Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)
Volunteering to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their nonviolent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation.
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) brings internationals to the West Bank to experience life under occupation. Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) provide protective presence to vulnerable communities, monitor and report human rights abuses and support Palestinians and Israelis working together for peace. When they return home, EAs campaign for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through an end to the occupation, respect for international law and implementation of UN resolutions.
EAPPI reached its 10th anniversary in November 2012.
Since it was set-up in 2002 at least 1,000 Ecumencial Accompaniers from 45 international teams have served from around the world, including at least 150 from the UK and Ireland.
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is a World Council of Churches (WCC) initiative which was established ten years ago in 2002 in response to a call made by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, and Palestinian and Israeli NGOs. The mission of the EAPPI is to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their nonviolent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation.
The role of participants in the programme includes:
- Monitoring and reporting violations of human rights and international humanitarian law
- Supporting acts of nonviolent resistance alongside local Palestinian and Israeli activists
- Offering protection through nonviolent presence
- Engaging in public policy advocacy
- Standing in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the occupation.
Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), part of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain, co-ordinates the EAPPI in Britain and Ireland, under the auspices of the World Council of Churches. Partner churches and church-related organisations include:
- Baptist Union of Great Britain
- CAFOD
- Christian Aid
- Church of Scotland
- Church Mission Society
- Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
- Iona Community
- Methodist Church
- Pax Christi UK
- Scottish Episcopal Church
- United Reformed Church
- USPG
Since August 2002, hundreds of Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) from twenty countries have served in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Nearly 140 of these EAs were from Britain and Ireland. A further 20 from Britain and Ireland are serving in 2012.
The EAPPI is co-ordinated internationally by the World Council of Churches. Visit the WCC’s EAPPI website [offsite link] for more information about the programme as a whole.