wfn.org | PUSH TO EXPEDITE NEGOTIATIONS ON JERUSALEM

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

28-Mar-95

95081      PUSH  TO EXPEDITE NEGOTIATIONS ON JERUSALEM 
               ENDORSED BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY COUNCIL 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--An ecumenical letter pushing for more immediate 
negotiations in the Middle East peace talks on who holds rights to 
Jerusalem was endorsed by the General Assembly Council here last week. 
 
     The letter is an attempt to stop alleged Israeli appropriation of land 
in and around the city -- activity that threatens to derail peace efforts.  
 
     "The concern is that Israel is creating realities on the ground that 
negate any ability to negotiate," said Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 
missionary K.T. Ockels, who spent four and a half years teaching in a West 
Bank settlement.  She says Israel continues to build roads and settlements 
in and around the jointly occupied city to stake its own claims to the 
land. 
 
     Negotiations about Jerusalem itself are set to occur in three years. 
But the letter argues that "only a negotiated agreement that respects the 
human and political rights of Palestinians and Israelis as well as the 
three religious communities [of Jews, Christians and Muslims] can lead to a 
lasting peace." 
 
     Entitled "Jerusalem: City of Peace," the letter is going to the 
General Assembly in Cincinnati. It is currently endorsed by eight other 
U.S. Christian groups, including the American Friends Service Committee, 
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, World Vision and the National 
Council of Catholic Bishops. 
 
     The letter states that  the U.S. Administration is not using its 
considerable influence to halt Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and 
continued expansion into Palestinian areas and is failing to recognize and 
support Palestinian rights and interests in Jerusalem. 
 
     It charges that Israel's plans for a "Greater Jerusalem is an open 
secret" and that ongoing construction lays a claim of  "exclusive Israeli 
sovereignty over the city that preempts genuine negotiation." 
 
     PC(USA) Middle East coordinator the Rev. Victor Makari told the 
Worldwide Ministries Division Committee the letter will "no doubt" bring a 
negative reaction from the U.S. Jewish community.  But, Makari said, 
failing to deal with it now places undue pressure on a peace process 
already under way. 
 
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  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, KY 40202
  phone 502-569-5504            fax 502-569-8073  
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