I thought this would be of interest. Yours, Phil :-)

Phil Simpson CMS Regional Director Conference of European Churches - Office of Communications Press Release No. 06-31/e 16 August 2006. Jointly issued with the World Council of Churches ECUMENICAL DELEGATION RETURNS FROM BEIRUT AND JERUSALEM AND TRANSMITS THE CONCERNS OF THE CHURCHES.

"Why such awful destruction?" was the question heard over and over again by members of an ecumenical pastoral delegation in relation to Israel's attacks on Lebanon. Entrusted by the WCC, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) with the mission of expressing global ecumenical solidarity with churches and people affected by the conflict in the Middle East, the delegation returned with the task of transmitting the hopes and expectations of the churches in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel to the international ecumenical family. Reporting on their 10-15 August visit to Beirut and Jerusalem, the three members of the delegation - CEC President Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tours (France) Mgr. Bernard Aubertin, and WCC programme executive on racism, Ms Marilia Alves-Schller  emphasised that the representatives of Lebanon's various communities with whom they met had all agreed that the answer to that question is that the destruction was both deliberate and planned.

In support of that analysis, community leaders mentioned their concern at the growing influence of neo-conservative forces in the US on Israel's political leadership. In particular they questioned US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice's comment that "The suffering of Lebanon is the labour pains of the new Middle East". The delegation also wished to strongly affirm all that representatives of Lebanon's different communities had shared with them about the over-riding value of the multi-cultural and multi-confessional nature of their society. For the community leaders this represents a guarantee for peace. They noted that Lebanese of all religious faiths - Christians and Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'ia - had remained firmly unified despite the enormously divisive pressures of the war. The second message members of the delegation brought back , was that it is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not the role and actions of Hezbollah that is at the heart of the present crisis. Nevertheless, the delegation reported that all religious leaders with whom they spoke condemned all use of indiscriminate violence from whatever source including Hezbollah.

Welcoming the delegation to the Ecumenical Centre on behalf of the four Geneva-based sponsoring ecumenical organisations, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia concurred that "It is only by addressing the Israel-Palestine issue, and only a comprehensive and just settlement of that issue that can bring peace and security in the Middle East". In Jerusalem, the delegation heard both the chief rabbi and the chief judge of the Islamic court separately voicing the same negative perceptions of each other's communities. "They have no compassion for their children," both men had declared. Another view the delegation also heard expressed was that the idea of permanent warfare seems to dominate thinking in the Middle East, and that there is a need for all thinking in the region to be demilitarised. Although perceptions of "the other" bode ill for the ability to return together to the negotiating table and overcome mutual hatred and grief, members of the delegation said that they had also heard many church leaders voicing concern about how people can remove the hatred from their hearts and learn to live together as neighbours. As "a tangible and concrete expression of the ecumenical family's solidarity and a way of sharing their grief," the visit from the ecumenical delegation was a sign of the World Council's intention to broaden its co-ordination of the ecumenical response to the Middle East crisis, and for more concerted efforts in this direction, Kobia explained. "The situation in the Middle East is changing," he said. "A new political, economic and moral landscape requires new elements to be brought into the equation for a just peace in the Middle East." New WCC programmes mandated by the WCC's recent (February 2006) Assembly will lay the groundwork for that, Kobia said. A 16 August message signed by the general secretaries of the WCC, CEC, LWF, and WARC and distributed at a press conference with the ecumenical delegation concludes: "In the light of all that they tell us, we shall during the next weeks reflect prayerfully and urgently together on the contribution which the churches can make in furthering the cause of peace in the Middle East."

*** See full text of CEC Statement at www.cec-kek.org/pdf/CECStatementME.pdf Other statements by churches and church-related groups appear on the Decade to Overcome Violence website

 http://overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/thematic-summaries/statements-on-the-middle-east-crisis.html

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg. For information: CEC Office of Communications Phone +41 22 791 63 25 Fax +41 22 791 62 27 E-mail: cec@cec-kek.org Website: www.cec-kek.org

Vignettes on life under fire in the Middle East July 2006 These are some of the reports we in CMS have received recently from the front line - they have been collected by my colleague Barbara Shaw. I include them to include more of the 'normal', human dimension to the discussion (more on the CMS website   http://www.cms-uk.org/news/2006/surviving_in_chaos_040806.htm

Phil Simpson CMS Regional Director Eurasia

IN LEBANON

What now? A Rocha's work in Lebanon is suspended until it is safe for a team to return. And though our team is safe, most, maybe all of the national committee remain in Lebanon. We are especially concerned for the Chair of our national committee, Rev Dr Riad Kassis, Director of the Schneller Institute, a school and orphanage in the West Bekaa. We know that over 200 refugees are sheltering in the classrooms and halls, with limited supplies of fuel, food and clean water. From Arocha Lebanon

"I greet you from the wounded city, Beirut, from the country of burned beauty, Lebanon. But most warmly from the Near East School of Theology that has been a nest for families and students from Nabatieh and from Marjeoun in the South and from the Becaa Valley. Those have had no choice but to leave their homes and town and come to the safety - up till now - of our area in Beirut. In addition, our gymnasium will be a store for relief material for the displaced which MECC will receive and distribute. All these bring back to our minds the memory of the sad events in the 70s and 80s ( Lebanese civil war)."

"Today I met a woman on the street and she shouted to me saying Why god made us born here? I know God is grieving with all those who are grieving. I believe God's heart is being deeply saddened by our aggression and violence. May we all be forgiven!" Dr Mary Mikhail President of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut Because of the danger, children and many guests can no longer come to our studio to record programmes, says Naji Daoud, SAT-7 Lebanon Director. We will continue to try and make programmes, but it is becoming increasingly more difficult. Some of our on-air presenters have already fled Lebanon, and there is added pressure on many of our staff to leave the country if only for a few weeks. But, even if we have reduced staff, we intend to have a special live broadcast this Wednesday in which Christian leaders will discuss the on-going crisis and how it is impacting the country.

"In addition to the increasing difficulty in making programs, SAT-7 Beirut staff members are saying it's becoming more difficult simply to get programmes out of Lebanon. In the past it only took about two days for SAT-7 to ship programmes from Beirut to the SAT-7 broadcast centre in Cyprus. Under the current conditions tapes have to be trucked out of northern Lebanon, through Syria and on to Jordan before they can finally be couriered to Cyprus. This takes longer, costs more, and is an uncertain method which could be eliminated at any time if roads in northern Lebanon are closed or if Syria becomes directly involved in the fighting. Some direct uplink capability is available to connect Lebanon to Cyprus. But the direct transmission service is often sold out and is simply too expensive to allow SAT-7 to send all of its Lebanese-made programmes to Cyprus in that manner." from Sat 7 Lebanon According to the United Nations " 700,000 people have been displaced " 125,000 are located in schools and public institutions in Lebanon " 210,000 have fled to neighboring countries (WHO) "

150,000 Lebanese and 3rd country nationals have fled to Syria, with approximately 5,000 -10,000 newcomers each day.

IN ISRAEL AND THE WEST BANK

The war rages on into the third week. If fighting does not cease, the homeless count in Lebanon will soon reach one million people. Families and communities continue to be ripped apart. And, the offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza has been relentless. This week when Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs visited Jerusalem, he focused much of his attention on "the tragedy happening in the Gaza Strip". He does not understand what benefit Israel will gain from punishing 1.4 million people by cutting them off from their sources of electricity and jobs, from running water in their houses and from fresh food. "What is the message that the residents of Gaza receive from the sight of mountains of tomatoes tossed out on the side of the road at the border crossings into Israel? That they should be more productive and support peace?" Bishop Riah. Diocese of Jerusalem Greetings from St Johns Haifa. Today the 23rd of July at 11.00 o'clock as I was reading the gospel during our Sunday Eucharist service the air raid siren went of in Haifa and few seconds later about 11 rockets shocked our city. However, we kept on worshiping according to schedule. It was a unique and a privileged experience to worship to the Lord with my congregation while rockets falling around us. It was faith in action. We are all safe, "praise the lord"! That is due to many people who are praying with us and for us. Please keep praying for our congregation, city and peace for our region. Yours in Christ Rev. Hatem

LIFE IN GAZA

"In Palestine, rain does not fall in the summer. It falls during the rainy season between November and March. People wait with eagerness and thankfulness for the rain after the hot and dry summer months. In the Gaza Strip, rain hardly falls even in the winter. It is a parched land whose only freshwater reservoirs have been depleted by decades of Israeli occupation. The name of the Israeli army operation itself reflects a callous euphemism. By calling the invasion of the Gaza Strip summer rains, Israel has taken the word rain that stands for and represents a blessing to Palestinians and to all other people and turned it into a curse. It has taken God's wonderful gift of nature that brings life, food, and health and instead used it to shower destruction and devastation on the people of Gaza. To name this brutal aggression summer rains is cruel. Since June 25, over 106 Palestinians have been killed, many of whom are young children, and more than 241 injured. During the same period, six Israelis have been killed with an unknown number of injured. One of the beautiful and challenging sections in the Sermon on the Mount according to Matthew is found when Jesus exhorts his disciples to love and pray for their enemies, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5:44-46) Such words sound foolish to the ears of those who believe in violence as the way to deal with the enemy. We have become so enmeshed with violence that we cannot see the alternatives. Violence is our worst enemy and will not produce peace. The challenge before us is to try the way of non-violence that can potentially turn an enemy into a neighbour with whom we can live in peace and security. This challenge is for the oppressor as well as the oppressed, the strong as well as the weak."

From Sabeel in Jerusalem

"People have so many stories to tell. You ask them one question and it just flows out of them for hours without end, as if they want to relieve themselves from the burden of the daily humiliation, fear and hopelessness. They talk themselves into exhaustion and then begin to cry. We have seen so many people cry these days. The tears speak of the unbearable pain that is within them. And we cannot but feel that these are broken people with no hope left."

"Gaza is under complete siege... There is no milk. Drinking water, food and medicine are in serious short supply. Children are paying the ultimate price. Even for those whose lives are spared, many of them are traumatised and will not grow to live useful lives. Commerce between the West Bank and Gaza has been halted and humanitarian aid barely trickles into some of the neediest in the world. The psychological pressure causes headaches and affects our eyes. We are all psychologically ill. I am here in the hospital because of the situation. I believe my illness is a direct result of the psychological impact of the shellings and bombings. We cannot take it any more. Life is so unstable&& There is no hope. Life and death have become equal. Death would be more merciful. What is hurting most is that the international family is closing its eyes to what is going on here."

From staff and patients at the Diocese of Jerusalem Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City. Saturday, after waiting two and one half hours at the checkpoint, our delegation visited Gaza on a mission of mercy, taking medical and relief supplies to hospitals and shelters. Israel Defense Forces tanks had pushed back before dawn, just one day after ending an unusually deadly incursion that killed thirty Palestinians over three days. According to an Associated Press count, in the past one month period, Israeli troops have killed 159 Palestinians since they started their relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip in response to the capture of soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. I have seen the Caterpillar bulldozers and the orchards of oranges uprooted by them. I saw an apartment building where forty families were given forty minutes to leave before it was demolished into a pile of rubble. I have heard the concern of the Director of our Al-Ahli Arab Hospital regarding medical supplies, staffing shortages, and lack of fuel to run the generators essential to critical care. And, I have seen children playing near mountains of garbage which are the breeding ground to rats and the threat of cholera, a disease that I watched devastate India when I lived there. Bishop Riah, Diocese of Jerusalem