From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


Federation wants nonviolent solution in Middle East


From NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>
Date Thu, 25 Apr 2002 14:46:44 -0500

April 25, 2002        News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New
York     10-21-71B{181}

By United Methodist News Service

The Methodist Federation for Social Action is officially calling for a
nonviolent end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meeting April 18-21 in Chicago, the board of directors of the unofficial
United Methodist group also wrote a letter to President Bush, calling for an
immediate end to military action in Afghanistan and urging him to "halt our
military aggression in the region."

The statement on the Middle East conflict affirmed the use of nonviolent
resistance by both Palestinians and Israelis. "We believe the Palestinian
people have the right to live in freedom and peace, in a nation unoccupied
by an oppressive, foreign military force and in Israel's right to live
within secure borders," it said.

To facilitate the return to pre-1967 borders, the removal of all Israeli
settlements from the West Bank and Gaza and the establishment of Jerusalem
as an international city, the statement called upon Israel to withdraw all
military forces from the occupied territories. 

The organization urged the United Nations to establish a peacekeeping
mission there and the U.S. government to support such a mission and refrain
from unilateral action. The statement also called upon the United States to
"stop military assistance and arms exports to the region," as advocated by
the 2000 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top
legislative body.

The Middle East statement and Afghanistan letter were crafted as the MFSA
board members spent long hours in dialogue about world events, according to
the Rev. Kathryn Johnson, MFSA executive director. That dialogue included a
presentation by Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of Chicago and a working session
with the Rev. Martin Deppe, a retired clergy member in Northern Illinois.

On other social justice issues, the organization's board celebrated the
recent release of former death row prisoner Ray Krone of Arizona and
encouraged members and the church at large to continue working toward
abolition of the death penalty; affirmed the recent U.S. Senate vote to
refrain from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and condemned
racism of all kinds, especially the use of racial profiling.

The Rev. Joe Agne of New York and Marcia Hauer of Oregon were elected as the
organization's new co-presidents. At its annual Ball Awards banquet, the
Rev. Stephanie Anna Hixon and Cecelia M. Long were honored for their past
decade of work with the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role
of Women.

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United Methodist News Service
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