Support for the Holy Land

Update: 6 December 2023 

Read Archbishop Naoum's Advent Appeal Letter

After closing in November amidst heavy bombardment, Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital is open once again to serve the hundreds of wounded remaining in Gaza City. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) was able to oversee a delivery to the hospital, which remains the only functional medical centre in the northern part of Gaza. Among the items delivered were fuel for the generators, anaesthesia, ICU supplies, emergency drugs, and IV fluids. The WHO also reported that the hospital is filled with hundreds of injured patients, with St. Philip's Chapel being used to accommodate the massive overflow. Many cases are severe and need more advanced care and surgical intervention. 

Funds received from USPG have contributed to the purchase of much needed fuel for the hospital generators. Other funds are allocated to cover the cost of the additional staff hired to meet the crushing flow of wounded and traumatized people. 

Please continue to pray: 

• For the conflict to end and peace 

• For the Al-Ahli hospital and for all its medical team and staff 

• For continued calm so that the flow of supplies and emergency assistance can reach those wounded who remain in such desperate need.  

By Rev'd Canon Don Binder, Diocese of Jerusalem

 A UN Aid Worker oversees the delivery of fuel to Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital. 

Update: 28 November 2023 

It is difficult fully to comprehend the scale of the explosion of violence which has erupted in the Holy Land since October 7th. We have seen on our news the devastation and shattered lives. The reality on the ground is far worse. My view from Jerusalem brings me closer though I am still nowhere near the Gaza firing line but the fear, sadness and anger which I hear and feel around me makes it profoundly distressing. Talking about, it for me and for everyone, is extremely difficult because people tend to take a position strongly favouring one side or the other and dismissing the contrary viewpoint. The situation of Israel and Palestine is a tangled political issue and because this is the so-called ‘Holy Land’ it is soaked in religious issues for Jews, Muslims and Christians. The rights and wrongs are difficult because the history is long and very complex. In seeking to engage in this controversial and painful situation, it is vital to take account of alternative perspectives which differ from our own. 
 
I approach the issue first and foremost from a position of human empathy. I want to see, feel and understand the pain and grief of people, and there is so much of that arising from the terrifying violence of both sides. Everyone caught up in this continuing catastrophe is hurting, sad and angry. There is no value in comparing one side with the other to prove that one side’s pain is more justified than the other. My Christian faith requires me to see every life as valuable and every death as tragic, even though inevitably I have opinions about the history which has brought us to this point and the steps towards peace with justice which need to be enacted from here.  
 
The pressing need is to address the humanitarian disaster. Medics and aid workers must be permitted to do their vital work. We cannot see the pathway to peace while bombing and shooting prevails and the loss of civilian lives makes that road ever harder. The two sides cannot engage in talks while hostages are still held captive. The sooner this changes, the sooner the hard task of talking can begin. It is vital to remember that the conclusion of this is not when the killing ends, the task of changing the underlying conditions which cause the intractable conflict is a process which can no longer be avoided.  

By The Very Rev’d Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College Jerusalem.

Update: 13 November 2023

From Diocese of Jerusalem, the Episcopal Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East

Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which has been directly run by the Diocese of Jerusalem since 1982, is now the only functioning hospital in the north of Gaza. Other hospitals in the region are unable to function due to the damage caused by the airstrikes as well as the lack of fuel. The staff continue to implement a 24-hour emergency response plan; to meet the increasing number of wounded and traumatised persons.
 
USPG is currently accompanying the Diocese of Jerusalem’s emergency response through Al-Ahli Arab Hospital by providing financial support.

If you would like to donate, please donate here https://rapid-response.raisely.com/ and mark your donation to the Diocese of Jerusalem.
 
Please join us prayer:

• As the only remaining open hospital in the northern part of the strip, may Al-Ahli Arab Hospital receive the supplies needed to function and provide the care needed for those in agony and distress.
• That all hostages may return to their own families and homes.
• For the safe and significant arrival of aid to be allowed into Gaza.
• For God to expand the imagination of leaders in the region and around the world to meaningful and sustainable solutions that will build peace and justice in the long term.
• For Christians to stand against the evils of rampant anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
• That people's hearts are not turned to hate by this war. 

“Remember the humanity of those who are suffering and those who are supporting them through this crisis.”

- Joel Kelling, Provincial Administrator, Province of Jerusalem & Middle East and Regional Facilitator, Anglican Alliance

In a video address to members of the Church of England's General Synod, Most Rev'd Hosam Naoum calls for a ceasefire and a plea for peace in Israel and Gaza. He calls on the international community to work for a ‘just and lasting’ peace. Watch it in full here:

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13 October 2023

‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee’ (Psalm 122) 

As the violence continues to unfold in the Holy Land, USPG upholds in prayer all who are suffering due to the hostilities. We join with churches and religious organisations around the world in a call for peace and an end to the violence. 

USPG is in close contact with the Diocese of Jerusalem and we ask for urgent prayers for peace and protection in the region. We use the words of the prayer written by the President Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East, and the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem Hosam Naoum:

O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. 

Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths - Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land. 

While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father. 

In Jesus’ name we pray. 

Amen. 

Please pray too for Archbishop Hosam Naoum, and other Christian leaders, as they continue to serve their people and work for peace and reconciliation. 

Read The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury's statement here 

Read the statement by The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem here