wfn.org | UMNS# 05083-Moment must be seized in Middle East, church leaders say

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Moment must be seized in Middle East, church leaders say

Feb. 8, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05083}

NOTE: Photographs and audio are available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

As Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of
the Palestinian Authority met in Egypt to discuss a cease-fire, U.S.
church leaders called upon the U.S. government to take immediate
"balanced, strategic action" to help bring peace to the region.

"Our conclusion is that a sliver of hope for peace does exist, but we
feel strongly the moment must be seized now or the future will remain
dim," the ecumenical leaders said in a statement released Feb. 7.

Led by the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and chief
executive of the National Council of Churches, and Christian Methodist
Episcopal Bishop Thomas Hoyt Jr., NCC president, the 11-member
delegation traveled Jan. 21-Feb. 4 from Beirut to Cairo, Bethlehem and
Jerusalem.

Hosted by the Middle East Council of Churches and individual partner
churches, the delegation met with Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders
as well as missionaries, intellectuals and political officials from the
United States, Israel and Palestine.

After eight days in Israel and the Palestinian territories, members of
the NCC delegation offered a bleaker perspective than that expressed by
new U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Visiting Israel Feb. 6,
Rice proclaimed the current situation as "a time of optimism" in the
Middle East, the New York Times reported.

Delegation members who had been there before, such as Edgar and Jim
Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society, considered the trip "our saddest journey to the Holy Land."

Most shocking, Winkler told United Methodist News Service, was to
witness the effect of the barrier wall being built by Israel as a
deterrent against attacks. Instead of adhering to the 1967 borders, the
Israelis are building 85 percent of the barrier on Palestinian land to
accommodate illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank, the delegation
learned.

The result is that Palestinians have difficulty reaching schools,
hospitals, farmlands and even family homes. "It is truly separating
parents from kids and spouses from one another," Winkler said.

Confinement caused by the wall - compounded by checkpoints, gates and a
network of roads open only to Israeli settlers, police and the military
- offers the potential for disaster, Edgar believes. "If the powers that
be want to increase humiliation and frustration of the Palestinians,
they're doing a very good job of it," he noted.

The delegation's statement reaffirmed "strong support" for Israel and
its right to live in peace and security, acknowledging that Israelis
have suffered "from a long series of suicide bombings, which we find
reprehensible."

But the group had problems with the building of a barrier on Palestinian
land to protect settlements that need to be removed to achieve a
two-state solution. "Like any other nation, Israel has the right to
build a barrier; however, one people's barrier should not be built on
the land of another people," the statement said. "We call for the
removal of the separation barrier from Palestinian territory."

The church leaders pointed out that the 1993 peace agreement stipulated
the Palestinians receive 22 percent of the territory that once included
Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to create their own state.

Now, with the building of the wall, expansion of settlements and
construction of private road networks, the land available for a
Palestinian state is down to 10 percent of the former territory,
according to Winkler. "There's really no possibility of a truly viable
state," he said.

Edgar believes the people of Israel, if not the government, want
long-term peace, but he doesn't think that can happen without the
elimination of checkpoints and the wall on Palestinian land. "Give the
Palestinian state a real chance to be a separate state, side by side
with Israel," he urged.

Part of the problem in the Middle East is the use of "lethal dialogue,"
or a dialogue of arms, instead of real efforts toward peace, the
delegation said. "Dialogue and understanding between all faith
communities is not an academic exercise in the Middle East; it is
absolutely necessary for survival."

U.S. Christians must push President Bush and members of Congress to
foster such dialogue and work harder to ensure that U.S. policy is
balanced toward both Israel and Palestine, the delegation said. Members
of mainline denominations "have so much potential influence that we do
not exercise," Winkler declared.

Christians should not just lobby "inside the beltway" for the United
States to seize the moment to make peace, but they should work across
the country in their own Congressional districts, said Edgar, a former
congressman. "It's clear that many congressmen have been taught to see
the region simply through the eyes of their Jewish constituents," he
explained. "That's helpful, but it's also important for other faith
communities to weigh in."

Delegation members reminded their constituents that the Christian
community in the Middle East is still a living church.

"We believe that American Christians must see themselves as bridge
builders for peace and must not abandon or forget all God's children of
the Middle East," the statement said. "We heard many pleas from our
Christian sisters and brothers to raise our voices and work for a just,
enduring and comprehensive peace.

"The rapid disappearance of the Christian presence in the Holy Land and,
indeed, the entire region due to emigration is alarming and can only be
reversed if conditions are changed for all the peoples of the Middle
East," the group said.

Church leaders will make their own efforts at dialogue by inviting
Sharon and Abbas to meet with them when the two visit Washington this
spring for separate meetings with President Bush.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders announced a cease-fire Feb. 8 during
their meeting in Egypt, though no formal document was signed at the time
and Palestinian militants said they would not be bound by the
declaration.

In their statement, delegation members called upon Bush to "send a
credible special envoy to assist in negotiations between Israel and
Palestine"; asked the international community to invest in Palestinian
projects and business; and pledged solidarity with Middle East churches,
recognizing they have "a vital role to play as bridge builders and
peacemakers."

In addition to Edgar, Hoyt and Winkler, other delegation members were
Armenian Orthodox Bishop Vicken Aykazian, NCC secretary; Episcopal
Bishop C. Christopher Epting; Sylvia Campbell, Alliance of Baptists; the
Rev. Thelma Chambers-Young, Progressive National Baptist Convention, NCC
vice president; the Rev. SeungKoo Choi, chief executive, Korean
Presbyterian Church in America; Ann Hafften, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America; the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, Disciples of Christ; and Antonios
Kireopoulos, Greek Orthodox Church, NCC executive.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org