Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Greetings and peace from the holy city of Bethlehem, where I and 60 colleagues from churches near and far are gathered at an international peace consultation on the 10th anniversary of the Amman Call and the launch of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum. 2017 also marks 50 years since Israel began its occupation of the West Bank and other territories and 100 years since the Balfour Declaration.
As an ecumenical fellowship, we have long stood in solidarity with Palestinians and Israelis crying out for a just peace in this troubled land. No people should experience occupation, no people should be denied the right to real self-determination, no state should constantly, for 50 years, violate the human rights of another people and drastically reduce the daily freedoms that so many of us take for granted. That the Palestinians have lived 50 years under occupation is a dark part of world history.
It is never too late to end occupation. It is possible to change a tragedy created by human actions to a situation of hope. And the strongest voices for hope are those who come from within, from the context which seems to be a hopeless situation.
Thus accompanying our actions this year – from prayers at Pentecost, through this international peace consultation, and to the World Week of Prayer for Peace in Palestine and Israel in September – the WCC has launched an online campaign, Seek #JusticeAndPeace in the Holy Land.
The campaign lifts up 12 profiles of peacemakers from a variety of backgrounds expressing their hopes for a just peace in the region. Accompanying the 12 profiles are “50 moments for justice and peace” which trace global Christian solidarity with the peoples of the Holy Land from 1967 to the present.
Please follow these stories and words from past and present and share the campaign on the web, Facebook and Twitter (https://www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/12facesof-hope and #JusticeAndPeace). Contribute the statements and actions from your own churches’ witness so that we can truly express our global fellowship in solidarity with Palestinians and Israelis’ longing for a just and lasting peace.
The 12 peacemakers highlighted in this campaign speak of love and dreams of life together with others in peace. This is the power that can move hearts and change history. Let us listen carefully to them. Let us be moved by their hope. Nothing is impossible for those who believe. Everything is possible if we have faith, hope and love.
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit General Secretary World Council of Churches