January 11, 2005
World Council of Churches - News
Release
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Between ballots and barbed wire : accompanying elections under occupation
“I would like to express my
thanks to this group of Christian leaders and volunteers who are here to promote
the principles of the prince of peace,” said former US president Jimmy Carter.
Present in the region as an international monitor for the Palestinian elections,
Carter was speaking at a 10 January gathering in Jerusalem of members of the
World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine
and Israel (EAPPI), local church leaders, and local Jewish and Muslim partners.
Also attending the gathering was US congresswoman Lois Capps who, like Carter,
had served as an election monitor.
Presenting a report entitled
"Accompanying elections under occupation: between ballots and barbed
wire", EAPPI members shared their observations of the recently-concluded
Palestinian elections, while Carter, Capps and local church leaders praised the
work of EAPPI and its volunteer "ecumenical accompaniers" in helping
to bring peace to both Palestinians and Israelis.
“You have been our eyes and ears
here," said Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan. "And when you return home,
we hope you will be our mouth too, and express yourself in your own countries
and churches.”
Capps emphasized the church's
efforts to show that justice for the Palestinians does not entail the opposite
for the Israeli people. “You don’t suppress one and lift the other,” she
said. “You keep both up in harmony. You are not wishing ill on one side.”
“Don’t be pro-Palestinian or
pro-Israeli. Be pro-justice, pro-peace, and pro-reconciliation,” added Bishop
Younan, underlining Capps’ words.
The ecumenical accompaniers were
present in various locations throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem during
the election process. In Jayyous, they escorted the eligible voters in a Bedouin
family which lives on land cut off from the village by the “Separation
Fence" across and then back again so that they could vote.
Describing the election day scene in
the town of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, an accompanier from Great Britain, Brian
Shackleton, noted that: "It was the younger generation which expected the
most. Because they want peace, not violence. Because they want to build a
community. Because they want security and to end corruption. Because they want
their children to go to school, not in fear. Because they want to visit their
cousins when they choose. Because they want to farm their fields which are now
on the other side of the Wall."
Katja Tolstrup, an accompanier from
Denmark, reported on the unusual ease of travel through the Kalandia checkpoint,
the main barrier between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on election day. One day later,
“The checkpoint was closed for around two hours, and when the huge crowd
finally was allowed through, the firing of a sound grenade[…] underlined the
truly terrifying and dangerous conflict.”
Voting in the Jerusalem area was
complicated by the fact that it is annexed territory. Some Jerusalem residents
refused to vote because they were afraid the Israeli authorities would use that
as an excuse to strip them of their rights in the city. In fact, voting in East
Jerusalem had to be done at Israeli post offices, with ballots having to be
filled out in front of Israeli postal workers. Some residents found that they
could not vote due to problems with their registration. These potential voters
could have travelled to a West Bank polling station, but were not always
informed of this possibility.
Skepticism about whether the
election would change much led some Palestinians to decide against voting.
Reporting on a conversation with a man who had refused to participate in the
democratic process, “His view was that the presidential candidates were not
representing the Palestinian people but outsiders,” said Lydia Gall, an
accompanier from Sweden.
But amidst the skepticism and the
refusal by many to vote, there was also a flush of pride in the spirit of
democracy exhibited by the Palestinian people. The only democratic elections
ever held in the Arab world have just been held in Palestine - a fact in which
the Palestinian people take great pride.
Capps was particularly impressed by
the fact that two-thirds of those eligible voted despite the many difficulties.
She was inspired, she said, "by people in an occupied land going across a
separation barrier and great obstacles, knowing what the outcome [of the
election] would be. […]The election was a belief in the power of people to
govern themselves.”
With members of the Jewish and
Muslim communities present at the 10 January gathering in Jerusalem, there was
also discussion on the work the three faiths can do together towards the common
goal of peace for both peoples.
“I take my hat off to the
ecumenical accompaniers for all the work you do," said Gila Svirsky, a
member of the Israeli peace groups Women
in Blackand Women’s
Coalition for Peace.
"I know how important it is for you to return and be ambassadors for peace
in the countries you come from. […] I believe in the importance of the
liberation of Palestine. It is not only important for Palestinians, but
important for the liberation of Israel and for Israel to be the country we
always wanted it to be. Everyone’s success here [with EAPPI] is our
success.”
Mahdi Abdel Hahdi, the director of
the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, issued
a challenge to Muslims and Christians to join forces to represent the people of
East Jerusalem in legislative elections upcoming this summer. “I am looking
for a priest and a sheikh to run for the legislative elections in East Jerusalem
in July,” he said. “I want the church and the mosque to be visible, to help
represent the Muslims and the Christians and all East Jerusalem.”
SOURCE: World Council of Churches