April 18, 2005

The Honorable Henry Hyde

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington DC

Dear Representative Hyde,

Churches for Middle East Peace thanks you for amplifying the plea of Palestinian Christians, and Christians internationally, for political intervention to stem the despair that results from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and lives. We appreciate your talking to Mr. Peres about the damage caused by the separation barrier’s route and the sealing off of East Jerusalem from the West Bank. We hope he now better understands that Palestinian Christians do not perceive Palestinian Muslims as the cause of their hopelessness and emigration.

As you know, both Palestinian Christians and Muslims suffer as a result of the separation barrier, expanding settlements and the isolation of Jerusalem. However these manifestations of the continued occupation actually threaten the existence of the indigenous Christian presence in the Holy Land.  Churches for Middle East Peace receives reports from Palestinian partner churches (Orthodox, Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran), from American and international church- related institutions (such as Augusta Victoria Hospital, St. George’s College and Bethlehem University) and from church-related development organizations (such as Catholic Relief Services and World Vision) of unrelenting hardship and oppression due to the ongoing occupation and the separation of East Jerusalem from the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza.

Mayor Hanna Nasser of Bethlehem has written to CMEP and we’re bringing his letter to the attention of Congressional offices in our on-going meetings with legislative staff. Yet, even as Mayor Nasser reports the damage the separation barrier is having on Bethlehem and Jerusalem, he raises the need for “building bridges of trust during this new era our region is witnessing to revive the stalemate[d] peace process.”

Churches for Middle East Peace is encouraging members of Congress to give bipartisan support to President Bush as he strives to transform the situation of occupation and violence into two viable states who can live in peace, side-by-side and with their neighbors. Additionally, in an effort to break the negative stereotype of Christian-Muslim relations in Arab countries, Church World Service is hosting a delegation of prominent Christian and Muslim dialogue partners that will be traveling the country and visiting Washington next week.