NEW YORK: One of the largest American church has condemned the separation wall that Israel is building along the West Bank asserting that Jewish state’s policy throughout the occupied territories was inflicting extreme hardship to Palestinians.
The church, with over million members in a statement called “Peace Not Walls” is part of an advocacy plan for Middle East peace that delegates to an assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted by a vote of 668-269 in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.
The church became the second major US Protestant denomination to rebuke Israel at a time of heightened tension between Protestants and Jews. Palestinians say the barrier, which dips in some places into the West Bank — an area they claim for a future state — is an attempted land grab. Serena Sellers of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod called the barrier a form of violence committed against innocent people.
Several Protestant groups have angered Jews by protesting construction of the barrier, and some Christian denominations have considered divestment from companies that profit from Israeli control of the Palestinians.
The document urges both Israel and the Palestinians to renew their commitments to self-determination and security. It reaffirms the church’s support for UN Security Council resolutions that call for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 while upholding the right of every state in the Middle East to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.
The document also fully endorses findings by Munib Younan , the church’s bishop in Jordan and Israel, who lamented that the separation wall was splitting his Al Quds congregation into three sectors.
He said the wall had made it almost impossible for the congregation to meet, for children to get to their schools and for adults to reach their places of work.
“Our church believes in bridges, not walls; trust, not fear; dialogue for justice and peace, not more reason for division,” Mr Younan said. Unlike a measure recently announced by the Presbyterian Church USA, the resolution does not contain “a policy on divestment,” church officials said.
On August 5, the Presbyterian Church began its drive for divestment from companies whose practices it says support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land or facilitate violence against civilians. The first five companies targeted by the church include Caterpillar because it manufactures bulldozers used by Israel for demolishing Palestinian homes, Citigroup because some of its financial channels may have been used to pay families of Palestinian bombers, and ITT Industries, a supplier of communications equipment for the Israeli occupation army.