wfn.org | ACNS3718 Bishop Griswold joins religious leaders in new effort

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3718     |     USA / MIDDLE EAST	  |	23 DECEMBER 2003 

Bishop Griswold joins religious leaders in new effort for Middle East
peace

by James Solheim 

[ACNS source: Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold
joined 32 other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in announcing a new
collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support in the pursuit of
peace in the Middle East. 

In letters to President George W. Bush and members of the Congress, the
religious leaders are calling on the administration to make peace in the
Middle East a high priority, warning that "if the Road Map is allowed to
fail, Israelis and Palestinians will sink even deeper into cycles of
violence, jeopardizing the prospect of a two-state solution, escalating
regional instability, undermining the global campaign against terrorism,
and threatening vital U.S. national security interests."

The religious leaders endorsed four steps that could renew momentum on
the Road Map, the Bush administration's incremental peace plan that
includes establishing a Palestinian state. First step would be a call
for an end to all acts of violence and a renewed effort to work for a
ceasefire. Second, keeping a visibly active special presidential envoy
in the region, followed by more specific steps by the Israelis and the
Palestinian Authority, with a timetable and vigorous monitoring.
Finally, support for benchmark ideas for possible peace agreements from
earlier negotiations and initiatives such as the Geneva Accord, an
official plan signed December 1 that is drawing support.

Details on the initiative are available at: www.walktheroadtopeace.org

James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service

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