Gaza and the West Bank: A Struggle for Survival Amid Genocide

media release: 

Israel’s extreme violence in Gaza and the West Bank is uprooting entire communities, destroying homes, displacing civilians, many of them children, and depriving inhabitants of food, water, shelter and medical care. This violence is putting the continued existence of the entire Gazan people at risk and making each day a struggle for their survival. The question is no longer when peace will come, but whether the people of Gaza and the West Bank will survive long enough to see it. This presentation aims to shed light on the lived experiences of Palestinians under siege, the international silence surrounding their suffering and the resilience they continue to show in the face of what many are calling a slow, unfolding genocide. It will also lift up some of the resistance to Israel’s action in Gaza that is going on around the world.

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Rev. El-Yateem, a highly respected Arab-American leader and community organizer, was born in Bethlehem in 1968 and emigrated to the United States in 1992. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and a bachelor’s degree from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo. One of Rev. El-Yateem’s primary focuses is promoting open dialogue and unity, especially among Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Rev. El-Yateem serves as Executive Director for Service and Justice at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Prior to this appointment, Rev. El Yateem served as the Assistant to the Bishop and the Director for Evangelical Mission in the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the ELCA.

CO-SPONSOR: South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, ELCA