wfn.org | [ENS] Meeting with Abbas,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service
May 27, 2005 -- Friday Forum: Voices on Issues in the News

Meeting with Abbas, religious leaders affirm two-state solution

Episcopal Bishop John Chane of Washington commends 'renewed emphasis,
vigor'

By Maureen Shea

[ENS, Washington, D.C.] -- Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of
Washington
joined Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and other religious
leaders at a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
on
May 27. Abbas, the first democratically elected Palestinian leader, was
in
Washington to meet with President Bush, his administration, and members
of
Congress, as well as Jewish and Christian groups.

The group met soon after Presidents Bush and Abbas concluded a joint
press
conference, during which Bush stated: "We will stand with you, Mr.
President, as you combat corruption, reform the Palestinian security
services and your justice system, and revive your economy. Mr.
President,
you have made a new start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and
leadership each day -- and we will take that journey together... Israel
must
continue to take steps toward a peaceful future, and work with the
Palestinian leadership to improve the daily lives of Palestinians,
especially their humanitarian situation. Israel should not undertake any
activity that contravenes road map obligations or prejudice final status
negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Therefore,
Israel must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion."

Corinne Whitlatch, director of Churches for Middle East Peace, served as
moderator of the meeting and welcomed the Palestinian leader. Churches
for
Middle East Peace is a coalition of 21 Orthodox churches, Roman Catholic
agencies and Protestant denominations, including the Episcopal Church,
that
for 20 years has advocated for U.S. policies that are conducive to
peacemaking between Israel and the future state of Palestine.

Cardinal McCarrick of the Diocese of Washington remarked upon the
important
steps being taken by both Israelis and Palestinians, recognizing the
many
challenges that each face, and assuring Abbas that they "do not walk the
road to peace alone." Serge Duss, director for public policy and
advocacy
for the relief and development organization World Vision, noted the
"bond
evangelicals have formed with the Palestinian people in the search for
justice," and the important role of NGOs and civil society groups
operating
in the Holy Land. The Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the
National
Council of Churches, echoed support for the peace process, quoting Abbas
himself that "time is the greatest enemy of peace."

Chane, in his remarks, commended Abbas for his "strong position taken
and
comments made regarding the importance of non-violence and the role it
must
play in the process ... to seek a secure, two state solution between
Palestine and Israel."

Chane also praised Bush for his announcement earlier in the day of $50
million in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority to fund housing and
infrastructure projects in the Gaza area. The Episcopal Church, along
with
Churches for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now, and the
National
Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, have
been
strong advocates for $350 million in aid to the Palestinians requested
by
the Bush administration.

In later comments, Chane remarked: "The renewed emphasis and vigor with
which President Bush and his administration are pursuing the Road Map,
putting appropriate pressure on both Israelis and Palestinians to
address
difficult but necessary challenges, gives us hope that a two state
solution
could, in fact, become a reality. It is particularly important that
issues
such as borders and Jerusalem be part of final status negotiations
involving
all sides. We must always remember that Israelis and Palestinians -
Christians, Jews, and Muslims - are all children of God and deserve the
blessings of peace, justice, equality and human rights."

Chane concluded: "The Episcopal Church, ever mindful of our sister and
brother Anglicans in the Holy Land, will continue to press our
government to
do all in its power to ensure a just peace that guarantees Israel's
security
and Palestinian aspirations for a viable state with Jerusalem as the
shared
capital of both Israel and Palestine."

Also attending the meeting were: Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Armenian
Orthodox
Church; John Borelli, Georgetown University; Rev. J. Daryl Byler,
Washington
Office, Mennonite Central Committee; Steve Colecchi, Office of
International
Justice and Peace, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Marie Dennis,
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Catherine Gordon, Associate for
International Issues, Presbyterian Church (USA); Rev. Phil Jones, Church
of
the Brethren Washington Office; Rev. Canon John Peterson, Canon for
Global
Reconciliation, Washington National Cathedral; Bishop Theodore
Schneider,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Maureen Shea, director,
Washington
Office of Governmental Affairs, The Episcopal Church; Karen Vagley,
Lutheran
Office for Governmental Affairs, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;
and
Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society,
United
Methodist Church.

--Maureen Shea is Director of Government Relations for the Episcopal
Church.

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