|
http://perso.infonie.fr/mouka/rafqa.htm
http://www.opuslibani.org.lb/egliseeng/002/rafka.htm
http://www.bkerke.org.lb/blessedrafka.htm
May
her prayers and intercesion be upon us to teach us how to bear our cross in
this difficult time as she did during her entire life full of sufferings!
Message
from Msgr. Michel Sabbah, President of Pax Christi International
To
Pax Christi Germany
Pax Christi Germany is organising its annual national
congress on the situation in the Middle East, 8–10 June 2001. It will take
place in the Ev. Akademie Hofgeismar (near Kassel - middle-east of Germany).
Speakers include Rafiq Khoury, East Jerusalem; Prof. Avi Ravitzky, West
Jerusalem; Rabbi David Rosen, West Jerusalem; Dalal Salama, Nablus; Viola
Raheb, Bethlehem. Members of other national sections are invited to
participate. Congress languages are German and English. Info: paxchristi.sekretariat@online.de
On this occasion, our International President, Msgr. Michel Sabbah, sent a
message to the participants of the Congress and to Pax Christi Germany:
Jerusalem,
30 April 2001
Dear
friends,
Greetings
from Jerusalem: the peace of the Risen Lord be with you all. In June, you will
meet for your Annual Congress and joint reflection on issues of conflict. As
Pax Christi members, the spirit and the commandment of Our Lord Jesus Christ
animates us to bring healing and reconciliation to all human beings without
discrimination or preference. Our basic principle is that every human being on
all sides of the world's conflicts is equally loved by God. The strong who use
their strength to serve and to heal, or the strong who use their power to
impose injustice and oppress the weak, as well as the weak and oppressed. All
of them, oppressors and oppressed, strong or weak, are human beings, who must
be equally loved by each of us who want to be imitators of God, who gives His
peace and redemption to all.
At
your Congress, you will address the issue of the Middle East conflict,
especially that between Israel and the Palestinian people. The same principle
mentioned above applies to this issue. All human beings, Israelis and
Palestinians, are the images of God, equally loved by God, and should equally
be objects of our love. But in a particular way you, as the German section and
a part of the German people, bear a responsibility towards the Jewish people
and have a deep and special love for the Jewish people. At the same time, in
order to be able to bring healing and both peoples to reconciliation, loving
the Palestinian people is also required. What is needed in this conflict is
not to side with one party as against the other, but to support both of them
in their struggle, and to help them come to a reconciliation based on justice
and a definitive peace.
Violence
on either side is to be condemned equally and brought to an end. At the same
time, equitable justice for both sides must be proclaimed and made the aim of
the efforts of all peacemakers. Today, justice for Israel means security and
secure borders. For Palestinians it means freedom, independence and also
security. The best security for both of them, the best-secured borders, will
come with the healing of their hearts. For it is only when they are
reconciled, and full of friendship and good will they be able to build the new
Israeli and Palestinian society together.
Jerusalem
was chosen by God to be the City of Salvation for all humankind, the City of
Encounter between God and humankind, and hence the City of Peace and
Reconciliation. Yet it is a disputed City, full of hatred, and surrounded by
hatred and bloodshed in our time. It calls on all of us, on all peacemakers,
to meditate upon its divine mission, in order to help both peoples and the
three religions claiming it to be theirs, to make of their Holy City, the
model and source of universal peace and the model and source of healing for
all conflicts.
+Michel Sabbah, Patriarch
President of Pax Christi International
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE DOUBLE SOLIDARITY
I am
grateful to Pax Christi/Germany for its invitation to me, together with
others, to take part in this meeting. I am grateful to them for their interest
in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in their search for peace in the Holy
Land and in the whole Middle East. I am grateful to them for the courage they
show to gather Israelis and Palestinians in a time where they turned their
backs on each other. I do believe that peace in the Holy Land is not only a
local issue involving Israelis and Palestinians, but an issue which cannot
leave anybody indifferent and spectator for many reasons, political, economic,
spiritual and even emotional reasons, and for the reason that the
international community was strongly involved since the beginning of the
conflict more than one hundred years ago. And in the current situation, the
international community is involved more than ever to the point that a just
peace cannot be reached without its effective contribution. In that frame, we
understand the importance of such a meeting, which gives the opportunity to
many people to hear the different voices involved directly in the conflict. We
are enemies of those we don’t know, as Imam Ali says. Hearing these voices
is not a simple curiosity, but a responsibility, a heavy responsibility,
because in the middle of the game is the fate of peoples.
I shall speak with frankness and clarity,
because the conflict has reached a point where ambiguities and double language
are no longer tolerable. In the current situation the conflict reached the
hour of the truth and we are all called to gather the different elements of
the conflict in order to put them together for the sake of a comprehensive,
just and durable peace, which we all tragically need and hope for.
Our
meeting focuses on the double solidarity adopted by some German forums, among
them the Pax Christi movement if I am not wrong. I would like to present some
thoughts on this issue, which I hope will help to situate this double
solidarity in the very real context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
1.
Double solidarity
In the seventies I
used to come to Germany to some parishes during the summers of my studies in
Rome. You may remember that that period was a very hot one in the history of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a Palestinian, I was always very kindly
received, but at the same time with great suspicion. I always felt I was
classified, naturally as an evil “terrorist”. I remember that one day I
was asked to bring Holy Communion to a sick man in the parish. The secretary
called the family to inform her and said: a priest will come to bring Holy
Communion, and added: You know, he is a Palestinian, but a good Palestinian.
It was humiliating. I understood from it that Palestinians are evil; I was
only an exception to the rule. Nobody ever dared to ask me about what was
happening in the Holy Land. Not only that, but every time I spontaneously
started to explain something about the Palestinians, I was stopped in one way
or in another. I felt that people have a set of ideas about the situation in
the Holy Land, and were not ready to see these ideas troubled or questioned.
At this point, I asked my parish priest: but, why all that? He answered me
with a word I tried little by little to understand the meaning of: the feeling
of guilt (Schuldgerfuehl). But the question remained: why should I, as a
Palestinian, be the victim of such a schuldgefuhl?
From the very beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the
Palestinians were simply ignored. Ignored by the Zionist Movement with the
famous and wrong slogan: “A people without land to a land without people”,
as if the Palestinians were absolutely non-existent. The Palestinians were
also roughly ignored by the Balfour Declaration, where Palestine was promised
to the Jews without even consulting the Palestinians who were the inhabitants
of the land from time immemorial.
Fortunately many things changed since then. The international community
is more and more aware of the complexity of the situation, which is not simply
black and white. They know a little bit more about the situation of the
Palestinian people. In Germany the idea of double solidarity is gaining more
ground, especially within these circles who are more and more sensible to the
tragedy of the Palestinian people. The double solidarity is based on the
knowledge and the acknowledgement of both the Israelis and of the Palestinians
as well. The international community is a major factor in the peaceful
solution of the conflict. And it cannot play this important role without a
balanced stand between the two parties. And I would like to add that the
international community has a heavy responsibility towards the Palestinians.
It is time to hear them seriously and to take seriously their legitimate
rights. Otherwise we shall remain in this infernal cycle of violence.
Double solidarity…It is a new and good terminology. I would like to
elaborate some more thoughts on it, always with the greatest frankness and
clarity possible.
2.
A double solidarity based on the truth
The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict reached what I call “the hour of the truth”,
that means a stage where some realities and some historical decisions are
inevitable and should be considered and taken. What is that truth? What are
these realities and decisions? I try to summarize them in some short and clear
sentences:
- No
peace, no security, no stability in the Holy Land and in the Middle East
without the full legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Any denial
or restriction or reduction of these rights will keep the region
indefinitely in a bloody conflict.
- Peace
cannot be achieved with violence, killing of the innocents, shelling,
murder operations, with F16, rockets, demolition of houses, the uprooting
of trees, the cantonization of the Palestinian territories by the bypass
roads and the construction of settlements. These violent methods and
military force can disseminate death, but not build up peace.
- No
peace without a fully independent Palestinian state with East-Jerusalem as
its capital, not in the place of Israel but alongside Israel.
- The
collaboration of the two states is essential for the well being of the
Israelis and of the Palestinians, a collaboration based on a spirit of
partnership and not on the will to dominate.
- It
is time for the Israeli public opinion to face courageously the realities
on the ground and not remain imprisoned in illusions and mythologies, as
it has been said by Yossi Beilin at the beginning of the Camp David Peace
Talks. These mythologies can only lead us all to interminable bloodshed.
It is time for the Israelis to recognize the rights of the Palestinians,
the same rights the Israelis claim for themselves.
- Naturally,
Palestinians too have to overcome their own mythologies and recognize the
State of Israel as they have already done and recognize the need of
security of that state in the frame of a global, real and just peace.
- Occupation
is destroying the Palestinian people, politically, economically, socially,
culturally, physically, and in the same time occupation is deeply
corrupting the soul of the Jewish people, as Prof. Yeshayahu LEIBOVITZ
prophesied soon after the 67 War. But, do the Israelis listen to their
prophets?
3.
The tragic ambiguities of a peace process
We
reached the hour of truth. You know that in 1991 the Madrid Conference was
convened, which was followed by the secret Oslo negotiations which led the way
to the conclusion of the interim agreements of Oslo I and Oslo II and other
agreements, which remained unapplied in their major part. And I can assure you
that the large majority of the Palestinians in the territories was delighted
with this new trend of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The feeling was very
strong that a real breach was opened and this exciting breach was able to lead
the way to a new dynamic never known in the region since the beginning of the
conflict. We all lived a period of hope, the hope that this dynamic would lead
us all to a just, durable and comprehensive peace. That was the general
feeling. That is why the Palestinians demonstrated in the streets with olive
branches and offered flowers to the Israeli soldiers. It is true that these
feelings were not absolute, but mixed with fears, reserves and doubts because
of the nature of these agreements, full of ambiguities, half solutions and
even unfairness to the Palestinians. It is true that doors were open, but
others were half opened and others of major importance remained closed until
the scheduled final negotiations. Despite all these fears, reserves and
doubts, the feeling of hope prevailed. This hope was based on the possibility
that the actually accepted will lead in the long run to the permanently
desirable.
But
very soon these hopes evaporated and deep disappointment took hold. People
realized that these talks would never achieve any valuable result. In the same
time, the Palestinians saw that the negotiations were accompanied with more
and more oppression, more pressures, more creation of new facts on the ground:
more settlements, more confiscation of land and more bypass roads which
destroyed the integrity of the Palestinian territories and which transformed
them into small cantons without organic communication between them, and with
more and rampant disclosure of the territories, which transformed life in the
territories into a hell. At the beginning of the occupation I was able to
travel by car with the license plate of the occupied territories in all the
Israel/Palestine territory from Gaza to Nazareth and from Tel Aviv to Jericho.
With the beginning of the peace process Jerusalem was closed (there are
Palestinian children now who have never seen the Holy Sepulcher or Al-Aksa
Mosque when there are only ten kilometers away from Jerusalem). Then came the
closure of the Gaza Strip making travel to Gaza an impossible adventure and
transforming Gaza into a vast prison. And now all the territories are closed
to each other and neighboring villages closed to each other making the
movement in the territories something absurd and intolerable. I can assure you
that, after the beginning of the peace process, the repression of the
Palestinian people never reached such a level of crudeness and ferocity. It
was clear to us that the Israelis are pressuring by military and political
force to obtain the capitulation of the Palestinians to the terms of peace
imposed by Israel, which are absolutely unacceptable to the Palestinians.
4.
The expected failure of the Camp David peace talks
With
all that we reached Camp David, with a delay of three years, lost in political
and useless political maneuvers, which transformed the peace process into a
comedy. The Camp David Talks were supposed to discuss the final status of the
territories and all the remaining problems left to this final stage of the
negotiations. Camp David failed as expected. The Palestinians saw it very
clear that the way in which the peace process was conducted in the previous
stage of the talks made the Camp David talks useless and a waste of time.
It has been said that the Israelis offered in Camp David 90% to the
Palestinians and the Palestinians, refusing these 90%, missed a precious
opportunity to implement peace and therefore they are the only responsible for
the present situation. What are the 10%, which were not offered to the
Palestinians? – The problem of the Palestinian refugees, which constitutes
the core of the Palestinian problem; the problem of Jerusalem and the Al-Aksa
Mosque, which is a problem of extreme sensitivity to the Palestinians; the
problem of the settlements, which remain the illegal element in the
territories dismantling any communication between the different Palestinian
territories and making impossible a Palestinian state; full Palestinian state
which was replaced by an insignificant entity where the Israelis have almost
full sovereignty etc… etc…. When we check in depth, we realize that the
Israelis offered in fact the 10% and not the alleged 90%. The Palestinians
have the feeling that what was offered to them is in fact the legalization of
the occupation. The offer was very short of the minimum the Palestinians can
accept. The second Intifada was near and it was inevitable. The Palestinians
responded by the Intifada and the Israelis by the rude military repression.
5.
A double solidarity based on justice
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict there is a problem of vocabulary.
Israelis and Palestinians are using different terminology and it is not always
easy to reconcile these different terminologies. The Israelis willingly speak
about peace and security, but justice is not very current in their
terminology. The Palestinians speak willingly about justice and peace and less
about security. I believe it is the proper time to put these different
terminologies together in order to prepare a comprehensive peace.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict there is a serious and deep problem
of justice. The Palestinians are victims of an evident injustice. The denial
of this injustice will never help to implement a real peace. On the contrary
it will lead us to interminable cycles of violence. In 1948 Israel was founded
on an injustice towards the Palestinians. Until this injustice is not properly
repaired, there will never be peace in our land. More clear than that I cannot
be.
When Israel was founded in 1948, almost a million Palestinians were
uprooted from their villages and cities and expelled to the periphery of their
homeland and all over the world. 400 villages were destroyed and many cities
almost emptied of their Palestinian inhabitants. They are today 3.700.000
Palestinian refugees registered in the UN Agencies. In addition to that it is
useless to display the amount of Palestinian suffering during 34 years of
occupation. Only the angels can write the history of such a suffering. The
Palestinian people has suffered too much, as Pope John Paul II said on his
visit in the Holy Land, and it is time to put an end to its suffering, not in
human rights terms but in political terms, if we really have the intention to
put an end to the tragic situation in the Middle East. To ignore this reality
means to prepare at every stage of the conflict new wages of violence and
destruction.
Palestinians and Israelis are living actually in a very bad situation
that we can describe as a vicious circle. We can never get out of this vicious
circle, if we don’t at last take into consideration this injustice. There
are attempts now to put an end to the violence in the Holy Land. It is good
but what for? Do we have a real political vision of what is to be done
afterwards? And what is this vision? It is said that all the parties have to
come back to the negotiations table. It is fine, but what negotiations and on
which bases? If we mean with that to come again to the ambiguities of a failed
peace process, I can assure you that we are going to prepare a new cycle of
violence to fall again indefinitely into a new vicious circle. The message of
the Palestinians is clear. It is not possible to come back to the absurdity of
the former peace process. What we all need now is to come back to the
negotiations table on a completely new basis where the realities have to be
seriously faced, in other word where the injustice inflicted on the
Palestinians for more than 50 years is really faced and repaired.
It has been said that diplomacy is the art of compromise. Here is
another ambiguity. The Palestinians have already offered the historic
compromise accepting and recognizing the State of Israel within the borders of
1948 which constitutes 78% of the historic Palestine. The occupied territories
after the 67 War, which constitutes only 22% of Palestine, was not a matter of
compromise. They cannot compromise on the last shirt they are wearing. Let us
put an end to that theatre of the absurd. The occupied territories are not a
matter of compromise. It is a place where a real Palestinian state has to be
created giving satisfaction to the legitimate aspirations and the legitimate
rights of the Palestinians.
The
Palestinians are there. It is true that they have no real power, neither
political nor military nor economic nor mass-media power, but they are there.
They are an essential element in the equation of peace in the Middle East.
Without them nothing can be achieved. It has been said that in the Middle East
there is either one people too many or one state too few. If it is one people
too many, let us annihilate them; if it one state too few let us create it.
Otherwise we remain at the zero point of the whole problem.
6.
A double solidarity based on a sane theology
We
cannot ignore that Israel was founded on a religious basis in one way or in
another and on a certain interpretation of the Word of God in the Old
Testament. We know that there is a large variety of points of view among the
Jewish community on these issues, but, as a matter of fact, the Israeli
settlers walk in the occupied territories with a Bible in the hand. In the
name of God and His Word, the land is confiscated violently from its owners to
build up new settlements and enlarge the actual ones. Among the Christians,
this theology is spread largely among the fundamentalist evangelicals. The
miserable expression of that trend is the so-called “Christian Embassy in
Jerusalem” which is neither embassy nor Christian. Since the Second World
War such a theology is spread also in some Catholic circles, especially among
some of those who are committed in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue. You can
imagine that the Palestinians have huge question marks concerning this
theology. The least that we can say is that this theology is selective,
partial, reducing the Word of God to a justification of a political project.
It is an ideology more than a theology. That means that it is an oppressive
theology.
I
am not going to discuss the details of such a theology. It is not here and now
the proper place for that. I have only one thing to emphasize. It is not
possible to make such a theology in a sane way without taking into account the
reality of the Palestinian people. In
the theological discussions concerning these issues, the Palestinians are a
theological issue, in the sense that the presence of the Palestinians can
disturb, heal and correct this theology to make of it a real liberation
theology.
Conclusion
Israelis
and Palestinians find themselves right now in a confusing and confused
situation. Both sides ask themselves: where are we going? We are all in
crisis. And the original meaning of the word “crisis” is decision,
judgment, trial. A crisis is a time where crucial and historical decisions
have to be taken. On those decisions we shall be judged. Are we ready to take
these decisions?
In
the Holy Bible, there is a reconciliation story, the reconciliation story
between Jacob and Esau. In that process of reconciliation, practical steps are
taken, fears are overcome, meetings are prepared. At the end, each one of the
two brothers went to his own territory. It is an inspiring story, isn’t it?
Double
solidarity?… - Yes, but based on truth, on justice and on a sane theology,
and that for the sake of the Palestinian people and for the sake of the
Israeli people. Thank you!
Fr. Rafiq KHOURY
Jerusalem
Church
Leaders Press Powell on Middle East Violence
By KEVIN
ECKSTROM
June 7, 2001 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON -- A delegation of powerful church leaders pressed Secretary
of State Colin Powell on Thursday (June 7) to urge Israel to halt
controversial settlements in Palestinian territories and end U.S. shipments of
military aid that are used against the Palestinians.
Presenting a strongly worded letter to Powell, the church
delegation called the continuing Middle East violence a "cancer that
threatens the health of the whole region."
"Israel's practice of assassination and economic
strangulation of the fledgling Palestinian state are counterproductive to
either security or peace," the letter said.
In the highest-level meeting with the administration to
date, church leaders said Powell was "very receptive" to their
concerns about the ongoing violence and was "engaged in a very spirited
discussion."
Led by Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, the
delegation also included Pittsburgh Bishop Donald J. McCoid, chairman of the
Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Dallas
Bishop William Oden, past president of the Council of Bishops of the United
Methodist Church; and John L. McCullough, executive director of Church World
Service, the humanitarian arm of the National Council of Churches.
Griswold said he was impressed with Powell's knowledge
during the 30-minute meeting at the State Department, and said Powell sees a
role for the churches to help end the violence.
"He called upon us to use our voices to shout from the
steeples to invite all people to commit themselves to nonviolence,"
Griswold said.
Spearheaded by
Churches for Middle East Peace, an ecumenical group of mostly mainline
Protestant denominations, the church leaders took a hard line with Israel and
said the Jewish state has been too harsh in its treatment of Palestinians.
Their letter deplored the "destructive impact of
Israel's settlement policy" and Israel's use of "heavy weapons
against civilians."
"While we condemn the violent words and actions of
Palestinians, we understand the rage that comes from decades of occupation,
dislocation and the feeling of having been betrayed by the peace
process," the letter said.
Oden said the letter was not biased against Israel but that
church leaders condemned both the Israeli military attacks and Palestinian
suicide bombers.
"I don't believe the letter was tilted toward the
Palestinians and was not even-handed," Oden said. "The security of
Israel is important to the United States, as is the independence of
Palestine."
As both sides struggle to maintain a fragile cease-fire,
the ongoing violence in the Middle East has slowly trickled into the life of
U.S. religious bodies. Last week, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Jewish
Reform movement's congregational arm, lashed out against Israel for its
settlement policies and cancelled summer youth trips to Israel.
Many churches have struggled with the violence, torn by
empathy for the Palestinians and loyalty to the Jewish people, with whom they
share important spiritual roots.
McCoid said the delegation was particularly concerned for
Palestinian Christians, who have been affected by the violence as much as
their Muslim neighbors. McCullough decried the system of
"apartheid," which keeps Palestinian and Israeli neighbors separate,
and the economic conditions that keep unemployment as high as 70 percent.
Griswold said he was confident that Powell sees a role for
U.S. churches in the peace process and wants to explore ties to other
Christian churches in the Middle East. He said Anglican colleagues in
Jerusalem urged him to present their concerns directly to Powell.
"We certainly felt we had established a working
relationship and he would be happy to work with us in the future,"
Griswold said.
June 7, 2001
The Honorable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
United States Department of State
Dear Mr. Secretary:
We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to meet with you and
are mindful of the additional heads of U.S. churches who joined us in signing
this letter. We come with thanks for the wise and strong leadership you
are giving to our government's State Department. We come with support
for your effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian cycle of violence and rebuild
the trust and mutual confidence that are critical for a negotiated settlement.
There is no higher priority for peacemaking in the world today than that
between Israel and the Palestinians. This long and tragic conflict is a
cancer that threatens the health of the whole region, U.S. relations with Arab
and Muslim countries, and interfaith relations worldwide. We, particularly
those of us who have precious partnerships with our sister churches in the
Holy Land, offer our prayers and encouragement to our government in this
crucial work.
Along with many others, we are deeply concerned that the peace process has
broken down so violently and tragically between the government of Israel and
the Palestinian leadership. The sobering current reality compels us to
take a higher profile in advocacy of U.S. policies conducive to peace.
Few things have done more to destroy the hope and pursuit of peace through
negotiations than Israel's unrelenting settlement activity. Over these
recent years, we have heard from our Palestinian Christian partners, and seen
for ourselves, the destructive impact of Israel's settlement policy --
separating village from village, confiscating more and more Palestinian land,
creating friction with its military checkpoints. For over twenty years
our churches have appealed to the U.S. government to require Israel to cease
this transfer of its civilian population into occupied territory, a clear
violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. Each
administration has spoken in opposition to the settlement activity, only to
watch the settlements increase and expand as Israel ignores the advice.
It is time for the United States to do what it must to bring Israel's
settlement activity to an end. We urge you to make clear to Israel and the
Palestinians that the United States is committed to a negotiated end of
Israel's military occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East
Jerusalem as called for in U.N.S.C. Res. 242 and that an immediate freezing by
Israel of its settlement activity including "natural growth" is
imperative. It will likely require considerable diplomatic pressure, and
possibly economic pressure as well, to convince the government of Israel to
recognize that this is a major policy concern of the United States.
Breaking the cycle of violence is fundamental to restarting the peace process
and rebuilding the hope and will for peace. While we condemn the violent
words and actions of Palestinians, we understand the rage that comes from
decades of occupation, dislocation and the feeling of having been betrayed by
the peace process. We appeal to the Palestinians, as have you, to abandon
violence as a means to end the occupation.
We understand as well Israel's quest for security for the state and its
people, but condemn the disproportionately violent and destructive means it is
using. Israel's practice of assassination and the economic strangulation
of the fledgling Palestinian state are counterproductive to either security or
peace. We hope that Israel is responsive to your appeal that it lift the
siege of Palestinian towns and pay the taxes owed to the Palestinian
Authority. We call upon Israel to abandon military force and return to
negotiations as the path to security.
A delegation of church leaders on a December pastoral visit saw the
destruction wrought by Israel's military might on the homes and livelihood of
the Christian towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. The
delegation urged that the United States suspend the current sales of attack
helicopters to Israel pending investigation of their use against civilian
targets as well as assurances that they will be used in conformity with United
States law covering "end-use" in our weapons sales. We ask you
to place a hold on any pending delivery of attack helicopters or fighter jets
to Israel and to reconsider the promise made by the Clinton Administration
that the United States will increase military aid to Israel for each of the
next eight years. While we recognize that it has been U.S policy to support
Israel militarily in order to insure its security and to encourage it to move
forward with confidence in negotiations, the use of F-16 fighter jets against
civilian populations is unacceptable and must be challenged by the U.S.
government. Like the U.S. effort to stop settlement activity, stopping
the use of these heavy weapons against civilians will require considerable
diplomatic pressure and possibly economic pressure.
Although our concern extends to each person suffering from this conflict, we
are extremely worried about our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters.
Facing daily threats from violence and economic deprivation and lacking hope
for peace and a viable Palestinian state, many feel the pressure to emigrate.
The demise of the living Christian community from the birthplace of the
Christian religion would certainly be an irreparable tragedy for the Middle
East and the Christian community internationally. For their sake, and
for the sake of all, we seek a restoration of hope for a negotiated sharing of
the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem, holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. We
tremble to consider the destructive consequences that would follow the
premature moving, as called for by Congress, of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem.
We have heard the cries of fear and mourning of Palestinian Christians and
Muslims and of Israeli Jews and pray for their healing and the reconciliation
of the Abrahamic family. Be assured of our prayers for you and the
President and all others in the Administration as you seek to forge a fair and
just policy for the two peoples and three faiths who share a common religious
heritage in the land we hold as holy.
Sincerely Yours,
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The
Episcopal Church
Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocesan Legate and Ecumenical Officer, The
Armenian Orthodox Church
The Very Rev. Brother Stephen Michael Glodek, S.M., President, Catholic
Conference of Major Superiors of Mens' Institutes
Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director, Church World Service
Bishop Donald J. McCoid, Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Chair,
Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Fr. Alexander Karloutsos for Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos,
Ecumenical Officer
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Bishop William B. Oden, Immediate Past President, The Council of
Bishops, The United Methodist Church
The following heads of churches and faith-based organizations join the
delegation in this expression of concern and appeal to Secretary of State
Colin Powell:
Bishop McKinley Young, Presiding Bishop, 10th Episcopal District,
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Rev. Dr. Robert H. Roberts, Interim General Secretary, American
Baptist Churches USA
Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary, American Friends Service
Committee
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate, Antiochian Orthodox Christian,
Archdiocese of North America
The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Hamm, General Minister and President, Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada
Rev. Judy Mills Reimer, Executive Director, Church of the Brethren
General Board
The Rev. H. George Anderson, Presiding Bishop, The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America
Michael E. Livingston, Executive Director, International Council of
Community Churches
Rev. Dr. Seung Koo Choi, General Secretary of Korean Presbyterian
Church in America
Dr. Ron J. R. Mathies , Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee
Rev. R. Burke Johnson, President, Moravian Church - Northern Province
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the USA
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in
America
Archbishop Cyril Aphrem Karim, Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox
Church of Antioch for the Eastern USA
John Buehrens, President, Unitarian Universalist Association
The Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of
Christ
Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, Ecumenical Officer, Council of Bishops, The
United Methodist Church
|
