Author: WCC Central Committee

The Central Committee upon the recommendation of Reference Committee II ADOPTED the following statement:

The deep conflict which for over twenty years had divided the Middle East and troubled the whole world and which this year has broken out in new and bitter fighting, must be of profound concern to all Christians. The countries involved in it have been the birthplace of some of the earliest developed human civilisations and of three of the world’s greatest religions, Jewish, Christian and Muslim.

The present crisis has developed in part because the rest of the world has been insensitive to the fears of people in the Middle East; the fears of the people of the Arab nations because of the dynamism and possible expansion of Israel, and the fears of the people of Israel who have escaped from persecution on other continents only to be threatened, at least by word, with expulsion from their new home.

We recognise the urgency of seeking creative solutions to this problem lest the acceptance of a cease-fire without a just political settlement result in a fait accompli which can only increase antagonism and encourage preparation for the next attempt at a solution by armed force.

Since the beginning of the present crisis the World Council of Churches has called for a peaceful and just solution. After the outbreak of war, it urged a speedy cessation of hostilities and insisted that both the peoples directly involved in the conflict and the great powers were responsible for the establishment of a just and durable peace.

We believe there are strong spiritual and moral forces that exist below the surface and can be released to end the cycle of enmity and suspicion. The situation now emphasises the necessity and presents an opportunity to move towards a brighter future for all people concerned. We do not consider it our task to enter into all the details of a political settlement. We do hold, however, that the following elements are essential to any peace founded upon justice and recognition of the equality of all peoples in the region.

1. No nation should be allowed to keep or annexe the territory of another by armed force. This applies to the present situation. National boundaries should rest upon international agreements freely reached between or accepted by the people directly concerned.

2. Effective international guarantees should be given for the political independence and territorial integrity of all nations in the area, including both Israel and the Arab nations.

3. There can be neither reconciliation nor significant development in the area unless, in the general settlement, a proper and permanent solution is found to the problem of Arab refugees, both old and new. We therefore urge:

3.1 That all persons who have been displace in recent months should be permitted to exercise their right to return to their former places of residence. In the case of those from the West Bank of Jordan this will involve action:

3.1.1 To extend substantially the period for application to return, and

3.1.2 To provide a form of application that carries no political implications

We are glad to learn that on both these points some progress has been made.

3.2 That the United Nations should be increasingly involved in the short and long-term aspects of the problem of all displaced persons. The expanding services of UNRWA are essential and urgently need the generous support of all governments. The World Council of Churches should continue in its search for a satisfactory solution to the whole refugee problem. The current operations of the churches and the Near East Council of Churches should be reinforced.

4. In the meantime until a just and peaceful settlement is reached, we are particularly concerned about the religious aspect of the situation. In a region where communities of three religions met and lived together for long centuries, full religious freedom must be assured to all persons and communities. The continued presence and witness of these faiths and their respective communities must be guaranteed by international agreement including free access to the holy places in a land of unique importance for every one of them.

5. While the needs of national security in each case must be adequately met, a new armament race must be avoided by the agreed limitation of national armaments to the lowest level consistent with a balanced security in the area.

6. The great powers have played a role in shaping the political and economic structure of the Middle East. For this reason and because peace in this most sensitive and central area affects the peace of the world, these nations must be prepared to cooperate with leadership in the Middle East, in the stabilisation of the region and refrain from selfishly pursuing their own political, economic and commercial interests.

7. The legitimate hopes of all the people of the Middle East for development should be encouraged based upon the talents and resources of all the nations involved. This assumes international and financial support by all possible sources including the commitment already made by the United Nations and its Specialised Agencies.

International Affairs, Peace & Human Security

Hannover, FRG, 20 August 1988

Dear Secretary-General,

The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Hannover from the 10th to 20th August 1988, sends this appeal to you, convinced of the urgency of finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We request you to undertake immediately preparatory measures to convene the International Peace Conference on the Middle East, in accordance with the General Assembly Resolution 38/58.

The popular uprising in the Occupied Territories, which has entered the ninth month, reflects a new and profoundly significant stage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The occupation can no longer be prolonged without exorbitant costs, human and material, on both sides, in addition to the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people and the likelihood of escalation of the conflict with disastrous consequences.

We believe that concerted efforts by the international community for finding a comprehensive solution to the problem have to be intensified. We believe that there is today a new opportunity for peace-making.

In making this appeal to you, Mr. Secretary-General, we are greatly encouraged by the successful role played by the UN in resolving conflicts like Afghanistan. We express appreciation for your new initiative on Cyprus with the hope that it will lead to the unity of the country. We are encouraged by the increasing recognition among the nations of the world, including the major powers, about the legitimate and unique role of the United Nations in the peaceful resolution of conflict. The United Nations and you deserve congratulations for its recent achievements.

We specially welcome the declaration of cease fire in the Iran-Iraq war which we hope will end the eight year old war and with the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 598 will lead to a comprehensive settlement. The end of this war provides a fresh opportunity to resolve other Middle East conflicts enhancing the role of the UN in the region, including that of the UN peace-keeping force.

The Middle East is a region which demanded the attention of the WCC from the day this organization was inaugurated forty years ago. We have been engaged in the region through our member churches ministering to the needs of the people, especially the displaced and the uprooted, seeking justice and promoting reconciliation.

This is the year in which the international community observes the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The International Covenants on Human Rights, which are the extension of the Declaration, begin with the affirmation of the right of self-determination of all peoples. Therefore it is most appropriate that we make this appeal to you on this occasion on an issue which centers around the right of self-determination.

The World Council of Churches has affirmed its conviction that the mutual recognition of the Israeli and Palestinian people on the bases of equality is the only guarantee for peace and security in the region. It has further affirmed that the rights of self-determination of the Israeli and Palestinian people are mutually interdependent.

We believe that the International Peace Conference should ensure:
1. the withdrawal of Israel from the territories occupied since 1967;
2. the realization of the rights of the Palestinian people including their right to establish a state of their own;
3. recognizing and guaranteeing the rights and security of all states in the region including the state of Israel for existence within internationally recognized boundaries;
4. recognizing and guaranteeing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon;
5. recognizing that Jerusalem is a Holy City for the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and safeguarding and confirming the special legislation known as the Status Quo of the Holy Places in any agreement concerning Jerusalem.

We express our conviction that the International Conference will be effective only if all parties to the conflict, including Israel, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, neighboring Arab states, as well as the USA, USSR and other concerned states participate in the Conference. Such participation is essential for the successful outcome of the Conference.

We are confident, Mr Secretary-General, that you will intensify your efforts, including consultation with members of the Security Council and the parties directly involved, for the convening of the Conference at the earliest.

We assure you of our continuing support for all your efforts for peace and justice. May God’s blessings be upon you.

On behalf of the Central Committee of the WCC

Emilio Castro
General Secretary

In previous WCC statements on Jerusalem, quoted below, the World Council of Churches has affirmed that:

1. Jerusalem is a holy city for three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Central Committee, Berlin/West, 1974). It is therefore their responsibility to cooperate in the creation of conditions that will ensure that Jerusalem is a city open to the adherents of all three religions, where they can meet and live together. The tendency to minimize Jerusalem’s importance for any of these three religions should be avoided. (V. Assembly, Nairobi, 1975)

2. Christian Holy Places in Jerusalem and neighbouring areas belong to the greatest extent to member churches of the World Council of Churches, specifically to the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches… Any proposed solution as to the future of the holy places in Jerusalem should take into account the legitimate rights of the churches most directly concerned. (Central Committee, 1974)

3. (The) question of Jerusalem is not only a matter of protection of the holy places, it is organically linked with living faiths and communities of people in the holy city. (It) is essential that the holy shrines should not become mere monuments of visitation, but should serve as living places of worship integrated and responsive to Christian communities who continue to maintain their life and roots within the holy city, and for those who, out of religious attachment, want to visit them. (V. Assembly)

4. The special legislation regulating the relationship of the Christian communities and the authorities, guaranteed by international treaties (Paris 1856 and Berlin 1878) and the League of Nations and known as the status quo of the Holy Places must be fully safeguarded and confirmed in any agreement concerning Jerusalem. (V. Assembly)

5. (The) settlement of the interreligious problems of the holy places should take place under an international aegis and guarantee which ought to be respected by the parties concerned as well as the ruling authorities; (and) should be worked out with the most directly concerned member churches, as well as with the Roman Catholic Church. These issues should also become subjects for dialogue with Jewish and Muslim counterparts. (V. Assembly)

6. (The) future status of Jerusalem… has to be determined within the general context of the settlement of the Middle East conflict in its totality. (V. Assembly).

7. (Just) as the future status of Jerusalem has been considered part of the destiny of the Jewish people, so it cannot be considered in isolation from the destiny of the Palestinian people.(Central Committee, Geneva, 1980).

Against this background, and in the light of the deep religious, historical and emotional attachments of Christians, Jews and Muslims to Jerusalem and the turmoil to which this gives rise; and recognising the significance of Jerusalem to the continuing Middle East peace process, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Geneva, 14-22 September 1995,

• Welcomes the visit to Jerusalem by the General Secretary (15-21 May 1995), during which he met with the heads of Churches and Christian Communities in Jerusalem, with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Israel, the President of the Palestinian National Authority, and others;
• Welcomes especially the joint Memorandum of the Heads of Christian Communities in Jerusalem on the Significance of Jerusalem for Christians, in which they call on all parties “to go beyond exclusivist visions or actions, and without discrimination, to consider the religious and national aspirations of others, in order to give back to Jerusalem its true universal character and to make of the city a holy place of reconciliation for humankind”;
• Notes with appreciation their appeal for full respect of the rights of believers to freedom of access to holy places, of movement within the Holy City, and to carry out pilgrimages in the spirit of authentic tradition; the rights of local Christian Communities to freedom of worship and of conscience, both as individuals and as religious communities, to carry out their religious, educational, medical and other duties of charity, and to have their own institutions and their own personnel to run them;
• Endorses their affirmation that, in claiming these rights for themselves, Christians recognize and respect similar and parallel rights of Jewish and Muslim believers and their communities, and declare themselves disposed to search with Jews and Muslims for a mutually respectful application of these rights and for a harmonious coexistence in the perspective of the universal spiritual vocation of Jerusalem;
• Endorses their call

• “for a special judicial and political statute for Jerusalem which reflects the universal importance and significance of the city;
• “that, in order to satisfy the national aspirations of all its inhabitants, and in order that Jews, Christians and Muslims can be ‘at home’ in Jerusalem and at peace with one another, representatives from the three monotheistic religions, in addition to local political powers, ought to be associated in the elaboration and application of such a special statute;
• “that, because of the universal significance of Jerusalem, the international community ought to be engaged in the stability and permanence of this statute and provide the necessary guarantees in order that Jerusalem not be dependent solely on municipal or national political authorities, whoever they may be, that Jerusalem not be victimized by laws imposed as a result of hostilities or wars, but to be an open city which transcends local, regional or world political troubles.”

• Reiterates its statement of August 1980 opposing the Israeli unilateral action of annexing East Jerusalem and uniting the city as its “eternal capital” under its exclusive sovereignty in contradiction of pertinent United Nations resolutions;
• Expresses profound concern about the policies of the State of Israel which have created a situation of political and economic insecurity for the indigenous Christian population of Jerusalem which has contributed to a process of emigration which continuously diminishes the Christian presence in Jerusalem;
• Appeals once again to the State of Israel to desist from its continuing, systematic policies of confiscation of buildings and land, destruction of buildings, establishment of new Jewish settlements in and around East Jerusalem, discrimination in the granting of building permits, constraints on the freedom of movement for Arab Christians and Muslims, as well as for indigenous Christians within and access to Jerusalem and the Holy Places, and from all attempts to alter the demographic status quo of the Holy City prior to the conclusion of agreements with regard to its future status;
• Calls upon the Government of Israel and on the Palestinian National Authority to take up soon the question of the future status of Jerusalem in their negotiations, given its centrality to the ultimate success of efforts to implement the Accords and to promote peace in and beyond the Middle East region; and
• Appeals to member churches to be constant in prayer and in acts of solidarity with the Christian communities in Jerusalem in order to ensure a continuing, vital Christian presence in the Holy City and to strengthen the historic role of these communities and their leaders in promoting open communication, dialogue and cooperation among all communities in the Holy City.

The Central Committee of the WCC, meeting in Geneva, 26 August – 3 September 1999, has received with gratitude the (attached) letter signed and sealed by the Patriarchs and Heads of the Christian Communities in Jerusalem, addressed to the General Secretary on August 12, 1999. This letter expresses the appreciation of the Church of Jerusalem for the WCC Statement on the Status of Jerusalem, adopted at the Eighth Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in December 1998, recognizing that it will help strengthen the Christian witness in the Holy Land and promote the achievement of an agreement on the status of Jerusalem which affirms the principle that it should be shared and include two peoples and three religions.

The Central Committee requests the General Secretary to respond to the Patriarchs and Heads of Christian Communities, reaffirming the WCC’s conviction that Jerusalem is central to the faith of Christians and Christians’ responsibility to pray and work for the peace of Jerusalem.