wfn.org | Newsline: Church of the Brethren responds to Gaza crisis

[cobnews <cobnews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- Jan. 9, 2009
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director
800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN RESPONDS TO GAZA CRISIS

(Jan. 9, 2009) Elgin, IL -- The Church of the Brethren has joined in the wo rldwide calls for a cease-fire and peace between Israel and Gaza, which are  being made by many Christian denominations and ecumenical organizations.

Brethren Disaster Ministries has requested an $8,000 grant contributing to  the work of Church World Service in Gaza, from the Church of the Brethren's  Emergency Disaster Fund. "The humanitarian situation is currently dire wit h limited movement of refugees being allowed," said Brethren Disaster Minis tries executive director Roy Winter in the grant request. "This grant will  support a broad ecumenical effort to provide emergency food, medicine, and  blankets. An expanded appeal is expected when Gaza is safe for relief agenc ies."

Church of the Brethren general secretary Stan Noffsinger has helped initiat e a request from the National Council of Churches (NCC) for an audience wit h Israel's ambassador to the United States. Noffsinger said he also hopes f or a similar meeting between leaders of the NCC and leadership of the Pales tinians in Gaza. He said that the NCC leaders will urge both sides to a cea se-fire and cessation of violence, if their request for the meetings are gr anted.

The Brethren Witness/Washington Office and On Earth Peace both have issued  calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and are encouraging Brethren to help take ac tion to urge governments and parties to the conflict to cease hostilities.

In an e-mail message to supporters, On Earth Peace executive director Bob G ross called for action to help end the war in Gaza. "Please don't stand by  while the suffering continues in Gaza," he wrote. Gross listed a variety of  action opportunities including learning more about the situation from sugg ested sources such as the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions and th e Institute for Middle East Understanding, writing a letter to the editor,  writing to representatives in the US Congress, making a donation to the wor k of On Earth Peace in the Middle East, and sending a personal message to p eople involved in the conflict to be carried by a delegation that is curren tly visiting in Israel and Palestine.

The On Earth Peace e-mail also included an analysis of the conflict by Manc hester College professor emeritus David Waas. "The tragic conflict in Gaza  is beyond understanding and every facet is open to interpretation and confl icting analysis," Waas wrote in part. "Only one thing is clear: the conflic t is deadly and a tragedy for all peoples concerned--Palestinians, Israelis , Arabs, and the peoples of the world."

Go to www.onearthpeace.org to find the delegation's blog. Contact communica tions coordinator Gimbiya Kettering at gkettering@onearthpeace.org to reque st a full copy of the e-mail from Bob Gross on the Gaza crisis.

The Brethren Witness/Washington Office has urged Brethren to call the White  House and their representatives in the US Congress to urge statements in s upport of a cease-fire. An "Action Alert" highlighted information from Chur ches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), of which the Church of the Brethren is a  member denomination and the Brethren Witness/Washington Office is a board  member.

"The Church of the Brethren has consistently stated 'that Middle East negot iations concerning the future of the West Bank and Gaza shall be based on UN Security Council  resolutions which address the right of all states in the area to live in peace within secure  and recognized borders'
(GB 1980)," said the alert. "This statement is consistent with our long-hel d heritage and belief in nonviolence and supports the CMEP declaration that  'As American Christians, we deplore the tragic loss of life of civilians c aught in the escalating violence in Gaza and southern Israel and care deepl y about the welfare of both Israelis and Palestinians who are suffering and  living in fear.'"

"Pray for peace in the Middle East," the Brethren Witness/Washington Office  requested. For a copy of the Action Alert contact the Brethren Witness/Was hington Office at washington_office_gb@brethren.org or 800-785-3246.

More about the On Earth Peace-sponsored delegation in Israel and Palestine:

A delegation currently visiting Israel and Palestine is sponsored jointly b y On Earth Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). This is the fourth s uch delegation to the Middle East from On Earth Peace and CPT, with delegat ion trips scheduled in January for the past few years.

The 12-member delegation left for Israel and Palestine on Jan. 6, and plans  to be there through Jan. 19. It is led by Rick Polhamus, a member of Pleas ant Hill (Ohio) Church of the Brethren and a former member of the fulltime  CPT team in Hebron. The group also includes Church of the Brethren members  Jerry Bowen of Troy, Ohio, and Stacey Carmichael of South Bend, Ind.

Brethren in the United States have an opportunity to send personal messages  to people involved in the Gaza conflict, to be delivered by the delegation . "You have an opportunity to send a personal message to decisionmakers in  Israel and Gaza, which will be delivered (to the extent possible) by the de legation while they are in Israel and Palestine," said Bob Gross, executive  director of On Earth Peace. "You can also send messages of hope and comfor t to encourage those who are suffering." E-mail messages sent to onearthpea ce2009@gmail.com will be delivered by the delegation.

The delegation also is posting a blog on their experiences. Go to www.onear thpeace.org for the blog. Contact communications coordinator Gimbiya Ketter ing at gkettering@onearthpeace.org to request a full copy of the e-mail fro m Bob Gross on the Gaza crisis.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continu ing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in  community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith t raditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates it s 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000 members across the  United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nig eria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org