South African Church Activists join WCC Programme in Israel and Palestine

South Africa is now in its tenth year since the end of apartheid and the movement into a democracy. However, even now there remain many conflicts and oppressions, and the fight for equal human rights for all continues.

Last week, thirteen new church activists joined the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine (EAPPI); four of which came from South Africa.

The EAPPI was launched in August 2002. Ecumenical accompaniers monitor and report violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, support acts of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, offer protection through non-violent presence, engage in public policy advocacy, and stand in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the occupation.

"It is too easy for us to forget the dark and terrible days of our own struggle, but the world has not forgotten, and our mere presence stands as a sign of hope to others," said Canon Luke Pato of the South African Council of Churches (SACC).

The SACC’s history is filled with political activism and ecumenical fellowship with the WCC through the Ecumenical Monitoring Programme in South Africa (EMPSA). EMPSA served as a model for the EAPPI, and was active for 4 years between 1990 and 1994, gathering over 400 volunteers for the anti-apartheid movement.

The EAPPI comes from the SACC with the support of the Christian Council of Sweden, and is the first programme to belong to the churches which carries direct experience of conflict and non-violent resistance.

“We wouldn’t have survived without international support,” notes one new activist, a student during the EMPSA days. The ecumenical family “helped us cope with the realities of the situations we were facing,” he added. “They were there for us, and it is important to be here for them now.”

The four South Africans include a social service worker, a legal officer and two members of the clergy, and join with nine other church activists from Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK to join two staying on from previous groups. The new group consists of six women and seven men, and range from 26 to 72, who will work with church non-governmental organisations in Jerusalem, Palestine and Israel. Community work will be carried out in various ways, and particular aid will be given to people dealing daily with the effects of Israel’s separation barrier.

"South African churches joining the EAPPI marks a turning point in the international ecumenical solidarity and advocacy efforts to end the illegal Israeli occupation," says Salpy Eskidjian of the WCC. "The legacy of WCC and SACC in the struggle against apartheid is a concrete manifestation, demonstrating that when we join forces, we can bring about change. Now, through the EAPPI, the ecumenical fellowship has the chance to do it again."