Mennonite
Central
Committee

Middle East conflict prompts response from church leaders

Gladys Terichow
May 12, 2006

The looming humanitarian crisis among the Palestinian people prompted leaders of 20 churches and church related-organizations in the United States to write a letter to President Bush, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Immediate action needed

Immediate action is needed to restore the hope for peace between the state of Israel and the future state of Palestine, states the letter signed by Robb Davis, executive director of MCC, along with other leaders representing churches and organizations from Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant traditions.

This action requires a strong commitment to find negotiated solutions to the issues at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, state the church leaders in the letter dated May 2, 2006.

Churches for Middle East Peace

The church leaders are members of Churches for Middle East Peace, a Washington-based coalition that advocates for justice and peace for all people in the Middle East. Information on Churches for Middle East is available online at cmep.org.

Allow space for Hamas to make positive changes

To prevent a humanitarian crisis among the Palestinian people, the leaders asked governments to provide both space and opportunity for the newly elected Hamas government to make positive changes, while finding mechanisms that allow financial assistance to reach the Palestinian people.

Other concerns raised by church leaders included the threat of violence, the establishment of a mutually negotiated border between Israel and the future Palestine and the status of Jerusalem.

"It is extremely important that decisions on the final status of borders, Jewish settlements, refugees, water and the sovereignty of Jerusalem be agreed upon in the context of negotiations and with the strong leadership of the United States in cooperation with the Quartet and the Arab Leagues," state the church leaders.

The leaders encouraged President Abbas to maintain his commitment to peacemaking and nonviolence. "We believe that in you, President Abbas, the Israelis do have a partner with whom to negotiate," states the letter.

A two-state solution

They commended Prime Minister Olmert for declaring that under his leadership Israel will withdraw from additional occupied land and dismantle some settlements in the West Bank. The leaders emphasized that such actions, undertaken in consultation with the Palestinians, could be important moves forward in Israel's compliance with international law.

The U.S. church leaders also applauded President Bush for his vision of a two-state solution — a solution that polling data indicate is a goal shared by the majority of Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory is rapidly deteriorating, especially in the Gaza Strip, according to Alain Epp Weaver, an MCC country representative for Palestine, Jordan and Iraq.

A crippled economy

Continued restrictions on movement between Gaza and Israel, he said, are crippling the economy. This depressed economy has been further impacted by the Israeli government's withholding of Palestinian tax revenue and international donors' suspension of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.

MCC, along with other humanitarian organizations working in Palestine, is calling on the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority and the international community to recognize that humanitarian assistance to Palestinians should not be jeopardized because of political developments.

Affected population

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with a Palestinian population of 1.3 million living in an area of only 365 square kilometers bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Egypt and Israel.

More than two million Palestinians live in the West Bank, an area of 5,860 square kilometers extending from the city of Jenin in the north to the city of Hebron in the south, with the Jordan River as its eastern edge.

 

Gladys Terichow is a writer for MCC Canada Communications.