and if the tax is imposed, it will have to curtail hospital services or cause it
to shut down.
Younan has said the case has significant financial
implications for other humanitarian organizations serving here, and has asked
other Christian churches to "communicate, cooperate and coordinate" on
the issue.
Hanson said the hospital's humanitarian mission is
"a symbol for the world" and the facility is a plus for Israel to
maintain. Younan called for a comprehensive agreement between the State of
Israel and the LWF to solve the tax issue and maintain the hospital for many
years to come.
The problem with the Augusta Victoria tax case is
that it has nothing to do with the Palestinians, said Gadi Golan, head of the
religious affairs bureau, Israeli ministry of foreign affairs. It's a legal
agreement and the case is now being appealed to the high court in Israel, he
told Katsav in the meeting with the ELCA delegation.
"We can do nothing," Golan said.
"I'm sure that at the end of the day, there will be a solution. It's not
against the Palestinians. It's a legal matter, and I'm sure Augusta Victoria
will go on."
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Photos from presiding bishop's visit to the Middle East can be found at http://www.elca.org/co/news/mideast
on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html