By Bishop John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Church
Washington Window
Vol. 73, No. 1, February 2005

Stronger American leadership in the search for peace in the Holy Land must be an urgent priority for the second administration of President George W. Bush. Today there are new opportunities for peace, and hope is stirring. Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian president elected to replace the deceased Yasser Arafat, is a man of peace. He has been very clear in his commitment to negotiation and major democratic reform, both of which augur well for more positive and coherent Palestinian policies. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to withdraw from Gaza which is a valuable first step toward peace. And Bush has clearly reaffirmed his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

These are welcome and hopeful signs, but Palestine and Israel are hardly on the brink of peace. Very little has changed on the ground. Both Palestinians and Israelis still live in fear of violence which to date has claimed over 1,000 Israeli and 3,000 Palestinian lives in four years, and people on both sides are still dying. In the face of bitter settler resistance, Sharon is determined to withdraw from the Gaza settlements, but he is expanding Israeli settlements and infrastructure on the West Bank . He is also building a wall, partially within the West Bank , the purposes of which are to provide security, which Israelis demand and deserve, but also to preserve certain Israeli settlements whose existence cannot be justified.

Meanwhile, continued military closures disrupt the daily lives of Palestinians. These realities-and statements by Sharon-suggest that he plans, after leaving Gaza, to consolidate Israeli control over much of the West Bank and leave the Palestinians with disconnected enclaves for an indefinite "interim period," rather than with a viable state of their own.

The wall also severs the holy city of Jerusalem and its more than 200,000 Muslim and Christian Arabs from their West Bank hinterland and would end the possibility of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem . The burden of the wall is especially heavy on the nearby towns of Bethlehem , Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, where the majority of Palestine 's dwindling Christian community lives. West Bank Christians can no longer worship freely in Jerusalem 's Holy Sepulcher. Most Christians in Jerusalem can no longer visit the birthplace of our Lord in Bethlehem . The wall now blocks the route that Jesus took on Good Friday from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem . As a Christian and bishop in the Episcopal Church, I find this not only heartbreaking , but unacceptable. West Bank Muslims can no longer pray freely at Jerusalem 's Al Aqsa Mosque, and that is heartbreaking and unacceptable as well.

Sharon 's goal of consolidating Israeli settlements in the West Bank and sealing off Jerusalem endangers both Palestinians and Israelis. It will crush Palestinian hopes for freedom and sovereignty and will be a formula for continued conflict and tragedy. Since the Palestinian population west of the Jordan River will likely surpass Israel 's Jewish population within the next 10 years, failure to achieve a Palestinian state would undermine Israel 's security and character as a Jewish, democratic state. Preservation of a Jewish state under these circumstances would require Israel to suppress a hostile Arab majority at the cost of its basic allegiance to democracy and human rights.

For me, the logic of a two state solution is therefore overwhelming. Without it there can be neither security nor democracy for Israelis in a Jewish state, nor liberation and justice for Palestinians. But the core issues in this conflict -security, borders, West Bank settlements, refugees and the status of Jerusalem , are still unresolved. Israel 's planned withdrawal from Gaza in mid-2005 does not address these very significant issues and the issue of an overall peace.

The "Road Map" proposed by President Bush calls for an end to terrorism, a freeze on settlements and a pull back of Israeli forces as first steps toward an undefined Palestinian state. But the Road Map, like previous incremental efforts, has failed since it lacks any definition of what peace and a Palestinian state will mean. A shared, concrete vision of peace is needed now to persuade both Israelis and Palestinians that their essential needs will be protected. For Israelis, this means lasting security in a Jewish state. For Palestinians, it means the end of occupation and settlements and a genuine state with a capital in East Jerusalem . Without such a tangible vision and hope that it can be achieved, ideologues and extremists on both sides will keep the initiative, as they have in the past, prolonging the impasse.

Experience shows that Israelis and Palestinians, heavily burdened by their historic traumas, political divisions and problematic leaderships, will be unable to reach such a vision and make peace by themselves. It is now time, therefore, for the United States to reengage with a renewed pledge of high level American leadership and a more sustained diplomatic effort.

This will not be easy. Yet the elements for an agreed peace are widely understood. Over the past decade, leaders on both sides, in official and unofficial negotiations, have come very close to finding solutions to all these tough issues. Encouraging, too, are polls that show majorities in both societies more or less agree on these solutions, though both lack the hope that this can be achieved. The first step must be a strong presidential commitment that is clear in saying we are serious about peace and that there will be an appointment of a full time envoy to help both Israelis and Palestinians make a real success of the Gaza withdrawal. Then, at the appropriate time, the president should offer a broad and compelling plan, drawing on tentative formulas negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians in the past. I believe that diplomats could best know the timing and tactics for this. Renewed American leadership of this kind and a promise to stick to it would revive hope and rally support for both Israelis and Palestinians. Governments in Europe and the Arab world, whose support and cooperation are essential, would also welcome it.

Experience shows that in this conflict, without progress there is deterioration. Without stronger American leadership, today's fragile hopes for peace could turn once again to despair. Rejectionists on both sides, and proponents of violence, could take the initiative again, and both sides could once again be plunged into a new cycle of bloodshed.

President Bush deserves our support for his commitment to Israel 's security and well-being and to the realization of a Palestinian state. But the time has come to make good on these promises. Christians, Jews and Muslims are bone-weary of this conflict, and the narrow partnership that sustains it. As people of faith, who have Abraham as their ancestral father, we know deep in our hearts that we are brothers and sisters and beloved children of God. Palestinians and Israelis have been the horribly unfortunate victims of history. Both deserve security, freedom, dignity and peace.

Bold new American leadership seeking peace for Israelis and Palestinians is vital, not only to help rescue our suffering friends, but to protect our own national security and preserve our reputation as the standard bearer of freedom, justice, and human rights. Much is at stake. May the God of Abraham, the father of us all, give us now the strength as a nation to act.