Since the Israeli Army incursion into Beit Jala early yesterday morning, positions were taken on the roof of the Lutheran church building in the town, endangering the lives of the fifty children, ages four through eighteen , living in the orphanage on the premises. With curfew imposed on the town the children had been isolated in the Home together with some educators living on the premises.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem
URGENT
Press Release
Wednesday, 29 August, 2001.
Since the Israeli Army incursion into Beit Jala early yesterday morning, positions were taken on the roof of the Lutheran church building in the town, endangering the lives of the fifty children, ages four through eighteen , living in the orphanage on the premises. With curfew imposed on the town the children had been isolated in the Home together with some educators living on the premises.
The closure and curfew necessitated several hours of negotiations with the Israeli authorities. Eventually Bishop Munib A. Younan, the Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, managed to get clearance for a delegation from the church head office, consisting of Lutheran clergy and coworkers from a number of countries working in Jerusalem, to visit the church and bring food and other necessities to the children.
When we arrived at the church we faced an Israeli tank pointing at us in the street outside the church. Another tank was standing in the grounds of our church complex. We entered the church compound and delivered some food to the children and met with them and the educators living on the premises. The children were very exited to meet us as a group as well as the local pastor Rev Jadallah Shihadeh, who in the morning had tried to reach his church but was forced to turn back as he was being shot at.
Despite the information given by the IDF Command of the Bethlehem area that there were no soldiers on the church premises, it was clear for all of us to see that there were at least five soldiers inside the building complex. While the bishop conducted negotiations on the telephone with the area IDF Commander to get the soldiers out of the church buildings, several volleys of heavy gunfire forced us all to take cover. When the situation became more calm, the bishop gathered everybody for prayers blessing the children, the church premises, the people of Beit Jala an d everyone suffering under the ongoing violence. After having received a promise from the Commander that the soldiers would be removed within a few hours, we decided to return to Jerusalem, taking two young boys with us who had family in the Old City.
Yesterday (Tuesday) at 8.30 pm we received the message from the IDF that the soldiers had been evacuated from the church premises. The staff in the orphanage confirmed this and further informed us that the tanks and army vehicles had been removed from the area around our church.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all those in the international church network around the world, the members of the diplomatic corps, as well as officials from the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs, who supported our case and exerted their influence to withdraw the Israeli soldiers and tanks from our church premises in Beit Jala. This shows that any holy place, be it a church, a mosque or a synagogue, is a place of peace and not of war or military action.
We, however, still do not know how we will be able to run the orphanage and resume our ordinary activities in Beit Jala. We are also deeply concerned about the possibilities for the children to continue their schooling as long as the town of Beit Jala is divided into two by the incursion of the Israeli army. As long as curfew is in place the children remain isolated in the building and the uncertainty remains how food and necessities are to be brought to them on a regular basis.
We therefore urge all those who have already supported in removing the soldiers from our church, to continue to put pressure on the Israelis to withdraw from Beit Jala and other Palestinian areas, and to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, in accordance with the international legitimacy. Only when this happens can the future of the children in Palestine as well as in Israel can be secured.
Bishop Munib A. Younan
The Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem
For further information, please contact
Bishop Younan +972-2-6276111, or via mobile +972-50-388 976.
