| Christian letter [Fwd: Letter from Christian Communities in the Holy Land] (fwd)
>>OPEN LETTER TO US SECRETARY OF STATE, GENERAL COLIN POWELL >>from Members of English-Speaking Christian Communities in the Holy Land >> >>U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell >> U.S. State Department >> 2202 C Street NW >> Washington DC 20520 >> >> Dear Mr. Secretary, >> >> "... No one can remain indifferent to the injustice of which the >> Palestinian >> people have been victims for more than fifty years. No one can contest >> the >> right of the Israeli people to live in security. But neither can >> anyone forget >> the innocent victims who on both sides fall day after day under the >> blows of >> violence. Weapons and bloody attacks will never be the right means for >> making a political statement to the other side. Nor is the logic of the >> law of >> retaliation capable any longer of leading to paths of peace." John Paul II >> (January 10, 2002) >> >> We, the undersigned, have experienced and can attest to the truth of these >> words of Pope John Paul II. We are members of several English-speaking >> Christian communities in the Holy Land who have been living in Israel >> and in >> the Occupied Territories. Our length of residence ranges from six >> months to >> twenty years. We represent a number of English-speaking nationalities, >> predominantly American but also many others, and a wide variety of >> backgrounds and professions. We include students and professors, parents >> and clergy, US government/ USAID personnel, heads/personnel of American >> and other non-governmental aid agencies, international diplomats, >> officials >> working for UN agencies and health and education professionals. >> >> We are writing to you out of a deep concern and urgency. The violent and >> horrible events in this land have escalated in recent weeks. America is >> deeply involved in this conflict both as a broker of the peace process >> and as >> a supplier of weapons. The increased violence has underscored the >> failure of >> successive American administrations to implement defined policies for the >> resolution of this conflict. >> >> Twenty-five years have passed since President Sadat visited Jerusalem and >> opened the way to the Camp David peace process. Camp David was >> eventually succeeded by the Oslo Accords, then the Wye River Agreement, >> and more recently by the Mitchell and Tenet reports. None of these >> agreements have been implemented. A generation of Israeli and Palestinian >> youth has grown up observing the lack of political will of the United >> States >> government to implement our defined policies for the Middle East. >> >>Moderates on both sides of this conflict have been marginalized and >>discredited by >>the failure to bring about a just and lasting peace. Both the Israeli >>creation of >> "facts on the ground", and the terror attacks against innocent >> civilians, have >> succeeded in delaying the timeframe and in presenting further obstacles to >> the search for a just and lasting peace. >> >> The US government has accepted such negative developments with apparent >> equanimity. It has capitulated to the demands and excesses of the >> extremists and radicals on both sides who have no interest in peace and >> reconciliation. To date, it has failed to address the major cause of the >> problem - the oppressive and illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. >> The legitimate human and civil rights of the Palestinian people and >> their right >> to their own national homeland have been denied - rights that most peoples >> of the earth enjoy and take for granted. Palestinians daily face the >> expropriation of their land and the unrelenting construction on this >> land of >> Israeli settlements and settlement roads. Over the last 18 months ordinary >> Palestinians have also suffered under the Israeli 'closures' and >> military siege, >> which have cut them off from their places of employment, study, basic >> health- >> care and families. >> >> During this period, our Christian communities have seen the horrific >> effects of >> the work of suicide-bombers and other militants on the people and >> cities of >>Israel, and some have narrowly escaped injury in such incidents. Some >> among us, however, can also testify to having personally eye-witnessed a >> wide range of violations of Palestinian basic human rights and personal >> freedoms by the Israeli authorities, including: >> >> * house demolitions with families made homeless; >> >> * uprooting of ancient olive and citrus groves on which multiple >> families are >> dependent for their livelihoods; >> >> * families cowering in terror as US-manufactured missiles shower down >> indiscriminately on civilian areas from US-manufactured Apache helicopters >> and F-16 bombers, or from Israeli tanks; >> >> * shelling of buildings right beside foreign diplomatic and UN offices in >> Ramallah and Gaza, recklessly endangering their international and other >> staff; >> >> * indiscriminate shootings by IDF soldiers at checkpoints of civilians, >> including children, women, the elderly and the disabled; as well as >> firing of >> tear gas at such people crossing the checkpoints on foot by young, >> seemingly bored or frightened IDF recruits; >> >> * severe harassment and physical abuse of Palestinians of all ages at such >> checkpoints; >> >> * inappropriate handling of young Arab women at these locations; >> >> * regular obstruction of teachers and students trying to reach schools and >> universities; >> >> * harassment and obstruction of ambulances trying to carry emergency >> cases to hospital and blocking of UNRWA and other humanitarian relief >> operations. Similar incidents of this kind have been widely reported >> on by >> almost all the main Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights >> and >> humanitarian organizations. >> >> All the members of our Christian communities unequivocally condemn and >> reject terrorism and violence as a means of advancing the political >> cause of >> the Palestinians, and fully recognize the right of the Israeli people >> to live in >> peace and security in their own state. Our experience here also helps us >> understand why, in their desperation, some young Palestinians see no other >> options available to them and nothing for them to live for. The US >> Administration has focused predominantly on the admittedly horrific and >> unacceptable violence of the Palestinian militants against Israelis but >> it has >> given insufficient attention both to the causes of Palestinian >> militancy and >> terror, and the daily terror and war that Israel is inflicting with >> impunity on the >> largely civilian Palestinian population. This has, not surprisingly, >> led to the >> emergence of a strong sense of moral outrage on the part of the >> majority of >> Arabs and Muslims worldwide. It has also generated a major questioning >> among millions of people of conscience internationally of the credibility, >> impartiality and moral authority of the US government and its policies. >>This in turn has contributed significantly to the hostility felt by many >>people >> internationally towards the US, its government and its citizens. >> >> There is an urgent need for the resolution of this conflict. There is >> a solution >> possible, but it is neither a military one, nor a terrorist one. The >> parameters >> of the solution have been clearly delineated and the vision spelled out >> by you >> yourself, Mr. Secretary, in Louisville, and by President Bush at the UN. >> >>They are expressed in US-sponsored Security Council Resolution 1397, a very >> welcome initiative indeed; and also in the proposals recently set forth by >> Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and, most tantalizingly of all, >> in the >> Taba talks that ended in January last year, which brought the two sides to >> the brink of an historic breakthrough on most of the highly complex and >> deeply entrenched issues dividing the two sides. It is no longer >> appropriate to >> discuss proposals about interim solutions or arrangements. These interim >> policies have been the framework under which Israel has extended and >> expanded its illegal presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The US >> government has been a proponent of a two-state solution to the Israeli- >> Palestinian conflict. Now is the time for the US government to operate >> within >> the rubric of the United Nations and to finalize a settlement to this >> conflict in >> accordance with Resolutions 242, 338 and 1397. This is a period in >> history >> that requires clear policy definition, firm political will, and >> consistency in >> action by the US government. The US government needs to display a type of >> "tough love" that links funding assistance with policy decisions that >>express its concern for all the peoples of this land. >> >> We welcome General Zinni to Jerusalem and recognize the very severe >> obstacles he faces. We express the fervent hope that he will continue to >> receive the firm political backing, and strong, balanced mandate he needs >> from the top levels of his Administration in order to broker a just and >>lasting peace. It is the consensus of the undersigned members of our >>Christian >> communities that the only way to achieve success will be a firm, even- >> handed approach exerting equal pressure on both parties to halt the >>violence and provocation. The presence of international observers is >>also crucial >>for >> > achieving this halt to violence and facilitating the return to >>negotiations. >> > Necessary also is a simultaneous move to develop the political dimension, >> through the implementation of the Mitchell Report and the resumption of >>final >> status negotiations. To demand that President Arafat deliver a unilateral >> cease-fire while the closures remain firmly in place and Israeli military >> offensives and provocation continue, cannot and will not succeed. In the >> interests of the Israeli people who are suffering so much from the >>conflict, the >> United States must also persuade the Israeli government to play its >> part, by >> implementing parallel measures to lift the military and economic siege and >> by progressing toward finalizing negotiations. Consistency of will to move >> beyond the rhetoric of US policy and to implement its stated goals will >> restore the credibility to the peace process and to the role the US >> government seeks to play as the honest broker of the peace process. >> >> As people of faith, committed to the struggle for peace, justice and >> reconciliation, we are convinced that greed and arrogance, violence and >> death, will not have the final word. We have a deep love for this Land >> and for >> all of its people. Our experience here has taught us to make our own this >> simple insight from John Paul II: One against the other, neither >> Israelis nor >> Palestinians can win the war. But together they can win the peace. We >> hope and pray that all sides in this present conflict come to the same >> recognition. >> >> >> Members of English-Speaking Christian Communities in the Holy Land 25 >> March 2002 >> >> Encl: Signatories to the Open Letter >> >> English speaking Catholic Community of Jerusalem >> >> Rev. Donald J. Moore, S.J., acting pastor, professor of theology >> Rev. Charles H. Miller, R.C. priest, administrator >> Rev. Robert Fortrin, Jerusalem, R.C. Priest, administrator >> Niamh Gallagher, student >> Maeve Gallagher, student >> Teresena Gallagher, Lecturer >> Sr. Mary K. Milne, O.S.U., Journalist >> Evie McNally, student >> Carolina Aznar, Jerusalem, graduate student >> Kathleen Pierson, Bethany, recreation director >> Michael Humpheys, Lt. Colonel, Australian Army >> Jillian Kearns, Lawyer, Australia >> Tom McNally, East Jerusalem >> Denis Gallagher, Development consultant to USAID >> Marie Andre Mitchell, R.C. sister >> Daragh McNally, student >> Isolde Moylan, diplomat, Ramallah >> Maureen McElhattan, Jerusalem >> Andrea Rogers, Jerusalem >> Donald J. Rogers, administrator >> David Burrell, C.S.C., priest, professor >> Sr. Susan Sheehan, D.C., administrator >> Sr. Norma More, D.C., therapist for handicapped children >> Dennis Hamm, S.J., professor of scripture >> Tom Fitzalan-Howard, British Defense Attache >> Jo Fitzalan-Howard, Interior designer >> Tom Neu, East Jerusalem, >> Patricia Neu, planning and evaluation manager >> Debbie Santalese, formerly East Jerusalem, office manager >> Lutheran Church of the Redeemer English-speaking Congregation, Jerusalem >> The Rev. Susan P. Thomas, Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, >> Jerusalem >> The Rev. Michael P. Thomas, Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, >> Jerusalem >> Christopher Doyle, Presbyterian Church USA missionary, Bethlehem >> Hala Doyle, Presbyterian Church USA missionary, Bethlehem >> The Rev. David Selzer, Episcopal priest >> Ann E. Miller, RN, nurse practitioner >> Mark Frey, Christian Peacemaker Team, peacemaker >> Peter Holland, OXFAM-Quebec >> Kate Moynihan, Roman Catholic, working for a US NGO >> The Rev. Andrew Bush, Minister with the United Bible Society, Bir Zeit, >>west Bank >> Karen M. Bush, midwife, Red Crescent Hospital, Ramallah >> Bethany G. Bush, student, age 15, The Friends' Boys School, Ramallah >> The Rev. Marthame Sanders, Presbyterian mission worker, Zababdeh, >>Palestine >> Ms. Elizabeth Sanders, Presbyterian mission worker, Zababdeh, Palestine >> Bob May, United Methodist missionary, Bethlehem >> Nancy Dinsmore, Development Officer, Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem >> The Rev. Christine Caton, Christian Peacemaker Team, Hebron, Presbyterian >> minister >> Bret Davis, human rights worker >> Rebekah Miles, student >> The Rev. Mary Lawrence, United Methodist minister, Christian Peacemaker >>Team >> LeAnne Clausen, human rights worker, Christian Peacemaker Team >> Chris George, Jerusalem >> Karin Boyadgian, Jerusalem >> Alain Epp Weaver, Director, Christian Development Agency >> Sonia Weaver, Co-Director, Christian Development Agency >> Heather Britt, International development and aid worker >> The Rev. Susan P. Wilder, St. Andrew's Scots' Memorial Church, Jerusalem >> Shane McNally, volunteer >> Tony Boyadgian, Tour guide in the Holy Land >> Kathleen Kern, human rights activist >> The Rev. Mary Jensen, journalist, Jerusalem >> Karin Hallin, recently a student in Jerusalem, now in Sweden >> Seth Thomas, student, Jerusalem >> Elaine Zoughbi, Bethlehem >> Zoughbi Zoughbi, Wi'am Center for Reconciliation, Bethlehem >> St. Andrew's Scottish Church, Jerusalem >> Rizek Abusharr, YMCA >> Gang Tai-Yum, Director of Joy House Kindergarten >> Alice Alouohem, housewife >> Margarita Claesson, eye surgeon >> John Brownridan, retired >> Yvonne Grogev, student >> Glenn Witmer, professor >> Joyce Wilson, minister >> Ann V. Staal, teacher >> Thomas H. Staal, diplomat >> Sara J. Bailey, editor >> Len Wilson, administrator YMCA >> Magda Zaher, CPA >> Joan Musgrave, Scottish Church >> Chi Chang-Yim, Joy House Kindergarten >> Catriona Lalhlan, church volunteer >> Clarence Musgrave, Minister, Scottish Church >> Kay Munayer, sales manageress >> Sophie Sarikas, retired >> >> Bethlehem University >> >> Br. Cyril Litecky, administrator, educator >> Br. David Scarpa, educator >> Br. Joseph Loewenstein, religious educator >> Br. Mark Boyle, teacher >> Br. Neil Kieffe, educator >> Br. Dominic Smith, educator >> Br. Myron Collins, educator >> >> Pontifical Biblical Institute, Jerusalem >> >> Thomas Fitzpatrick, S.J., Director >> Agnelo Vaz, S.J., administrator >> >> St. George's College, Jerusalem >> >> E. Ross Jones, Dean, priest >> Gwin Jones, lecturer >> >> Notre Dame de Sion >> >> Maureen Murphy, teacher >> Carina Arnold, nurse >> > Benigna Hwang, religious >> Coran Hedley, teacher >> Gertrude Nabuurs, teacher, administrator >> Ellen Knox, religious >> Irailde Maria Ferreira, social worker >> Jane Taylor, Writer >> Peter Dorfield, R.C. priest >> Ellse Heinrich, housewife >> Sylvia Marchant, secretary >> Rita Kammermayer, teacher >> Vicky Vargas Saenz, religious >> >> The following have sent by email their support of the letter: >> >> Dr. James R. Kelly, Professor of Sociology, Fordham University, NY >> Rev. Jack Podsiadlo, SJ, priest and school administrator, Baltimore, MD >> Cathie and Lenny Sclafani, teachers and church workers, Flushing, NY >> > Dr. Astrid O'Brien, prof of Philosophy, Fordham University, NY >> Rev. William McCurdy, SJ, Jesuit priest and administrator, Rochester, NY >> Raymond Helmick, SJ, senior associate Conflict Analysis Center, >> Washington DC >> Rev. John Dear, SJ, writer and peace activist, NYC >> Rev. Francis Gillespie, SJ, parish priest and pastor >> Rev. Michael Lynch, SJ, social councelor, NYC >> Sr. Mary Angela Perez, RSM, religious administrator, Guam, Pacific Islands >> Francis McCormick, U.S. Foreign Service (ret) >> Dr. Julia Specher-McLaughlin, child psychiatrist, Red Hook, NY >> Chris McLoughlin, sales representative, Red Hook, NY >> Sharon Herbert, archeologist (U of Michigan), Albright Institute >> Jose Vicente Niclos, teacher of Spanish Hebrew U, >> Janet Williams, retired health professional, MA, USA >> Dr. Maria Khoury, education consultant, Taybeh-Ramallah, >> Fr Labib KobTi, Arab American Community, San Francisco, >> Fr Kevin McCaffrey, OP, librarian St Stephan's Priory, Jerus, >> Eileen Hren, Palestinian Human Ridhts Monitorin Group, administrator, East >> Jerus >> Anthony Axe, OP, prof of archeology Ecole B, '93-97, Prior Blackfriars in >> G.B., >> Henrietta Wiley, Albright Institute, grad student >> Joseph C. Donnelly, KHS, NY, >> Justin Taylor, SM, Catholic priest and writer >> Fr Rick Van de Water, parish priest Jifna >> Eduardo Nigore, Valencia Spain, Health professional >> Joseph F. Lynch, retired CIA officer >> Christopher Frechette, SJ, grad student, Harvard U >> Dr. Yamada Shoh, Sendai, Japan, archeologist out of Harvard >> Fr J. Carlos Coupeau, SJ, Gregorian University, Rome >> James Schryver, archeologist >> Maureen McCormack,nurse, Bronx, USA >> Dr. Miguel Perez Fernandez, U of Grenada (Spain) >> Dr. Josep Ribera, U of Barcelona >> Prof. Julio Trebolle, former Director of Spanish Institute for Biblical >>Archeological Studies, Jerusalem, >> Prof Pablo Torijano. Facultad de Filologia,Universidad de Complutense de >> Madrid.
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