ECUMENISM
The World Council of Churches has asked the European Union to exercise “respect” for the electoral choice of the Palestinians, which decreed the victory of Hamas on 25 January, and to continue its humanitarian aid to the population. In a letter of WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia to the chairperson of the Council of the European Union, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, the WCC “is urging the European Union to respect the democratic mandate given by the elections and time for the new government to find its feet and demonstrate its intentions”. On Monday 10April, the Foreign Ministers of the EU temporarily blocked direct funding to the Palestinian Authority until Hamas had given sufficient assurances of the use of non-violence, the recognition of the State of Israel and respect for the Israeli-Palestinian accords. Meeting in Luxembourg on 10-11 April, EU foreign ministers confirmed the suspension of aid, though leaving open the sending of aid through alternative channels (though these have still to be ascertained) in support of the Palestinian people. In its letter, the WCC warns the EU and the USA of the likelihood “of increasing suffering [to the Palestinian people] and new dangers to peace ahead” as a result of the suspension of aid. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Most Rev. Michel Sabbah has also spoken out in similar terms: at a press conference in Jerusalem, he called “unacceptable” the suspension of international financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority.
