16.09.2026
Solar Power Continues at Al Ahli Hospital Thanks to D&G Donation
Solar panels which the people of Dublin and Glendalough raised funds to buy for Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City over a decade ago have saved thousands of lives. The Programme Director for the Diocese of Jerusalem, Sawsan Batato, says that the solar panels still work sufficiently to be able to generate power for Al Ahli Hospital.
Ms Batato, who wrote the solar panel project for Al Ahli, conveyed the news to Archbishop Michael Jackson who is currently attending the Diocese of Jerusalem’s Majma (Synod) in Amman, Jordan, as part of the ongoing partnership between the two Anglican dioceses. She said the dioceses should be proud of the lives they have saved.
Al Ahli Arab Hospital is the only Christian hospital in Gaza. It is owned and run by the Diocese of Jerusalem and serves all people, no matter what their background. Led by the Dublin and Glendalough Council for Mission, the ‘Prepare a Place Appeal’ raised over €110,000 for solar panels and on call facilities for staff at Al Ahli in Advent 2014. The solar panels were installed in 2017.
A formal partnership link between the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem began in 2016. Since then Dublin and Glendalough has run a number of fundraising appeals including the ‘Shine a Light’ campaign in 2024 and 2025 which raised over €250,000 for initiatives of the Diocese of Jerusalem dealing with the impact of war. The partnership has also provided the opportunity for prayerful solidarity and support between the people and clergy of both dioceses.
Archbishop Jackson conveyed greetings to the members of Majma meeting in Amman yesterday (Tuesday September 15).
“We who come from abroad to be with you hear and see regularly on our phones and on our televisions the daily horror which is life today in this particular world, which is your world, in this particular place which is your place. We are devastated like the rest of the world for you. We are not really able to express either our sorrow for you or our sense of outrage at what you experience every day and every night. We are ashamed that we have been numbed into an involuntary silence and an inert response. We still want to say that we stand with you, because we do, that we love you, because we do, and that the whole world needs you, because it does,” he said.
The Archbishop added that the people and clergy of Dublin and Glendalough draw inspiration from the people and clergy of the Diocese of Jerusalem “from how you continue to live, how you continue to survive with dignity and with grace”.
He continued: “As The Living Stones, so eloquently and so memorably described in The First Letter of Peter, you and your witness are intrinsic to the present and to the future of Christianity. A popular hymn in our tradition also refers to The Living Stones as by God appointed. This sentiment I know goes without saying but it needs constantly to be said. It has to be called out as the great thing that it is. This has never been truer than it is today when Gaza, The West Bank and Lebanon are places of incalculable suffering and terrified people and Syria has been such a place for many years already. Not only is your life fragile. It is also under such constant strain and stress. Instinctively, we think of older and younger people first, but we must never forget the people in the middle who carry the load of three generations all at the same time.”
You can read the Archbishop’s greeting in full here.
In his Presidential Address to the Majma, Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Archbishop of Jerusalem spoke on the theme of the Synod ‘The Cross of Christ: Power and Life’ and said the challenge of the Church for Synod is to seek disciples of Christ who carry the Cross with joy and encourage vocations. He said that the people of the Diocese of Jerusalem experience the meaning of the Cross in a distinctive way as they serve in the land upon which Jesus Christ walked.
“During recent years, the peoples of our region have endured much suffering. Families have lost loved ones, communities have been displaced, institutions have been affected, and many have lived under the weight of fear, economic hardship and uncertainty,” he said. “And still, the Church has remained present. She has continued to pray. She has continued to serve. She has continued to keep her doors open. Our schools have continued to educate our sons and daughters. Our hospitals have continued to receive the sick. Our parishes have continued to gather the faithful around the Word of God and the Holy Table. This is the work of the Cross in the life of the Church.”