December 29, 2008
By Matthew Davies

Following a recent upsurge in violence in the Palestinian Territory of Gaza, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other religious leaders have called for an end to the repeated rocket attacks from Palestinian militants and the continuing Israeli air strikes that are contributing to a severe humanitarian crisis in the world's most densely populated region.

"I urge a comprehensive response to these attacks," said Jefferts Schori, who visited Gaza in March to meet with religious and community leaders and tour the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, one of 37 institutions throughout the Middle East run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. "Since that visit, the situation, which was already devastating, has only worsened, with supplies of food, fuel, power, and medical supplies either cut off or indefinitely delayed. Our hospital must now try to treat the wounded under the most impossible circumstances."

Israel, which has reportedly positioned military tanks along the Gaza border, has said the recent air strikes and the blockade – enforced since January 17 – have been necessary to put pressure on militant Palestinians to cease firing rockets into southern Israel. But Israeli attacks and shortages of essential supplies have caused a humanitarian crisis in the region, where the unemployment level stands at 80 percent.

"Innocent lives are being lost throughout the land we all call Holy, and as Christians remember the coming of the Prince of Peace, we ache for the absence of peace in the land of his birth," Jefferts Schori said in her December 29 statement. "Immediate attention should focus on vital humanitarian assistance to the suffocating people of Gaza."

The Al Ahli Arab Hospital, which treats Muslims, Christians and anyone in need, dispenses free medical treatment and services. But Jefferts Schori heard in March that it struggles without electricity for several hours a day and it relies on limited fuel supplies to operate its generator. The blockade has also caused difficulties in bringing medicines into Gaza.

Anne K. Lynn, director of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, a non-profit organization that supports the mission of the Jerusalem diocese and its institutions, described the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as "overwhelming."

"The information we're receiving from the Al Ahli Arab Hospital is heartbreaking and requires immediate response," she said, noting that AFEDJ is in contact with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the hospital to find out exactly how it can be most effective. Further information about AFEDJ is available at http://www.americanfriends-jerusalem.org/.

Suheila Tarazi, the hospital's director, has called the current situation a "catastrophe." She reported that in the first two hours of Israel's air strikes, the hospital received 45 injured patients, a third of whom were children, and 30 medical operations were performed.

Episcopal News Service