 The
Separation Barrier
One of the
most alarming developments in
Israel's
West Bank construction has been the building of a "Separation
Wall" or "security fence" designed to physically separate
Palestinian areas of the West Bank from the Israeli settlements
built there and from
Israel
itself. The Israelis began construction of a "security barrier"
in June 2002 intending to stop attacks against
Israel.
As the barrier or fence progressed it has failed to follow the 1967
border (Green Line) between Israel and the Palestinian lands and
follows a course inside
West Bank territory, up to six kilometers at some points. (See maps at
/middleeast/maps.html )
According to
a report by the
Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON), "massive
destruction has been felt by communities, including the razing
of agricultural land, damage to irrigation networks, isolation
of water resources, and the demolition of homes and community
infrastructure; all of this atop of the prevention of accessing
their land, markets, and traveling for employment and to visit
family."
The Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ),
finds that the barrier has already annexed vast areas of
Palestinian agricultural lands that now contain approximately 57
Israeli "settlements" of about 300,000 people. The
barrier will
displace roughly 385,000 Palestinians from their lands, schools
and hospitals.
The "barrier" is
a means of enforcing separation through force and coercion. The
barrier, in places, is more than 8 meters in height with armed
guard towers positioned every few meters. The barrier effectively
annexes land and water resources to Israel leaving Palestinians
encircled in what amounts to reservations.
Bishop Munib
Younan of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordon and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
joined the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, and
the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, in an open
letter entitled "A
Call from Jerusalem to the World" in which these Christian
leaders noted that "the barrier splinters our community in many
pieces and makes it impossible to maintain normal family,
economic and human relations."
Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, Chief Executive Officer of the
Lutheran World Federation’s
Augusta Victoria Hospital, has also pleaded with Lutherans
throughout the world to remember that the hospital's work cuts
across religious and cultural barriers and to understand how the
barrier has compounded the difficulties in providing
health-services and chronic care for Palestinians (e.g.
dialysis, cancer treatments).
ELCA’s Position on the
Separation Barrier
The ELCA
opposes the barrier and has urged the Israeli government to halt
its construction. At a minimum the barrier should follow the Green
Line and be built on Israeli lands.
ELCA Policy Base
In August
2005, the Churchwide Assembly
adopted the “Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and
Palestine” reaffirming the prior actions of the Church
Council and setting forth a clear action plan committing the
ELCA to peacemaking in the Middle East. After it was
approved by the Churchwide Assembly, Presiding Bishop Mark
Hanson sent an
open letter to Jewish and Muslim leaders regarding the
strategy.
In April
2005, the Church Council adopted a
resolution that acknowledged the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Jordan and the Holy Land's call for "the immediate cessation
of construction of the Israeli separation barrier and the removal
of all existing portions of this barrier on Palestinian land" and
adopted an
ELCA Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine. (The
resolution is on page 8 of the
report of actions of the Church Council from April 12, 2005,
and the ELCA Strategy for Engagement in
Israel
and Palestine is on page 12 of the
same report.)
In 2003, the
Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA reaffirmed "the ELCA's
commitment to accompany the ELCJHL and its ecumenical and
interfaith partners, to carry out public policy and human rights
advocacy on their behalf and to offer humanitarian relief and
development assistance." (See also the 1989
ELCA Message on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.)
 The
1995 Social Statement of the
Evangelical Lutheran
Church
in America,
For Peace in God’s World, calls the ELCA to be a
peacemaker – to witness to the God of peace. “This statement
understands earthly peace to mean relationships among and within
nations that are just, harmonious, and free from war. It offers
direction as we act to keep and to build earthly peace…” The
statement calls us to equip the faithful to act for peace in all
their communities. “The Church is a disturbing presence when it
refuses to be silent and instead speaks the truth in times when
people shout out, “'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace”…”
(pg. 5) “The church serves when it supports efforts by
governments and others to secure a just peace and when it
encourages public debate about what is right and good in
international and domestic affairs. It serves by calling for
compassion in meeting human needs” (pg. 5). “First and
foremost, love of neighbor obligates us to act to prevent wars
and to seek alternatives to them, especially in view of modern
weapons and their proliferation” (pg. 11). “We seek guidance
from the principles of the 'just/unjust war' tradition”
…including “…noncombatant immunity and proportionality” (pg.
11). We are called to create a “culture of peace” and to
“foster a dynamic vision of difference in unity.” “This vision
calls us to engage differences, not to ignore or fear them… We
need to learn from Jews, Muslins, Hindus, Buddhists, and others,
discovering the ways they strive for peace, correcting distorted
images, and working for mutual understanding. We rejoice where
people of different religions work together to overcome
hostility” (pg. 13). The statement clearly acknowledges the “…
inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world” (pg. 14). It also recognizes
that “[D]isagreements, conflicts, and competition among nations,
groups and individuals are inevitable, but wars are not. One
essential ingredient for reducing the likelihood of war is the
steady resolve and intense effort of the parties involved to
settle conflict nonviolently” (pg. 14).
ELCA Advocacy
In July 2003,
the ELCA Washington Office and its partners in Churches for
Middle East Peace
wrote to Dr. Condoleezza Rice, who was then serving as
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
stating that it would be most helpful if the government of
Israel
canceled this initiative. At a minimum, the separation barrier
needs to adhere to the Green Line and not engulf Palestinian
communities, agricultural land or water sources, according to
the letter. The separation barrier clearly undermines a credible
two-state solution, emphasized the letter.
In May of
2006, Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson joined other Ch ristian
leaders in signing a
letter asking President Bush, Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and Israel's then-Prime Minister-elect Ehud Olmert to
"take immediate actions that can restore hope for peace between
the state of Israel and the future state of Palestine,"
including asking Prime Minister-elect Ehud Olmert for assurance
that "the separation barrier is only temporary, and that its
route, where it extends beyond the Green Line, is not a
permanent border." The letter said, "While the separation
barrier may prevent some terrorist attacks, we believe
Israel’s
security lies ultimately in a negotiated end of the occupation
that is accepted by the United Nations as the fulfillment of
Security Council resolutions and is consistent with the
requirements of the Geneva Conventions."
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