wfn.org | Middle East Church Leader Pleads For Diplomacy, Not War

["Church World Service News" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

October 29, 2002
Contact: NCC/CWS News, 212-870-2252/2227
news@ncccusa.org; www.ncccusa.org; www.churchworldservice.org

MIDDLE EAST CHURCH LEADER PLEADS FOR DIPLOMACY, NOT WAR

October 29, 2002, NEW YORK CITY -- The General Secretary of the Middle East
Council of Churches has issued a plea to U.S. churches to press for a
peaceful, diplomatic resolution of the Iraq crisis and to speak to your
government to stop any military offensive.

If war takes place against Iraq, said the Rev. Dr. Riad Jarjour, the
whole region will be in chaos.	We are all scared.  Help us survive with
dignity.

He also called on U.S. Christians to press for third-country mediation of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to continue to work to build
understanding and respect among Christians and Muslims.

Dr. Jarjour issued his plea to the Board of Directors of Church World
Service, during the boards fall meeting October 22-23 in South Bend, Ind.,
and in a subsequent interview.	He serves on the board.

Church World Service is an international humanitarian agency of the 36
Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican member denominations of the (U.S.)
National Council of Churches.  The Middle East Council of Churches is the
ecumenical voice of most of the Middle Easts Christians, comprising the
members of 28 Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant
churches.

The two organizations collaborate on programs of humanitarian assistance
across the Middle East.  Since 1991, Church World Service has provided some
$3 million in blankets, food, medical supplies, Gift of the Heart School
and Health Kits and other aid for families and children in Iraq through the
Middle East Council of Churches and other partners.  A recent shipment for
distribution by the Mennonite Central Committee included 28,000 school kits,
and in 2001 CWS sent $160,000 worth of sewing and health kits to MCC, along
with $10,000 to help purchase bed sheets for needy hospitals.

CWS has provided some $3.5 million in the past decade for emergency relief
and community development among Palestinians through the MECC and other
partners.  A diverse array of programs to address malnutrition,
unemployment, mother and child health and other needs serve Palestinians in
the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel and have included
emergency food, job creation programs, medical supplies and infrastructure
development - including land use, roads and water development.
Dr. Jarjour expressed empathy for residents of Washington, D.C., where one
sniper traumatized the whole city.  In turn, he called on Americans to
think of our region and the number of people who would be killed every day
in a military offensive and how much the people would suffer.

All that an attack on Iraq would do, he said, is cause more destruction,
and the humiliation of the Iraqi people.  The sanctions already have done so
much harm.  Thousands of babies are dying.  Mothers are suffering.  Old
people are in hospitals.  The Iraqi people are asking for peace.  What is
needed is a diplomatic solution that would affect not only Iraq but the
whole region.

Dr. Jarjour also asked U.S. Christians to hear the cries of Palestinians
and Israelis for justice and peace that gives everyone dignity in a country
of hatred and vengeance.  All there is now is war, he said.  People are
being uprooted from their land, imprisoned and tortured.  Theres need of a
third party to intervene.

The United States, with its policy of support for the Israeli government,
has forfeited its opportunity to play that role, but it can press Israelis
and Palestinians to accept mediation by a third party that both trust, he
suggested.

So much is at stake - among other things, the survival of Christians in the
region, Dr. Jarjour said.  Day after day, people are leaving the region.
Now only one percent of the population of Jerusalem is Christian.  One of
the Middle East Council of Churches biggest challenges is how to keep a
Christian presence in Jerusalem and the whole region.

Finally, Dr. Jarjour urged Christians to continue to work for a better
understanding of Islam and not a September 11 understanding.	Many Muslims
in the Arab world sympathize with you for what happened on September 11, he
said.  But its a wrong image of Islam.

The Middle East Council of Churches has a strong interfaith relations
program, which helped a lot after September 11 and even after Jerry Falwell
s remarks calling the Prophet Muhammed a terrorist.

Many Muslims were angry, but because of their relationship with the MECC
they understood that Falwell did not represent all U.S. Christians, Dr.
Jarjour said.  Many U.S. Christians - including the National Council of
Churches - promptly repudiated Falwells statement, made during an interview
for the CBS-TV program 60 Minutes.

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