wfn.org | NCCCUSA Concerned About Occupation of Beit Jala

[Carol Fouke <carolf@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227  news@ncccusa.org; www.ncccusa.org  
8/30/01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EDGAR WRITES BUSH, JERUSALEM CHURCH LEADERS WITH CONCERN ABOUT ISRAELI
MILITARY OCCUPATION OF BEIT JALA

August 30, 2001, NEW YORK CITY - The Israeli military's recent occupation of
the West Bank town of Beit Jala, especially of the Lutheran church and other
church properties, is the subject of a letter of concern sent to President
Bush today by the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of the
National Council of Churches.

"We appreciate that your Administration called for the Israeli military to
withdraw, and urge you to continue to press the government of Israel to
comply," he wrote.

Dr. Edgar said recent events have served to "heighten the need for strong
American leadership as an irreplaceable factor in resolving this tragic
conflict of interests" and urged the Bush Administration "to support the
deployment of multinational observers with the aim of promoting peace,
justice and security in the Occupied Territories."

The NCC General Secretary today also wrote five church leaders in Jerusalem,
including Bishop Munib A. Younan, the Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem, to
reconfirm the NCC's "solidarity with you, your churches and your people in
the struggle toward justice and peace in Israel/Palestine."

"In previous statements and related actions," Dr. Edgar wrote, "we have
affirmed our support for the rights of Palestinians, for a shared Jerusalem
and for reconciliation and peace with justice in the Holy Land ?.

"Our churches seek to be agents of reconciliation and of peace among people
of all faiths, ethnicities and cultures," he continued.  "Therefore, with
you, we will continue to urge both the Government of Israel and the
Palestinian Authority to end the cycle of violence, which increasingly is
destroying human lives and property and defiling holy places.  We call upon
both parties to resume dialogue toward the day when all in the Holy Land can
live in justice and peace."

The full text of Dr. Edgar's letter to President Bush follows.  See the NCC'
s Web site (www.ncccusa.org) for his letter to the five church leaders in
Jerusalem and a third letter, addressed to Bishop Younan.  Also available:
18 U.S. church leaders' June 7, 2001, letter to U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell.

-more-
EDGAR LETTERS TO BUSH, JERUSALEM CHURCH LEADERS
NCC8/30/01 - Page 2

August 30, 2001

President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC  20500

Dear President Bush:

We write today to express grave concern about recent events in the Middle
East, in particular, the recent occupation of the town of Beit Jala by the
Israeli military.  We appreciate that your Administration called for the
Israeli military to withdraw, and urge you to continue to press the
government of Israel to comply.

We would especially like to voice our distress regarding the Israeli
military's occupation of the Lutheran church in Beit Jala and other of its
properties including an orphanage and school.  We view this occupation of a
Christian site for military purposes as extremely serious, and urge you to
communicate with all parties the concern that the violence not spill over
into places of worship of any faith.  We believe all places of worship are
sacred.

On June 7 a delegation of US religious leaders met with Secretary of State
Colin Powell taking a letter signed by an additional eighteen heads of U.S.
churches and related organizations, myself included.  Our views about the
situation in the region remain unchanged.  If anything, recent events have
only served to emphasize these concerns, and to heighten the need for strong
American leadership as an irreplaceable factor in resolving this tragic
conflict of interests.  We urge your Administration to support the
deployment of multinational observers with the aim of promoting peace,
justice and security in the Occupied Territories.

Since last December, churches across the United States have participated in
daily prayer vigils lifting up peace in the region, and the precarious
situation of the churches in Jerusalem.  We also continue to offer our
prayers and encouragement for you, and for your Administration, in your
calls to end the cycles of violence and for the opening of new avenues
toward a just peace in the region.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Bob Edgar
General Secretary

-end-