wfn.org | LWF Leaders Praise Jordan*s Role in Middle East Peace Process

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF Leaders Praise Jordan's Role in Middle East Peace Process
"Amman Message" to Muslims Worldwide Important for all Religions
 
AMMAN, Jordan/GENEVA, 29 August 2005 (LWI) - Leaders of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) on a visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
have praised King Abdullah II and the Jordanian government for their
leading role and significant contribution to the Middle East peace
process.

"We came to Jordan for encouragement and a sense of hope believing
that together we can build a lasting and secure peace in the Middle East
and in the world," LWF President, Bishop Mark S. Hanson said at a
press conference in Amman. The LWF President, LWF General Secretary Rev.
Dr Ishmael Noko and LWF Vice-President for the Asian region, Bishop Dr
Munib A. Younan were in Jordan August 26-29 ahead of the LWF Council
meeting that begins this week in Jerusalem. They held discussions with
religious and political leaders with the aim to hear and voice hope for
regional peace. Their presence was also meant to show solidarity with
members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
(ELCJHL).

The Lutheran leaders welcomed as equally important for Christians the
November 2004 "Amman Message" which the king addressed to all
Muslims worldwide, affirming peace, tolerance, justice and sanctity of
human life as basic tenets of the Islamic faith. In the message, King
Abdullah II also called on the world's 1.2 billion Muslims to be
"full partners" in the development of human civilization and in
the progress of humanity in our age."

"Just as the Amman Message calls upon Muslim communities and 1.2
billion Muslims to be part of a lasting peace, so I as a Christian
leader also call upon Christians to join that message believing that
together we can build a lasting and secure peace in the Middle East and
in the world," Hanson said.

Noko pointed out that if the "Abrahamic religions were to say exactly
what has been said in the Amman Message Christians, Muslims and Jews can
build bridges for peace among ourselves, among religions and among the
nations of the world."

The Lutheran leaders reiterated the LWF's position on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and affirmed their support for the full
implementation of the Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East initiated by
the United States of America, Russia, the European Union and the United
Nations. This plan, they said, offers a solution to ending the conflict
between both sides. 

They stated their opposition to the wall erected by Israel to separate
Israeli and Palestinian community, saying it undermined the Roadmap
peace process, and did not provide a solution to the root causes of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Younan spoke of the wall's impact on the
Palestinian people, saying it impedes access to their farming land,
violating both their economic and cultural rights.

The wall, the LWF general secretary said, creates new facts on the
ground, which are not in favor of peace. A new demography is being
created about the reality of the Palestinian boundary and that of
Israel, he noted, and emphasized the need to go back to the borders
drawn before 1967.

Noko said the wall takes away people's land and destroys olive trees
hundreds of years old. "The olive trees [are] part of the history of
the Palestinians. When you destroy those trees, you are taking away the
people's identity. Commenting on Israel's justification for the wall
to protect itself from acts of terrorism, the general secretary argued
the wall favors neither the Palestinians nor Israelis." It is
unacceptable also because it "created enemy images" and did not
provide security for Israel. "We can never be secure until our
neighbors are secure. We have to invest in the security of our neighbors
in order that we get security for ourselves," he added.

Hanson spoke of his involvement in an inter-faith initiative for Middle
East peace in the United States, which in 2003 unveiled a 12-point plan
addressing the governments of the USA, Israel, and the Palestinian
Authority, asking them to follow the Roadmap peace process. These
efforts will continue even during the LWF Council meeting as the LWF
president, general secretary and other LWF officials have audience with
religious and political leaders from both Israel and Palestine. 

The Lutheran leaders also affirmed the LWF's early opposition to the
US [and its allies'] involvement in the current war in Iraq, saying it
found no justification for the war.

During meetings with Jordanian government officials, and
representatives of the king, members of the LWF delegation stressed the
need to invest in education for peace in the Middle East, targeting
school-going children as a way of inculcating a culture of
non-violence.

(780 words)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a total
membership of nearly 66 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work.
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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