January/February 2012, Page 49
Waging Peace
HCEF Adds Another E, for Economy, To Its Name
More than 500 participants attended the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF)'s 13th International Conference at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30. This year's theme, "Investing in Our Community; Building Our Future," was also the goal for two conferences held at the Washington Marriott Hotel in conjunction with the HCEF conference—an IT sector forum on Oct. 28 and an investment and business conference on Oct. 30. Those forums focused on supporting investment as well as a highly educated IT workforce in the occupied territories, which can offer competitive and reliable IT services to the global market.
Ammar Aker, the CEO of Paltel, or Palestinian Telecommunication Group, the largest private-sector company in the Palestinian territories, and Hashim Hani Shawa, chairman of the board of the Bank of Palestine, joined Dr. Jihad al Wazir, the governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, to describe how creating jobs in the business sector can help bring peace and prosperity to Palestinians.
HCEF has even more reason than usual to be proud of its accomplishments in 2011. At the Oct. 28 Awards Banquet in the Marriott Hotel, HCEF programs manager Anthony Habash joked that HCEF should add another "E" for "Economy" to its acronymn, because its recent activities are helping the economy by providing jobs, especially in Bethlehem (where 23 percent of the population is unemployed—second only to Gaza).
Banquet guests watched a film featuring the new HCEF inn, with 25 bedrooms as well as dining, conference and meeting rooms, which opened on March 9 at Bethlehem's new Ecumenical Center for Research and Development. In July 2011, the new Center partnered with Paltel and Reach Communications Services to open a call center, creating 100 jobs in Bethlehem.
Guests also enjoyed a film documenting HCEF's first "Know Thy Heritage" trip to Palestine this past summer. The visit included 33 Palestinian American youths, aged 18 to 25, of all faith backgrounds, who have at least one Palestinian parent. The young people, who were responsible for only airfare and personal expenses, returned transformed by their experience. While some said they were "devastated by seeing and touching the separation wall," others were deeply moved by meeting relatives for the first time. "It felt like home," the young people repeated. As they left, the travelers were interrogated, one by one, for seven hours by Israeli authorities who couldn't believe that Muslim and Christian youths, who, after all, are "all Palestinians," were traveling together. (For more information visit; To apply for next summer's program contact < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. >.)
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, addressed the Awards Banquet before receiving the Key to the Holy Land for his continued diligence and outstanding support of the Christians in the Holy Land and for his efforts as an advocate for peace and reconciliation. Cardinal Wuerl said HCEF's "international conference promotes an explicit call to peace in the Middle East and in our world by providing a platform for interreligious dialogue..."
HCEF's 2011 Awardees included Path of Peace recipient Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute; Living Stones Solidarity awardees The Ajram Family Foundation; HCEF Award, Raja Khoury, president of Pillar Construction; and HCEF President's Award to Sir Elias and Lady May Shomali, KCHS/LCHS.
—Delinda C. Hanley
