wfn.org | Interview Op: Palestinian Non-Violent Resistance, Cuba Embargo

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
NCC5/21/02

INTERVIEW OFFER:
NCC GENERAL SECRETARY BOB EDGAR ON 

1. GROWING NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE MOVEMENT IN MIDDLE EAST
2. LIFTING EMBARGO, NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBA

WHO:  The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of
Churches (NCC), the nations leading ecumenical organization whose 36
Protestant and Orthodox member denominations comprise 50 million U.S.
Christians.

TOPIC ONE: NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE AS MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY

Dr. Edgar - who led an ecumenical church leaders delegation to Israel and
Palestine in April - joins Palestinian Christians proposing non-violent
resistance as the best strategy for peace in the Middle East.

He recalls that only non-violence was able to break the gridlock on civil
rights in America in the 1960s.   A growing consensus for that approach in
the Middle East seems to be developing among people of faith there and in
the U.S., Dr. Edgar says.

See the National Council of Churches Web site - specifically,
www.ncccusa.org/news/02news49.html for related documentation: an open letter
to Yasser Arafat from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a proposal on non-violent
resistance from two Palestinian Christians, an Episcopalian attorney and a
Baptist activist.

TOPIC TWO: NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBA

The NCC favors lifting the U.S. embargo against Cuba and normalizing
relations between the two countries.  Engagement, contends Dr. Edgar and the
Council, is the best way to improve human rights in Cuba. The NCC has
maintained a relationship with Cubas churches since before the Revolution.
It is an eyewitness to the Cuban churches increasing freedom to worship and
provide humanitarian service.  The NCC helped facilitate former President
Jimmy Carters two-hour meeting with 33 Cuban church leaders last week (May
15) in Havana.

Dr. Edgar - NCC General Secretary (the top staff post) since January 1,
2000 - served in Congress from 1975 to 1987, representing Pennsylvanias
Seventh District.  From 1990 to 2000 he was president of Claremont
Theological School, Claremont, Calif.  He is an ordained elder in the United
Methodist Church.

HOW TO CONTACT DR. EDGAR:  Call the NCC Communication Department,
212-870-2252/2227, or, call Dr. Edgar on his cellphone, 917-821-0852.  Dr.
Edgar is available in Washington, D.C., today (May 21) and in New York City
May 22-24.

-end-