Lutheran World Federation Condemns Late-Night Search of Jerusalem Hospital by Israeli Forces

Baltimore, July 17, 2003 — Incensed at a late-night search of its Jerusalem hospital by Israeli soldiers and police, the Lutheran World Federation is asking members of its governing council to register protests with the government of Israel. The Geneva-based LWF said it fears that "this type of unacceptable behavior" might be repeated if left unchallenged.

Groups of soldiers and police twice demanded entry to Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives last Saturday night, saying they had received a call about possible explosives inside the facility, which serves Palestinians. Near midnight, LWF staff finally agreed to escort two soldiers through the wards but without their weapons. The soldiers checked all the rooms and staff reported that some of the children patients were upset and anxious all that night and the next day.

The LWF hospital is by turns cut off from its patients and staff and then over-burdened by health problems related to the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The LWF is also contesting a recent revocation of the hospital's tax-free status by an Israeli court. Lutheran World Relief has supported Augusta Victoria Hospital and related projects among Palestinian refugees since the late 1940s.