FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Warren Clark
Churches
for Middle East Peace
202 543
1222;
warren@cmep.org
[Washington, DC- May 15, 2008] Churches for Middle East Peace commends
Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Ray Lahood (R-IL), and the 50 other
Members of the House who joined them, for sending a letter to President
Bush yesterday urging efforts to end the crisis in southern Israel and Gaza
and enable progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
The Price-Lahood letter comes amidst a new outbreak of Gaza-Israel
violence and as the President begins a Middle East trip that provides an opportunity to move
forward on the Annapolis process launched last November. The letter
asserts that for “the peace process to be viable, solutions must be found
to stabilize the Gaza situation, preserve the achievements made in peace
talks, and maintain forward momentum.” It suggests that such solutions
must include international condemnation of the rocket attacks on southern
Israel, an exploration of a potential ceasefire to stop the violence and
an end to the border blockade that addresses Israel’s security needs and
provides humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza.
Praising the Congressional letter, CMEP Executive Director, Warren Clark
said: “The situation
on the ground in the Holy Land needs to improve now if Israelis and
Palestinians are going to have sufficient trust and confidence to do the
hard work of peacemaking. We commend Reps. Price and Lahood and their 50
colleagues for offering bipartisan support for constructive solutions that
can help provide a climate conducive to negotiations. We join them in
urging the President to use his trip to re-energize the Annapolis
process.”
A May 9th CMEP
letter to
President Bush also highlights current obstacles to moving forward on the
peace process, including the “death and suffering in Gaza and in southern
Israel” and raises concerns regarding movement and access in the West
Bank, which “undermines Palestinian leadership that seeks peace with
Israel.”
Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 22 Catholic, Orthodox and
Protestant national church bodies, has strongly supported the Price-Lahood
letter together with a range of Jewish and Arab-American organizations,
including Americans for Peace Now, the Arab American Institute, Brit
Tzedek v'Shalom, Israel Policy Forum and J Street.
For the full text of the Price-Lahood letter and a final list of signers
or for the CMEP May 9th letter, please contact CMEP's Executive Director,
Warren Clark, at 202-543-1222 or
warren@cmep.org.
###
Churches
for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is a coalition of Orthodox, Catholic and
Protestant church bodies and organizations that work together in pursuit
of a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict where two viable
states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side within secure and
recognized borders.
