Statement of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop on Augusta Victoria Hospital

October 3, 2000

We are saddened by the deaths and injuries of so many people, both Palestinian and Israeli, in clashes prompted largely by the dispute over the future status of Jerusalem. We call on all sides to end the fighting. We urge Israeli and Palestinian leaders to negotiate a lasting disengagement and cease-fire of armed forces and to use their authority to promote an end to the violence. We protest the disproportionate and excessive use of lethal force by Israeli forces, their increasing use of live ammunition, their firing of rubber-coated bullets into the faces and heads of Palestinian youth, and their disregard for humanitarian institutions, such as the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives. We wish to express the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's strongest objection to the use of the Augusta Victoria Hospital premises by Israeli forces September 29 and 30, and demand that Israeli troops not use the perimeter of the hospital nor the property of the Lutheran World Federation for military activity. Their presence is provocative and may lead to additional clashes and casualties. Progress in the negotiations concerning Jerusalem is crucial in both the short and long term. On September 6th, on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I joined a number of other heads of churches here in the United States in writing to President Clinton about the churches' campaign to promote the principle of sharing Jerusalem between the two peoples and three religions. This effort is based on our steadfast commitment to an equitable, negotiated solution for Jerusalem that respects the human and political rights of Israelis and Palestinians as well as the three religious communities, Jewish, Muslim and Christian. The churches' concern, brought to the fore again by the recent violence, extends to the living communities of believers as well as to the holy sites.
 
In the letter to President Clinton we raised a number of issues that still must be addressed by the Israeli, Palestinian, and U.S. negotiating teams. The current situation of the closure of Jerusalem to Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, unless they obtain a permit for entry from Israel, is made all the more painful when that closure is extended to ambulances or private cars attempting to bring wounded children, women and men to Augusta Victoria Hospital and other hospitals in Jerusalem. A report received this morning indicates that access to Augusta Victoria Hospital is still being blocked by Israeli forces. On behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America I would like to express my condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in these recent clashes and ask God to comfort them in their time of grief. We will continue to work and pray for an end to the violence, seek to bolster those who search for a negotiated end to the conflict, and support those who provide pastoral care, emergency medical assistance, and other services in this time of crisis.
 
H. George Anderson
Presiding Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in America