-Caveat Lector- From http://www.loga.org/MiddleEast/PowellLetter.htm }}>Begin Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) 122 C Street N.W., Suite 125 Washington, D.C. 20001 Tel: 202-783-7507 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Palestinian - Israeli Conflict June 7, 2001 The Honorable Colin Powell Secretary of State United States Department of State Dear Mr. Secretary: We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to meet with you and are mindful of the additional heads of U.S. churches who joined us in signing this letter. We come with thanks for the wise and strong leadership you are giving to our government's State Department. We come with support for your effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian cycle of violence and rebuild the trust and mutual confidence that are critical for a negotiated settlement. There is no higher priority for peacemaking in the world today than that between Israel and the Palestinians. This long and tragic conflict is a cancer that threatens the health of the whole region, U.S. relations with Arab and Muslim countries, and interfaith relations worldwide. We, particularly those of us who have precious partnerships with our sister churches in the Holy Land, offer our prayers and encouragement to our government in this crucial work. Along with many others, we are deeply concerned that the peace process has broken down so violently and tragically between the government of Israel and the Palestinian leadership. The sobering current reality compels us to take a higher profile in advocacy of U.S. policies conducive to peace. Few things have done more to destroy the hope and pursuit of peace through negotiations than Israel's unrelenting settlement activity. Over these recent years, we have heard from our Palestinian Christian partners, and seen for ourselves, the destructive impact of Israel's settlement policy -- separating village from village, confiscating more and more Palestinian land, creating friction with its military checkpoints. For over twenty years our churches have appealed to the U.S. government to require Israel to cease this transfer of its civilian population into occupied territory, a clear violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. Each administration has spoken in opposition to the settlement activity, only to watch the settlements increase and expand as Israel ignores the advice. It is time for the United States to do what it must to bring Israel's settlement activity to an end. We urge you to make clear to Israel and the Palestinians that the United States is committed to a negotiated end of Israel's military occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as called for in U.N.S.C. Res. 242 and that an immediate freezing by Israel of its settlement activity including "natural growth" is imperative. It will likely require considerable diplomatic pressure, and possibly economic pressure as well, to convince the government of Israel to recognize that this is a major policy concern of the United States. Breaking the cycle of violence is fundamental to restarting the peace process and rebuilding the hope and will for peace. While we condemn the violent words and actions of Palestinians, we understand the rage that comes from decades of occupation, dislocation and the feeling of having been betrayed by the peace process. We appeal to the Palestinians, as have you, to abandon violence as a means to end the occupation. We understand as well Israel's quest for security for the state and its people, but condemn the disproportionately violent and destructive means it is using. Israel's practice of assassination and the economic strangulation of the fledgling Palestinian state are counterproductive to either security or peace. We hope that Israel is responsive to your appeal that it lift the siege of Palestinian towns and pay the taxes owed to the Palestinian Authority. We call upon Israel to abandon military force and return to negotiations as the path to security. A delegation of church leaders on a December pastoral visit saw the destruction wrought by Israel's military might on the homes and livelihood of the Christian towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. The delegation urged that the United States suspend the current sales of attack helicopters to Israel pending investigation of their use against civilian targets as well as assurances that they will be used in conformity with United States law covering "end-use" in our weapons sales. We ask you to place a hold on any pending delivery of attack helicopters or fighter jets to Israel and to reconsider the promise made by the Clinton Administration that the United States will increase military aid to Israel for each of the next eight years. While we recognize that it has been U.S policy to support Israel militarily in order to insure its security and to encourage it to move forward with confidence in negotiations, the use of F-16 fighter jets against civilian populations is unacceptable and must be challenged by the U.S. government. Like the U.S. effort to stop settlement activity, stopping the use of these heavy weapons against civilians will require considerable diplomatic pressure and possibly economic pressure. Although our concern extends to each person suffering from this conflict, we are extremely worried about our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters. Facing daily threats from violence and economic deprivation and lacking hope for peace and a viable Palestinian state, many feel the pressure to emigrate. The demise of the living Christian community from the birthplace of the Christian religion would certainly be an irreparable tragedy for the Middle East and the Christian community internationally. For their sake, and for the sake of all, we seek a restoration of hope for a negotiated sharing of the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem, holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. We tremble to consider the destructive consequences that would follow the premature moving, as called for by Congress, of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We have heard the cries of fear and mourning of Palestinian Christians and Muslims and of Israeli Jews and pray for their healing and the reconciliation of the Abrahamic family. Be assured of our prayers for you and the President and all others in the Administration as you seek to forge a fair and just policy for the two peoples and three faiths who share a common religious heritage in the land we hold as holy. Sincerely Yours, The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church Bishop Vicken Aykazian Diocesan Legate and Ecumenical Officer The Armenian Orthodox Church The Very Rev. Brother Stephen Michael Glodek, S.M. President Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Mens' Institutes Rev. John L. McCullough Executive Director Church World Service Bishop Donald J. McCoid Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Chair, Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Rev. Fr. Alexander Karloutsos Executive Director Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Bishop William B. Oden Immediate Past President The Council of Bishops The United Methodist Church The following heads of churches and faith-based organizations join the delegation in this expression of concern and appeal to Secretary of State Colin Powell: Bishop McKinley Young Presiding Bishop, 10th Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church The Rev. Dr. Robert H. Roberts Interim General Secretary American Baptist Churches USA Mary Ellen McNish General Secretary American Friends Service Committee Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Hamm General Minister and President Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada Rev. Judy Mills Reimer Executive Director Church of the Brethren General Board The Rev. H. George Anderson Presiding Bishop The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos Ecumenical Officer Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Michael E. Livingston Executive Director International Council of Community Churches Rev. Dr. Seung Koo Choi General Secretary of Korean Presbyterian Church in America Dr. Ron J. R. Mathies Executive Director Mennonite Central Committee Rev. R. Burke Johnson President Moravian Church - Northern Province Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar General Secretary National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick Stated Clerk Presbyterian Church (USA) Wesley Granberg-Michaelson General Secretary Reformed Church in America Archbishop Cyril Aphrem Karim Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch for the Eastern USA John Buehrens President Unitarian Universalist Association The Rev. John H. Thomas General Minister and President United Church of Christ Bishop Melvin G. Talbert Ecumenical Officer Council of Bishops The United Methodist Church End<{{ &&&&&&&&&& @ http://www.loga.org/JULY00LUShareJerusalem.htm >>Note: Some entries below are hot linques<<< {{>Begin Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) 122 C Street N.W., Suite 125 Washington, D.C. 20001 Tel: 202-783-7507 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Action Alert: Updated August 2001 Action Needed Resources Documents Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East NEW! WCC Consultation on Israeli-Palestinian conflict decides on coordinated ecumenical action (August 8, 2001) NEW! Report of the WCC Delegation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel (June 27-July 1, 2001) ACTIONS NEEDED: Freeze Israeli Settlements (May 18, 2001) Support Aid to Palestinians, UN resolutions for protection of Palestinians End<}} ~~~~~~~~~~~ >From http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/01/25pu.html }}>Begin International Ecumenical Consultion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Convened by the World Council of Churches 6-7 August, 2001, Geneva, Switzerland Participants: Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East Mr Erik Ackerman, ICCO, The Netherlands Mr Ian Alexander, Church of Scotland Monsignor Maroun Al-Laham, Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem Mr George Awad, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan Rev. Canon Trond Bakkevig, Church of Norway, member of WCC Central Committee Ms Clarissa Balan/ Ms Ghada Haddad, World YWCA Mr Marwan Bishara, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, member of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs Ms Judy Blanc, Bat Shalom Mr Jaap Breetvelt, Uniting Churches in the Netherlands Rev. Mark Brown, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Churches for Middle East Peace USA, member of ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Very Rev. Emmanuel Clapsis, Ecumenical Patriarchate, member of the Decade to Overcome Violence reference group, member of ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Rev. Jean Arnold de Clermont, president, French Protestant Federation Bishop Aldo M. Etchegoyen, Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina, member of the WCC Central Committee Prof. Richard Falk, Princeton University, member of the Human Rights Inquiry Commission Mr Uffe Gjerding, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark, DanchurchAid, member of ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Dr Christa Grengel, Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Germany Ms Katia Delay Groulx, Swiss Interchurch Aid (EPER) Mrs Claudette Habesch, Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees/Middle East Council of Churches Mr Jeff Halper, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, United Church of Christ, member of the WCC Central Committee and a member of the ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Rev. Dr Riad Jarjour, general secretary, Middle East Council of Churches Ms Jorunn Kapstad, Norwegian Church Aid Mr Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Amb. Bethuel Kiplagat, Anglican Church of Kenya, moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs Fr Paul Lansu, Pax Christi International Dr Victor Makari, Presbyterian Church, USA Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, permanent observer of the Holy See to the UN Office in Geneva Rev. Dr Maake Masango, University of Pretoria, South Africa; member of the WCC Executive and Central Committees and a member of the ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Ms Sumaya Naser, Birzeit University Mrs Fadwa Abla Nasir, general secretary, YWCA Palestine Mr Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, Inter-Ecclesial Committee for Peace in Angola Dr Judo Poerwowidagado, rector, Krida Wacana Christian University, Indonesia Mr Peter Prove, Lutheran World Federation Dr Audeh Quawas, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, member of the WCC Central Committee Mr Goran Rask, Church of Sweden Aid/Mission Fr George Tsetsis, Ecumenical Patriarchate, member of the WCC Executive and Central Committees Ms Sue Turrell, Christian Aid Mr Rob van Drimmelen, general secretary, APRODEV (Association of WCC- related development organizations in Europe) Mr David Weaver, Church World Service/National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA Mr Peter Weiderud, Church of Sweden, member of ecumenical delegation to Israel and the OPT in June Mr David Wildman, General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church Ms Glenda Wildschut, Anglican Church, South Africa; member of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs Ms Jean Zaru, presiding clerk, Society of Friends; Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre, Jerusalem For more information contact: Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer tel.: (+41 22) 791 6153 (office); e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Top of page 2001 press updates WCC homepage The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 337, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany. End<{{ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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