LWF General Secretary Rejects Violence as a Means of Resolving Political Disputes
GENEVA, 13 March 2008 (LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has condemned the recent acts of violence in Israel and Palestine, and appealed for an end to "this infernal and self-destructive cycle" that cannot bring the region's people closer to peace.
In a statement released today, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko affirms that the LWF rejects violence as a means of resolving political disputes and condemns "all attacks on civilian individuals, communities and infrastructure prohibited under international humanitarian law."
Noko describes as "unacceptable and intolerable" the armed assault on the Merkaz Harav yeshiva on 6 March, saying "no political grievance can justify such an inhuman attack upon young students in a place of learning and religious instruction."
Likewise, he condemns the repeated hail of Palestinian rockets from Gaza into Israeli communities, collective punishment of the people of Gaza, as well as Israel's decision to approve further settlement expansion in the West Bank, as constituting violence against all hopes and plans for peace in the region, including the stipulations of the Roadmap for Middle East peace.
"Each such action plants ever more seeds of mutual hatred and violence. They can never lead to the emergence of a normal healthy society of Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land," says the LWF general secretary, citing the humanitarian impact on civilians especially women, children, the elderly, sick and people with disabilities.
Noko appeals to the armed Palestinian groups, Government of Israel, Palestinian and Israeli communities, and the international community through the Quartet - United Nations, United States, Russia and the European Union - "to find a way to prevent the next turn of the spiral, and to break the chain of violence."
The LWF is present in the region through its member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and its Jerusalem-based Department for World Service regional program. (328 words)
The full text of the LWF statement follows:
Statement by the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation on the recent violence in Israel-Palestine
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is committed to the preservation of human life and the promotion of human dignity. We reject violence as a means of resolving political disputes, and we condemn all attacks on civilian individuals, communities and infrastructure prohibited under international humanitarian law. Such attacks can only promote further violence, and undermine the most basic recognition of the dignity and value of all human beings.
For these reasons, the Lutheran World Federation finds the armed assault on Merkaz Harav yeshiva last week completely unacceptable and intolerable. No political grievance can justify such an inhuman attack upon young students in a place of learning and religious instruction, nor any of the brutal attacks specifically targeting civilians for the purpose of terrorizing an entire community. Likewise, the indiscriminate launching of rockets from Palestinian territory into Israeli civilian communities is a violation of both international humanitarian law and the most fundamental ethical or moral principles.
The LWF expresses the same concerns about the indiscriminate effects of the actions of the Israeli Government with regard to its closures and military incursions in Gaza. The humanitarian impact of these measures has been widely reported and is tragically obvious to all those who are involved in trying to provide basic relief and support to the people of the territory. I think particularly of the women, children, elderly, sick and people with disabilities, and of all those living in constant fear under these conditions of siege.
Even in the absence of such armed attacks, a different kind of violence continues unabated. The recent decision of the Government of Israel to approve further settlement expansion in the West Bank constitutes violence against all hopes and plans for peace in the region, including the clear stipulations of the Roadmap.
Each of these latest developments - the brutal attack on the yeshiva students, the repeated hail of rockets from Gaza into Israeli communities, the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, and the approval of settlement expansion in the West Bank - represents another turn in the spiral of violence. These actions cannot bring the region closer to the peace that all claim to desire. Each such action plants ever more seeds of mutual hatred and violence. They can never lead to the emergence of a normal healthy society of Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land. Someone has to have the courage to stop this infernal and self-destructive cycle. The LWF calls on all the actors in this process - the armed Palestinian groups, the Government of Israel, the Palestinian and Israeli communities, and the international community through the vehicle of the Quartet - to find a way to prevent the next turn of the spiral, and to break the chain of violence.
Without peace in the Holy Land, there can be no peace in the world. For the sake of Israelis, Palestinians and all the peoples of the world, we pray for an end to violence and for the dawn of a just peace in the land of Christ's birth.
Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko
Geneva, 13 March 2008
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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