Your Excellency,

We greet you from Jerusalem in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - himself the Prince of Peace.

We are greatly troubled as we learn of the new legislation you have signed in recent days - specifically section 214 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (HR 1646) relating to Jerusalem.

At a time when so many efforts are being made to end the bloodshed and violence of this Land and work for peace it seems provocative to us that your Congress should seem to want to pre-empt the careful negotiation and legislation which have already been deemed necessary especially under the Oslo Agreement and UN Resolutions 242, 338.

East Jerusalem is occupied territory and as such should be currently protected by International law.

Areas of the City are sacred to Jews, Moslems and Christians.  As such, these areas need to be freely open and access safeguarded to adherents of these Faiths.

We fully appreciate the infinite patience, care and goodwill which will be necessary to resolve the final status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and therefore appeal to you not to jeopardize future peace efforts otherwise there will be increased suffering in an already troubled area.