The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Beit Sahour BethlehemBethlehem Beit Jala Amman Ramallah Redeemer Jerusalem Ecclesiastical Ministry 6 Churches

Educational Ministry Schools Evangelical Lutheran School in Beit Sahour Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School, Bethlehem Talitha Kumi Evangelical Lutheran School, Beit Jala Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope, Ramallah Educational Programs Al-Mahaba Kindergarten, Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Home for Boys, Beit Jala Environmental Educational Center, Beit Jala Martin Luther Community Development Center

Goals of the ELCJHL Schools To mold the Palestinian Christian identity; To teach co-existence in religions, esp. Judaism, Islam and Christianity To teach peace education and promote democracy; To promote the role of women in the Palestinian society; To give quality education with an innovative approach; To give a holistic education by addressing the needs and developing the talents of all students; To build and develop the Palestinian community and improve connections with the international community.

Amman, Jordan

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Musical Team

Jerusalem Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

Elderly Center At Redeemer Church, an elderly center serves some basic health monitoring and social needs.

Al-Mahaba Kindergarten

Martin Luther Community Development Center A center offering various health, social and educational needs in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Bethlehem Lutheran Christmas Church

A cultural center for arts, music and creativity that creates “facts on the ground of hope.” International Center of Bethlehem - Dar Annadwa

Artists are empowered to create their art and then sell it in the giftshop.

Dar al Kalima School

Beit Jala Church of the Reformation

Abraham’s House A guesthouse for cultural exhanges and interfaith dialogue. Boy’s Home A home for boys – mostly Muslims – whose families are gone or unable to care for them.

Talitha Kumi School

The Environmental Education Center

Beit Sahour

Beit Sahour School

Ramallah Lutheran Church of Hope

Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope, Ramallah

Amman, Jordan Faith and Life under Occupation The root problem is not the wall. That is a symptom. The root problem is not the spiral of violence. That is also a symptom. The root problem is the occupation. The occupation is a sin against God and against humanity. It deprives people of human dignity and normal life. Bishop Munib Younan, ELCJHL

Our daughter was killed because of the terror of the Israeli occupation. Every innocent victim from both sides is a victim of the occupation. The occupation is the cancer feeding Palestinian terror. Father of Smedar Elhanan, Age 13 Killed by suicide bomber in 1997

What Does it Mean to Live Under Occupation in Palestine?

Restriction of Movement

More than 500 Road Closures Checkpoints, Blocks, Earth Mounds, Gates Only 30 are on the recognized armistice line between Palestine and Israel

Ghassan and Rimaz Kasabra Rimaz Kasabra, the wife of the organist at Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Old City of Jerusalem can’t go to church with her family. She is from the West Bank and Israel has refused for 10 years to grant her the necessary “reunification permit” to live legally with her family in Jerusalem. She has been arrested 3 times near her home, and has been told the next time she will go to prison.

The Wall

The wall will be twice the length of the Green Line, the internationally recognized armistace line from In many places it is built right through the middle of Palestinian land, separating Palestinians from their friends, families, schools, land and neighborhoods. Built in 2003 Length: 403 miles Height: 8 – 25 feet

It completely isolates East Jerusalem – a part of occupied territory according to international law – from the rest of the West Bank. Jerusalem accounts for % of the economy of Palestine, so this makes a viable Palestinian state virtually impossible.

Ultimately, the effect will be to isolate the northern West Bank from the southern West Bank, and all areas into smaller cantons in which Palestinians will need permits to leave.

Palestinian Town Palestinian Land and Greenhouses

The Wall The Village inside the wall Land & Greenhouse outside the wall

The story of Nazlet ‘Azza The news of the demolition order arrives in the morning ……

And the bulldozer arrived together with the order…… Along with the bulldozers

And the army……

The end of the day: At the end of the day

85 shops destroyed 100 additional demolition orders pending 45 already evacuated by their owners

Settlements And Land Confiscation

During the Oslo “Peace Process” The number of illegal settlers more than doubled from 1993 to 2003 to 225,000. East Jerusalem has another 200,000.

The footprint of the settlements takes about 2% of the Palestinian land. But adding in the land used for military installations, security, bypass roads, the Wall and reserves, 42% of the Palestinian land is off- limits to Palestinians.

By signing the Oslo agreement 1993, Israel committed itself to freezing settlement expansion and to preserving the “integrity and status” of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Contrary to this, the settlement population doubled during this period. 65 new settlements during Oslo

Palestinians for Peace and Democracy

In the northern West Bank village of Yanoun, Ecumenical Accompaniers protect the shepherds and olive farmers from the nearby settlers of Itamar. The settlers destroyed this electric generator and a water supply tank, driving them out of the village, but an Israeli peace group set up a program to protect them and now an international presence keeps them in their village.

In the southern West Bank city of Hebron and some of its villages, internationals walk the children to school to protect them from the settlers. Hebron is one of the most violent and volatile cities because it is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews. Though it is deep in the West Bank, 400 illegal Israeli settlers have moved into Palestinian homes and shops in the center of the city, and thousands in nearby Kiryat Arba. The central part of the Old City has been virtually shut down to the 150,000 Palestinians for the sake of the 400 illegal settlers.

Though at least one of these settler groups has been labeled as a terrorist organization by the Israeli government after one of its members killed more than 20 Palestinians at prayer in the mosque in 1993, little action is taken to limit their violence or presence. Recently, a new group of Israeli soldiers called “Breaking the Silence” has begun to speak out against their own actions in Hebron (See

18,000 Homes Destroyed Since 1967 Less than 1000 linked to Terrorism

Accompanying

“Here in our Lutheran school, from the wounds of Palestine, a new generation has risen, to work, to live, to love, and to be loved…. But let us not give up hope. Justice will prevail, and freedom will come. All we have to do is to stand together, to keep the candle of hope burning, and to work and struggle for our freedom.” Salaam Bannoura Graduation, 2005 Evangelical Lutheran School in Beit Sahour

Thank you for your accompaniment, support, prayer and presence so far on the road. Yet the journey is now at a critical point.

We need you. Our mission is your mission. Stay with us on this road, so that Palestinian Christians in years to come will remain a living witness of love, hope and forgiveness so needed in this land.

Stay with us on this road, that we might continue to proclaim from this Land of the Resurrection: Christ is Risen! Al Masih Qam He is Risen Indeed! He Haqan Qam! Bishop Dr. Munib Younan, Easter, 2004