wfn.org | NCCCUSA Statement, Jews Held In Iran

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news@ncccusa.org  Web:  www.ncccusa.org

Statement of the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell
General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ 
in the USA*

The National Council of Churches is the nation's oldest and most 
inclusive national ecumenical body.  Its 35 member churches, with a 
combined membership of 52 million Christians, speak with one voice on 
matters of profound moral concern.  The imprisonment of 13 Jews including 
one rabbi, in Iran is such a concern about which Christians of goodwill 
must speak.

By all indications, these 13 people are imprisoned and threatened with 
trial on charges of espionage solely because they are Jews.  Such 
religious persecution is not a Jewish problem, but a humanitarian 
problem.  As Christians we must speak out on behalf of those held 
captive.  The gospel message on which we base our lives compels us to be 
advocates for justice, human rights and the rule of law.  

We are pleased today to join with our sisters and brothers from the 
churches, the Jewish community and other people of faith, and with the 
Rev. Jesse Jackson to call for the immediate release of those held 
captive.  We know, in part from our long ties to people of faith in Iran 
itself, that the prayers of the faithful around the world - in Iran, in 
Israel and in the United States - are heard by the God who created us 
all, as one holy offering on behalf of those who suffer.

We pledge ourselves to continual prayer and to energetic advocacy on 
behalf of these 13 Jews.  As we learned in Yugoslavia, the release of 
prisoners is a light in the darkness, and brings hope to a war weary 
world.  

We strive for a peaceful world, and pray for the day when all nations, 
our own included, make peace a priority.  The beloved community will only 
be a reality when men and women of every race, religion and cultural 
identity live in respect for one another. 

June 14, 1999
-end-

* Read on Dr. Campbell's behalf, in her absence, at an interfaith news 
conference Monday, June 14, at the Isaiah Wall, across the street from 
the United Nations headquarters in New York City.  Jesse Jackson and 
religious community leaders called for the immediate release of 13 Jewish 
prisoners in Iran - a rabbi, religious teachers and community activists 
accused of espionage by the Iranian government.
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