wfn.org | WCC gen. sec. urges EU ministers to take leading role in

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

seeking a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East

World Council of Churches
Update, Up-02-10
For Immediate Use
12 April 2002

WCC general secretary urges EU ministers to take leading role in
seeking a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-02-09, of 8 April 2002
cf. WCC Press Update, Up-02-08, of 5 April 2002
cf. WCC Press Release, PR-02-14, of 2 April 2002

"The European Union should commit itself to taking a leading
role in seeking a just and sustainable peace" in the Middle East,
writes Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World
Council of Churches (WCC) in a letter addressed today to the
foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) who will meet in
Plateau de Kirchberg, Luxembourg, 15 and 16 April 2002.  

Applauding previous EU statements on the Palestinian/Israel
conflict, Raiser urges the foreign ministers to "translate
declarations into actions", recommending three concrete
initiatives:

He calls for a review of all "forms of military cooperation with
the State of Israel, including instituting a strict arms
embargo".  

He urges the EU "to participate in an international mission or
third-party mechanism on the ground to oversee Israeli compliance
with the Security Council's demand that it withdraw immediately
and completely from Palestinian territories, and Palestinian
compliance with the demand to cease all further terrorist attacks
against the Israeli population".  

Raiser also calls for suspension of the EU-Israel
Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement. He cites Article 2 of
that agreement "that conditions 'relations between parties... on
respect for human rights and democratic principles which guides
their internal and international policy...'." The Agreement
covers a large number of areas of cooperation between the 15 EU
member states and Israel. For example, it specifies forms of
cooperation in the fields of industry, energy, standards,
financial services, information infrastructures and
telecommunications, transport and tourism. The Agreement also
deals with cooperation in the cultural field.  

The letter echoes the appeals of the heads of Christian churches
and communities in Jerusalem. They have consistently called for
an end to violence on all sides, and have offered their good
offices in the interest of a durable, negotiated settlement. In
response to the churches' urgent appeals, the WCC has launched a
campaign "To End the Illegal Occupation of Palestine: Support a
just Peace in the Middle East", and has established an Ecumenical
Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. European
churches have taken a significant lead in both initiatives.  

The text of the letter follows:

I write to express appreciation for the efforts you and your
European Union counterparts have undertaken recently to bring an
end to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.  In particular, we
welcome the Joint Statement of the EU, the US, Russia and the UN
on the escalating confrontation in the Middle East issued
yesterday following their meeting in Madrid.  At the same time,
we deeply regret the slow progress made by the international
community in obliging the two sides, and in particular Israel, to
comply with UNSC resolutions 1397 of 12 March, 1402 of 30 March
and 1403 of 4 April.  As a result, hundreds more Palestinian
lives have been lost and untold additional damage done to
Palestinian homes, institutions and infrastructure.  The cycle of
violence has not been halted, claiming an unconscionable number
of Israeli lives as well.   

The international community bears full, continuing
responsibility for the effective implementation of UN resolutions
since the adoption by the UNGA of the Plan of Partition in
resolution 181 of 1947.  Yet it has consistently allowed the
State of Israel to ignore or openly violate successive General
Assembly and Security Council resolutions with virtual impunity. 
For the international rule of law to be universally respected,
and for the decisions of the United Nations to be credible, their
selective application must be avoided at all costs.  

In its statement to the current session of the UN Commission on
Human Rights, the European Union has made its position on the
Palestinian/Israeli conflict and its causes clear in a way that
we fully support.  Now measures need urgently to be taken that
translate declarations into actions to oblige compliance with the
expressed will of the international community.  This applies
particularly to the repeated demand that Israel withdraw all its
forces from Palestinian territories immediately and
unconditionally.  We therefore urge you to take further, decisive
steps in this direction at the forthcoming meeting of EU Foreign
Ministers along the lines of the resolution adopted by the
European Parliament on 10 April.  Specifically, we urge you to
consider initiatives that 

- take account of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Euro-Mediterranean
Association Agreement that conditions "relations between parties,
as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself...on
respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides
their internal and international policy and constitutes an
essential element of this Agreement" and suspend this agreement
until such time that Israel complies with these provisions;

- review all forms of military cooperation with the State of
Israel including instituting a strict arms embargo;

- affirm the willingness of the European Union to participate in
an international mission or third-party mechanism on the ground
to oversee Israeli compliance with the Security Council's demand
that it withdraw immediately and completely from Palestinian
territories, and Palestinian compliance with the demand to cease
all further terrorist attacks against the Israeli population.  

We believe that the European Union should commit itself to
taking a leading role in seeking a just and sustainable peace. 
This should apply not only to the immediate measures recommended
above, but as EU High Representative Javier Solana told the
European Parliament early this week, EU states must move rapidly
towards

- addressing and removing the causes of this and future crises
by pressing for an end to occupation and the establishment of two
states within guaranteed and secure borders;

- proposing modalities for a new negotiation framework and
participating fully in its elaboration and implementation;

- participating fully in efforts to reconstruct the Palestinian
Authority's capacity to administer the territories under its
control and to construct the Palestinian State.  

We make these appeals for prompt action not as retribution
against any party, but rather in the spirit of the WCC's Decade
to Overcome Violence, that calls for non-violent means of
resolving conflict and the application of restorative justice. 
In so doing, we echo the appeals and join with the intentions of
the Heads of Christian churches and communities in Jerusalem who
have consistently called for an end to violence on all sides and
have offered their good offices in the interest of a durable,
negotiated settlement.  

Responding to the churches' urgent appeals, the World Council of
Churches has launched a campaign this year "To End the Illegal
Occupation of Palestine: Support a Just Peace in the Middle
East."  In relation to this campaign, we have also established an
Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel in
order to manifest the active solidarity of Christians around the
world with the people living in the Holy Land at this critical
time.  The churches of Europe have taken a significant lead in
these initiatives, seeking to embody our shared hopes and
aspirations for peace with justice for all the peoples in these
lands where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was received as the
Prince of Peace.  

The European Community has taken the lead and been generous in
its support for Israel and the Palestinian people in the past. 
In particular, it has supported Palestinian aspirations as they
have struggled for their rights, to establish their own
independent state, and to rebuild and develop their war-torn
lives and land.  Much of what they have done with your help has
again been destroyed.  We sincerely hope that you will face up
boldly to this new challenge and prove your willingness to
provide badly needed new leadership for peace and a new future. 
We assure you of our constant prayers and support in your efforts
to that end.  

*-------------------------------------
The UN and other documents and agreements referred to above can
be found on the following websites: 

Joint Statement by the EU, the USA, Russia and the UN on the
Middle East (10 April 2002) : 
http://ue.eu.int/pressdata/EN/declarations/70137.pdf 

United Nations Security Council resolutions
1397 of 12 March: http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/res1397e.pdf

1402 of 30 March: http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/res1402e.pdf

1402 of 4 April: http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/res1403e.pdf

United Nations General Assembly resolution 181 of 1947:
http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/62c13fb98d54fe240525672700581383/6232f2ac638dc241852560e5005c1f2b!OpenDocument

EU statement to the current session of the UN Commission on
Human Rights:
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet

European Parliament resolution on 10 April:
http://www.europarl.eu.int/home/default_en.htm 

EU- Israel Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, Article 2:

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_200A0621_01.html

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer
Tel:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   	Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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