wfn.org | NCC Hosts Mr. Arafat in New York

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

NCC9/26/98             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MR. ARAFAT'S FIRST STOP IN NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 26 -
A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE (U.S.) NATIONAL COUNCIL OF 
CHURCHES

 NEW YORK, Sept. 26 ---- Over the past 20 years, 
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has hosted many 
official delegations and study groups from the 
(U.S.) National Council of Churches and its member 
denominations, all long-time advocates for 
Palestinian self-determination as a requirement for 
real peace in the Middle East.

This afternoon, the NCC had the opportunity to 
return the favor.  A reception at the New York City 
apartment of the NCC's General Secretary, the Rev. 
Dr. Joan Campbell, was Mr. Arafat's first 
appointment upon arrival from Europe to participate 
in the United Nations General Assembly.

Dr. Campbell and the 40 or so others on hand 
rehearsed the protocol of such a visit, designating 
the bishops to greet the guest of honor first.  Dr. 
Campbell brought out a Palestinian shawl that Mr. 
Arafat had given her on one of her visits to the 
Middle East and draped it across the back of the 
chair where Mr. Arafat was to sit.  

In the midst of tight security, Mr. Arafat was 
greeted formally in the apartment house lobby by Dr. 
Campbell; Metropolitan Philip Saliba of the 
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese; Mr. Gabriel Habib, 
NCC consultant on international affairs and former 
General Secretary of the Middle East Council of 
Churches, and Mr. David Weaver, NCC Middle East 
Secretary.

But from the moment he arrived at the apartment 
itself, Mr. Arafat set his own course.  He plunged - 
democratically, one might say - into the living room 
crowd, shaking hands left and right.  

One of the first persons he singled out to 
greet was the cook.  Along the way, he exchanged a 
soul handshake with a teenaged boy, fed a meatball 
hors d'oeuvre to a three-year-old, posed for dozens 
of pictures -- including one with Dr. Campbell's 
Jewish houseguests -- and embraced the Lebanese-
American doorman, who came to the reception to thank 
Mr. Arafat for saving his aunt's life during the 
civil war in Lebanon.  (She was part of a group of 
nuns taken hostage, then released following Mr. 
Arafat's intervention.)

Mr. Arafat never made it to his designated 
chair, but he did stand still long enough to 
exchange formal greetings with Dr. Campbell and to 
take a few questions.  

Dr. Campbell commented that those assembled 
included bishops and mission agency executives of 
the NCC's member communions, along with senior NCC 
staff.  She recalled her first meeting with Mr. 
Arafat in 1979, arranged by Mr. Habib.

Mr. Arafat gave a brief update on the peace 
process, noting that he would meet with U.S. 
Secretary of State Madeline Albright that same 
evening and with President Clinton on Tuesday.

"President Clinton says he wishes for progress 
because it will have a beneficial impact on the 
whole of the Middle East, as the Palestinian problem 
is the central one in the Middle East," said Mr. 
Arafat, who is Chairman of the Palestine Liberation 
Organization's Executive Committee and President of 
the Palestine National Authority.

Awaiting formal response from the Israeli 
government is a U.S. proposal for the second phase 
of the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West 
Bank, that would transfer 13 percent of the land to 
the Palestine National Authority, reserving three 
percent as a restricted nature preserve for the 
interim period.

"We accepted the Americans' initiative eight 
months ago," Mr. Arafat said, "but we are still 
waiting for a comparable yes from the Israelis.  
We've got to continue to be optimistic.  The last 
poll found that 64 percent of Israelis support the 
peace process and the American initiative.  It's our 
reason for hope."

Dr. Dale L. Bishop, General Secretary of the 
United Church of Christ Board for World Ministries 
and former Middle East Secretary for the NCC, the 
UCC and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 
thanked Mr. Arafat for his leadership in the 
Palestine National Authority to create an 
environment in which all religious traditions are 
respected and for his "special care to make the 
Christian community feel secure."  

"We are proud as Palestinians," Mr. Arafat 
replied, "that our relationship with our Christian 
community is a very, very strong one."  He 
introduced two Christian members of his entourage, 
and encouraged those present to "come to Bethlehem" 
to join Bethlehem 2000, the official interfaith 
celebrations of the millennium, recognizing it's 
"not just a Palestinian occasion and not just a 
Christian occasion.  It's really a Christian, a 
Muslim and an international occasion and even some 
Jewish groups will be participating."

Dr. Campbell encouraged Mr. Arafat to mention 
to Mrs. Albright that he had just been hosted by the 
NCC, "and that a strong group of U.S. Christians 
wants the peace process carried out.  Bring her our 
greetings and tell her lots of Americans are 
watching."

Thirty-four Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican 
denominations (communions) with, in turn, 52 million 
congregants, work together as members in the 
National Council of Churches, the nation's leading 
ecumenical organization.

-end-
 -0-