Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson has urgently requested that congregations advocate on behalf of Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem.
For more than 50 years, Augusta Victoria, a Lutheran World Federation hospital, has provided medical care to Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It’s the only hospital available to many Palestinians with leukemia and other cancers.
That care is threatened by a December 22, 2002, ruling from the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem, which revoked a tax exemption agreement between Israel and the LWF that dates back to 1967. The LWF appealed the ruling, but the nonprofit hospital’s tax exempt status has yet to be restored - limiting its ability to continue servicing the Palestinian population, most of whom have few resources and lack insurance.
To help Bishop Hanson (in his role as President of LWF), the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs asks you to write to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to urge Israeli officials not to revoke Augusta Victoria Hospital’s tax exempt status (U.S. Department of State, 2201 C St. NW, Washington DC 20520). To send a letter online, visit www.elca.org/advocacy and click on “action alerts.”
Our synod has been asked to pray for peace in the Middle East on the fourteenth of each month. We will offer special prayers on Sunday, August 14.
If you have not checked out the ELCA’s e-Advocacy program, now is a good time to do so, remembering that Christ the King Church is “a village church with a global mission.”