CONTACT: Warren Clark,
202-543-1222; warren@cmep.org
[Washington, DC- February 29, 2008] The leaders of Catholic,
Orthodox and Protestant church organizations comprising the
coalition of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) sent a letter to
Secretary Rice today urging her to take urgent diplomatic action to
“resolve the Gaza crisis and enable substantive progress forward on
peace negotiations”. The letter comes as Secretary Rice heads to
the Holy Land next week and amidst escalating violence and the risk
of greater military confrontation. “The continuing violence and
suffering experienced by Palestinians and Israelis is hindering
progress on the peace process and also create conditions that pose a
particular threat to the small Christian community in Gaza,” said
the church leaders.
The CMEP letter expresses concern for the civilians on both sides
caught in the conflict, saying the blockade has created “a
humanitarian crisis felt by all Gazans, while rocket attacks on
Israel have targeted civilians indiscriminately and made normal life
impossible in the areas affected.“ The church leaders urge
Secretary Rice to “work with the international community to achieve
a ceasefire, end the blockade, and establish real security at Gaza’s
borders”. The letter also raises “particular distress about the
recent bombing of the YMCA library in Gaza”, saying a “reduction of
tensions in Gaza and the easing of daily life will strengthen the
tiny Christian community just as progress on the peace process will
help sustain Christian communities elsewhere in the region”. The
church leaders conclude, “We believe that all the children of
Abraham should be able to live in the ‘land of milk and honey’ free
of violence and insecurity and with the ability to provide a
positive future for their families.”
Warren Clark, CMEP's Executive Director, commenting on the letter
and the growing crisis, said,
“This week we have seen the deadly human consequences when a
dialogue of violence and retribution drowns out diplomacy and
negotiation. The church leaders appreciate the initiative of
President Bush and Secretary Rice to launch a renewed
Israeli-Palestinian peace process at Annapolis, and they ask for
urgent action now to protect Israeli and Palestinian civilians and
to preserve the possibility of a peace agreement in 2008."
The full text of the letter and list of signers is as follows:
February
29, 2008
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
United States Department of
State
Washington, DC 20520
Dear
Secretary Rice,
As you
prepare to return to the Middle East, we – the leaders of U.S.
Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches and church-related
organizations that make up Churches for Middle East Peace – are
writing to ask you to take urgent action to address the still
unresolved Gaza crisis. The continuing violence and suffering
experienced by Palestinians and Israelis is hindering progress on the
peace process and also create conditions that pose a particular threat
to the small Christian community in Gaza.
As people
of faith, we are greatly concerned by the situation of civilians
caught in the conflict. The blockade of Gaza and the frequent
occurrence of rocket attacks against southern Israel cannot be
tolerated. The blockade results in power outages, water and food
shortages and a lack of adequate access to medical supplies that
create a humanitarian crisis felt by all Gazans, while rocket attacks
on Israel have targeted civilians indiscriminately and made normal
life impossible in the areas affected.
If action
is not taken soon, the possibility of a larger military confrontation
looms. We welcome your February 22 statement announcing additional
U.S. resources to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza and
recognizing that improvements on the ground are necessary to the peace
process. We join together to ask you to work with the international
community to achieve a ceasefire, end the blockade, and establish real
security at Gaza’s borders. The current closure and separation of
Gaza has increased violence and humanitarian hardship. It also is not
compatible with the vision of a viable and contiguous Palestinian
state living in peace alongside a secure Israel for which you and
President Bush have so eloquently called.
While our
concern is for all the peoples of the Holy Land, we must raise our
particular distress about the recent bombing of the YMCA library in
Gaza. Though authorities in Gaza have denounced this action, it
follows the killing of a Christian bookseller last fall and is
symptomatic of the deteriorating social conditions and instability
that threaten the safety of all the residents of Gaza. A reduction of
tensions in Gaza and the easing of daily life will strengthen the tiny
Christian community just as progress on the peace process will help
sustain Christian communities elsewhere in the region. Such steps are
vital to preserving the cultural and religious pluralism that has long
enriched the Middle East.
We believe
that all the children of Abraham should be able to live in the “land
of milk and honey” free of violence and insecurity and with the
ability to provide a positive future for their families. We are
grateful to you and President Bush for your efforts, and we urge you
to use your upcoming visit to resolve the Gaza crisis and enable
substantive progress forward on peace negotiations. Our prayers will
be with you as you travel and in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Bishop Wayne Burkette
Moravian Church in America
Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Global Concerns
Sr.
Donna Graham, OSF
President
Franciscan Friars (OFM)
English
Speaking Conference, JPIC Council
Rev.
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General
Secretary
Reformed Church in America
The
Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Rev. Dr.
Michael
Kinnamon
General
Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the
USA
Rev.
Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated
Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church, (USA)
Albert C. Lobe
Interim Executive Director
Mennonite Central Committee
Reverend John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO
Church
World Service
Mary
Ellen McNish
General
Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
Stanley J. Noffsinger
General
Secretary
Church
of the Brethren
Bishop William B. Oden
Ecumenical Officer
The Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
Very
Rev. Thomas Picton, CSsR
President
Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of
Men's
Institutes
Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba)
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of
North America
The
Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop
Episcopal Church
Rev.
William G. Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations
The
Rev. John H. Thomas
General
Minister and President
United
Church of Christ
Joe
Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends
Committee on National Legislation
