wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Jewish-Christian tour group says people of different

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8940 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05526
Sept. 29, 2005

Not sparring partners

Jewish-Christian tour group says people of different faiths 
can work for Israel/Palestine peace despite disagreements

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - Sixteen Jewish and Christian leaders from the United States who
recently spent five days visiting Israel and Palestine insisted on their
return that "Christians and Jews can work together to seek peace, even when
there is disagreement on specific policies and solutions."

	The group issued a statement on Sept. 23 in which it said: "As a
result of these days, we will now be even more effective advocates for a
secure, viable and independent Palestinian state, alongside an equally secure
state of Israel, affirming the historic links that both the Jewish people and
the Palestinian people have to the land."

	During the trip, the delegation met with Jewish and Christian
partners of U.S. organizations.

	The tour was organized after mainline Protestant denominations began
studying how to apply financial pressure to U.S. corporations that profit
from the Israeli occupation or Palestinian militancy.

	The Presbyterian Church (USA) took the first action in July 2004.
Several other mainline churches and ecumenical organizations are following
suit.

	"The purpose of this journey to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah by
Jewish and Christian staff was to enter more fully into each other's
perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said the Rev. Jay Rock,
who coordinates the PC(USA)'s Office of Interfaith Relations and represented
the denomination in the delegation. "... Taking this trip together fostered a
significant deepening of relationships among us. ... The adversarial sparring
that has marked so much of our interaction here in the U.S. in recent months
was mostly absent.

	"We were able to talk openly about what we were seeing and hearing,
and to accompany each other in the complexity of our emotional responses,
critique, principles and commitments. The trip reminded us of the very real
and difficult human realities of the situation, and also of the real humanity
of each other, and our ability to have open hearts and minds in the difficult
search for peace."

	The group's statement said the tour participants have committed
themselves to:

"Deepen our engagement with each other and expand the number of Jews and
Protestants committed to interfaith dialogue on the local level as advocates
for peace";

"Mobilize each of our communities of faith across the United States in a
concerted effort to bring reconciliation and peace to Israelis and
Palestinians alike";

"Seek to mobilize elected officials and our American fellow citizens on
behalf of a negotiated peace settlement"; and,

"Support those Palestinians and Israelis who are courageously working for
reconciliation and a two-state solution with concrete actions that will help
sustain their work."

The statement concluded: "A trip that started from many different places has
brought us closer together in hope and faith. While there were many difficult
moments, our trust in each other deepened. We sustain hope and faith in each
other as agents of peace. We affirm hope and faith in our two religious
communities as partners and advocates for a two-state solution.

	"We also have a renewed hope and faith in the future of this holy
land and these two peoples. On this day, we together affirm our partnership
with God in bringing about justice, compassion and peace."

	The delegation included representatives of the Alliance of Baptists,
the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the
Anti-Defamation League, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the
Episcopal church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs, the National Council of Churches of Christ, the
PC(USA), the Religious Action Center of the Union of Reformed Judaism, the
United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism.

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