wfn.org | [PCUSAnews] Egyptian press officer is here to follow the PC(USA)’s stands on the Middl

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Note #6696 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Egyptian press officer is here to follow the PC(USA)’s stands on the
Middle East
14-June-2001
GA01137

Egyptian press officer is here to follow the PC(USA)’s stands on the
Middle East

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE, June 14 — The articles that Adieb Naguib Salama is writing
about the 213th General Assembly aren’t different than the stories
being written by the 100 or so other journalists who are hard at work here.

	But his are being published by a newspaper in Cairo, Egypt, with a
million-reader circulation in the United States, Europe and the Middle East
— in Arabic, of course.

	“When I write about the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Egyptian Presbyterians are very interested.  They want to know
what is happening in the American church,” he said, pointing out that
about 20 PC(USA) missionaries work with the Presbyterian Church in Egypt
nowadays, representing 150 years of  ties between the two churches.

	What do Egyptian readers want to know most?

	According to Salama, as a witnessing denomination in the world’s only
superpower, Middle Easterners want to know what the U.S. church says about
peace in that turbulent region.  “Statements must be sent to the
government here because America could play a good role in the
Arab/Palestinian conflict … to help human rights in the area,”
he said.

	Protestant communities in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon have affirmed PC(USA)
statements on Middle Eastern conflict in the past.  The PC(USA) has
repeatedly advocated for a Jerusalem that is shared by Israelis and
Palestinians and for an end to the building of Israeli settlements on
disputed land.

	Salama is the press officer for CEOSS, a church-operated development agency
that is now the largest in Egypt.  The agency runs programs in education,
economic development, agriculture, publishing, health, women’s issues
and inter-faith relations.  About 70 percent of its clientele is Muslim.

	The acronym, CEOSS, stands for the Coptic Evangelical Organization for
Social Services.  Three publications are under his supervision.  They are
the development agency’s quarterly magazine, the denomination’s
monthly magazine and Risalt Al Noor, an inspirational journal for
church-goers.
 

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