wfn.org | Kirkpatrick, other leaders urge Clinton to strive to keep Jerusalem

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Note #6188 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

open to all
12-September-2000
00326

Kirkpatrick, other leaders urge Clinton to strive to keep Jerusalem open to
all

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE -- As Middle East leaders grope for a way to end 52 years of
conflict, the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is urging
President Bill Clinton to listen to Christians' concern that Jerusalem be
shared by Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Christians and Muslims.
	The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick affixed his signature to a  letter drafted
last week by 15 national religious leaders representing Roman Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox communions.
	 The letter chided the president for his administration's lack of attention
to Christian concerns and to international law regarding Jerusalem, the city
whose sovereignty may be the most contentious issue in talks between
Israelis and Palestinians. Both groups claim Jerusalem as their capital.
	Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has insisted that Arabs must control East
Jerusalem, historically an Arab part of the city, which is home to some of
the holiest sites in the ancient Old City. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
has maintained that Jerusalem will "remain united" under Israeli control.
	The Israelis gained control of the eastern portion of the city in 1968's
Six Day War.
	The letter Kirkpatrick signed argued that churches -- in the United States
and in Jerusalem -- can play a "constructive and advisory role" in the
political negotiations. But "at this time," it said, "we do not view the
administration's attention to the American churches' interests, concerns and
recommendations or ... the Jerusalem churches' interests, concerns and
rights to be adequate."
	Jerusalem's church leaders have proposed the creation of an internationally
guaranteed special status for the governance of the city. Some American
leaders have endorsed that idea. That solution, they write, would "allow
Jerusalem to be an open city which transcends local, regional or world
political troubles."
	The church leaders urged the administration to pay more attention to the
significance of Jerusalem to the international community, and to show
greater regard for the international law that addresses Jerusalem's status
for "a political agreement to be broadly endorsed and enduring."
	This is not the first time U.S. religious leaders have petitioned the
president about the status of Jerusalem and ties between Jerusalem churches
and the worldwide Christian community.
	In March 1995, U.S. religious leaders dispatched a letter that pushed the
administration to make Jerusalem a subject for open negotiation between
Israelis and Palestinians, and urged that representatives of the three
Abrahamic religions be given a role in shaping "the ultimate resolution" of
issues affecting the city -- so that the international community may
guarantee the presence of the three religious communities in the Holy City.
	Kirkpatrick told the Presbyterian News Service that the endorsement of a
shared Jerusalem has a been a "long-term" Presbyterian commitment. "It would
be in the best interest of all that it be governed in such a way that all
faith communities had confidence that the holy sites of all three faiths
would be accessible to all and equally respected," he said. "To simply have
Jerusalem governed by Israel, as (a) self-defined Jewish state, would make
that very difficult."
	Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza now must obtain Israeli permits to
enter Jerusalem even to enter the city for worship.
	The religious leaders' letter called such practices "totally unacceptable
and discriminatory."
	The leaders commended the president for blocking, to date, Congress's
intention to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem --
which would acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when that
question is still at issue.
	Only two nations, Costa Rica and El Salvador, now have embassies in
Jerusalem. All others are in Tel Aviv.
	The religious leaders urged the president to refrain from threatening to
move the embassy.
	The letter was also signed by: Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, president of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Honorable Andrew Young,
president of the National Council of Churches of Christ of the USA; and the
heads of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, the
Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Mens' Institutes, the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), the Church of the Brethren, the Episcopal
Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Friends United
Meeting, the Mennonite Central Committee, the Reformed Church in America,
the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Church of Christ and the
United Methodist Council of Bishops.
	Kirkpatrick said the PC(USA)'s position is "centered on the deep yearnings
of our Christian colleagues in that part of the world, and our deep desire
for peace and well-being among Christians, Jews and Muslims."

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