wfn.org | Obama's Cairo speech welcomed by U.S. Christian leaders

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> The Honorable Barack Obama
> President of the United States
> The White House Washington, DC 20500

> June 4, 2009

> Dear Mr. President,

As American Christian leaders with a shared commitment to a just and
lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace, we have come together at a time of
great opportunity and urgency. After decades of tragic conflict, many
Israelis and Palestinians despair of the possibility of peace, yet
with your determined leadership we believe the promise of two viable,
secure and independent states can be realized.

We commend your message to the people of the Middle East and your
challenge to all of us to work for Holy Land peace as we seek to build
a more positive future for the people of the region and the world. We
are grateful that you have identified resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a top priority and made clear your
Administration?s commitment to sustained, hands-on diplomacy. As you
embark on peace efforts, we ask you to provide a clear framework for
an end to the conflict, help Israelis and Palestinians make the
difficult decisions necessary to achieve lasting peace, and hold both
parties to account when they fail to honor their commitments.

Mr. President, you have assumed office at one of the most critical
moments in the long history of this conflict. While the international
community and majorities of the Israeli and Palestinian people are all
committed to a two state solution as the best option for achieving
peace and security, the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
Continued settlement growth and expansion are rapidly diminishing any
possibility for the creation of a viable Palestinian state. The
targeting of Israeli civilians through ongoing rocket fire and the
insistent rejection by some of Israel?s right to exist reinforces the
destructive status quo. These actions, along with the route of the
separation barrier, movement restrictions, and continued home
demolitions, serve to undermine Palestinians and Israelis alike who
seek peace. As hope dims, the threat of violence grows and hardliners
are strengthened.

We share a common commitment to all the people of the Holy Land?Jews,
Christians and Muslims? and are particularly concerned with the plight
of the Palestinian Christian community. In the birthplace of our
faith, one of the world?s oldest Christian communities is dwindling
rapidly, and with them the possibility of a day when three thriving
faith communities live in shared peace in Jerusalem. Mr. President, it
is apparent that unless there is an Israeli-Palestinian peace
agreement Christians in the Holy Land may cease to exist as a viable  community.

Now is indeed the time for immediate and bold American leadership.
Fruitful diplomacy will require U.S. engagement with a Palestinian
unity government committed to peace with the state of Israel. We
commend your important statements pressing both Israel and the
Palestinians to live up to their obligations, and we urge your
Administration to continue to bolster Palestinian capacity to halt
violence and continue to demonstrate firm dedication to a viable
Palestinian state by exhibiting no tolerance for Israeli settlement
activity. While working to end rocket attacks against the people of
southern Israel, the U.S. should also seek immediate relief for the
population of Gaza?living in rubble and without basic necessities?by
ending restrictions on humanitarian goods and opening the borders to
reconstruction material, commerce and transit in a secure manner.

We welcome your call for people on both sides to recognize the pain
and aspirations of the other. Because of this conflict many have lost
the ability to see the other as human beings worthy of dignity and
respect. An entire generation of Israelis and Palestinians has grown
up amidst violence and hatred. We pledge to join with you to work with
and support those in both societies who seek peace, justice, and
security, standing beside those who hope for a better future for
themselves and for the generations that follow.

The current political stalemate and declining situation on the ground
demonstrate that Israelis and Palestinians cannot reach a negotiated
agreement without a strong, helping hand. We urge your Administration
to present proposals that go beyond the mere principle of two states
and lay out a just and equitable solution that provides dignity,
security and sovereignty for both peoples. Moreover, we appreciate
your strong support for a comprehensive peace and we look forward to
diplomatic efforts to build upon the historic Arab Peace Initiative,
with its offer of recognition and normalization of relations with
Israel in exchange for an end to the occupation.

There is no greater work than the Psalmist?s call to ?seek peace and
pursue it? and no more critical time than now to finally end the
conflict in the Holy Land (Ps. 34:14). We stand ready to support your
bold action and are rallying Christians nationwide around robust U.S.
peacemaking efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. Our prayers
and mutual commitment are with you in this difficult and most important  task.

> Sincerely,

> The Rev. Dr. Jimmy R. Allen
> Coordinator
> New Baptist Covenant

> The Most Rev. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian
> Primate
> Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)

> David Black
> President
> Eastern University

> Bishop Wayne Burkette
> Moravian Church in America, Southern Province

> Tony Campolo
> Speaker
> Eastern University, St. Davids, PA

Sr. J. Lora Dambroski, OSF

President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious

> His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America
> Primate
> Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

> Marie Dennis
> Director
> Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

> Dr. Joy Fenner
> Former President
> Baptist General Convention of Texas

> Leighton Ford
> President
> Leighton Ford Ministries

> Israel L. Gaither
> Commissioner
> National Commander
> The Salvation Army

Rev. Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley Executive Secretary-Treasurer
Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention

> Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
> General Secretary
> Reformed Church in America

> Ken Hackett
> President
> Catholic Relief Services

> The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
> Presiding Bishop
> Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
> President, Lutheran World Federation

> Dennis Hollinger
> President
> Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

> Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard
> Bishop of Albany
> Chairman
> Committee on International Justice and Peace
> United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

> Dr. Joel C. Hunter
> Senior Pastor, Northland Church
> Member, Executive Committee of the
> National Association of Evangelicals

> Bill Hybels
> Senior Pastor
> Willow Creek Community Church

> Lynne Hybels
> Advocate for Global Engagement
> Willow Creek Community Church

> The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
> Presiding Bishop
> The Episcopal Church

> Reverend A. Wayne Johnson
> General Secretary
> National Missionary Baptist Convention of America

> Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim
> Archbishop
> Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch for the Eastern USA

> Margaret Mary Kimmins, OSF
> President
> Franciscan Action Network

> Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
> General Secretary
> National Council of Churches

> Rev. Michael E. Livingston
> Executive Director
> International Council of Community Churches
> Immediate Past President, National Council of Churches

> Reverend Willie Maynard
> Treasurer, National Baptist Convention, Inc.
> Pastor, St. Paul Baptist Church, LA

> His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick
> Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Washington

> Rev. John L. McCullough
> Executive Director and CEO
> Church World Service

> Mary Ellen McNish
> General Secretary
> American Friends Service Committee

> Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley
> General Secretary
> American Baptist Churches

> Richard J. Mouw
> President
> Fuller Theological Seminary

> David Neff
> Editor in Chief
> Christianity Today

> Stanley J. Noffsinger
> General Secretary
> Church of the Brethren

> Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer, President
> The Council of Bishops
> The United Methodist Church

> Rev. Gradye Parsons
> Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
> Presbyterian Church, (USA)

Very Rev. Thomas Picton, CSsR

President Conference of Major Superiors of Men

> Reverend Tyrone Pitts
> General Secretary
> Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

> Most Rev. John H. Ricard, SSJ
> Catholic Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee

> Bob Roberts, Jr.
> Pastor
> NorthWood Church, Keller, TX

Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba)

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

> Rolando Santiago
> Executive Director
> Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

Dr. Chris Seiple President Institute for Global Engagement

> Robert Seiple
> Former Ambassador-at-large for
> International Religious Freedom

> Reverend William J. Shaw
> President, National Baptist Convention, Inc
> Pastor, White Rock Baptist Church, PA

> Ron Sider
> President
> Evangelicals for Social Action

> Reverend T. DeWitt Smith
> President

> Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
> Richard Stearns President
> World Vision

> Rev. John H. Thomas
> General Minister and President
> United Church of Christ

> Jim Wallis
> President
> Sojourners

> Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins
> General Minister and President
> Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski Catholic Bishop of Orlando

> The Right Rev. John F. White
> Ecumenical and Urban Affairs Officer
> African Methodist Episcopal Church

> Joe Volk
> Executive Secretary
> Friends Committee on National Legislation

Bishop Gabino Zavala Bishop

President Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement