NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: A Holy Land visit, the wall and 'urgent' need for advocacy for negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace
Episcopal News Service. February 10, 2010 [021010-03]
Pat McCaughan
It wasn't Bethlehem's separation wall, but a powerful graffiti message on it instead that Bishop Barry Beisner of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California hopes to convey from his recent Holy Land trip.
"Someone had spray-painted 'Jesus will tear down this wall,'" he said.
Beisner was among a 15-member delegation of U.S. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders who visited Jordan, Israel and Palestine's West Bank during the week before Christmas 2009, at the behest of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East or NILI.
"Part of the call to all of us in this time is to be God's agent for the removal of not just the literal wall, that security device, but of all the things that divide people from each other and God," he said during a Feb. 10 telephone interview from his Sacramento office.
"It was a profound reminder of our participation in Christ's work of reconciliation, that basic, basic mission of the church. It was a gift to take that into Christmas and beyond," he said.
NILI is an organization of U.S. faith group leaders that has spoken publicly about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Beisner represented Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during the Dec. 16 - 23 visit, designed to provide a model and encouragement to other interfaith groups to work together to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"It was an honor to be asked to represent the Presiding Bishop and a privilege to be with those other Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, who shared this passion," Beisner said.
The group met with both Israeli and Palestinian citizens, U.S. Ambassador to Israel James B. Cunningham, and Jordanian leaders. In addition to praying and eating together, they also spent considerable time in conversation, sharing observations and perspectives.
"It was a wonderful group of people clearly dedicated to working for peace, very concerned to take a balanced position and to hear from all sides," Beisner said. "There was a level of shared commitment and therefore of fellowship and spirituality."
The group was united in the belief that the building of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territory should be halted and that existing settlements be dismantled, according to a NILI press release issued shortly after the group's Dec. 23 return.
"Clearly Jerusalem is a divided city and one of NILI's expectations is that that needs to be taken into account in any peace equation," Beisner said. "It will need to be a shared solution. It [Jerusalem] is holy to more than one tradition and will need to be in some way shared among the traditions and the peoples."
Of grave concern to both Christian and Jewish leaders was the exodus of Christians, most of whom are Palestinian, from the Holy Land and the lack of urgency for reaching a negotiated peace settlement, he said. The group met Danny Seidman, a prominent human rights lawyer and a consultant to Im Amim, an agency that actively engages on issues affecting Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem and on the political future of the city.
"He talked about [the departure of Palestinian Christians] as being of staggering importance, and of the concern that the churches will become museums, not institutions rooted in a living community," said Beisner, "and he saw this as a cultural and security issue of the highest order."
Similarly, U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham told the gathering that one of the greatest contributions to peace would be revitalization of the Christian community, Beisner added. "There continues to be an urgent concern about it and they think all Christians should be paying attention to that."
Beisner said that he was particularly impressed with the work and ministry of Bishop Shuheil Dawani and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East.
"Bishop Suheil is clearly doing so much. The work that happens under his leadership through the wonderful institutions that we have there, the hospitals and the schools, … probably do more real work for peace because they don't just serve Anglicans and they don't just serve Christians. They serve all people. They are a great work of peace."
The diocese extends over five countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, within the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. It encompasses 27 parishes, and 33 institutions, which include hospitals, clinics, kindergartens and schools, vocational training programs, as well as institutions for the deaf, the disabled and the elderly.
Beisner added that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians agree that a two-state solution is the best outcome, "the best way to peace and they are willing to pay the price to accept it, in terms of land issues and the other issues involved," he said.
But many are also concerned that time is running out for a two-state solution, said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, DC, in a NILI press release.
"We heard two messages repeatedly from Palestinians and Israelis with whom we met: first, that time is running out for a viable two-state solution; and second, that people on both sides know the difficult compromises that will be necessary for peace and most people are prepared to accept them."
Rabbi Paul Menitoff, executive vice president emeritus of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, in the same Dec. 30 press release, added, "Even on the most emotional issues of refugees and Jerusalem, we believe most Palestinians understand that they will have to accept a negotiated solution regarding refugees that does not jeopardize the Jewish majority in Israel; and most Israelis understand that they will have to accept a negotiated solution regarding sharing Jerusalem that includes provision for both Israel and Palestine to have their capitals in Jerusalem."
Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, National Director of the Islamic Society of North America, said, "Of course, it is the parties themselves that must make the negotiated agreements for peace, but most people we met believe that active, fully engaged U.S. leadership is essential to making that happen. We are united in support of such U.S. leadership for peace."
The religious leaders repeated NILI's goal to build on the Arab Peace Initiative for comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, including peace agreements between Israel and Syria, and Israel and Lebanon, the release said. NILI leaders who organized the trip said they will seek high level meetings with the Obama administration to offer their support for U.S. leadership for peace.
NILI said the delegation was united in calling on the Obama administration and Congress to be catalysts, in cooperation with Egypt and other parties, for achieving "an effective, sustainable ceasefire."
That includes international measures to prevent resupplying of rockets, for allowing the flow of humanitarian and economic assistance to the people of Gaza, for continuing efforts to improve the capacity of the Palestinian Authority to increase security and economic development, for further reducing the number of checkpoints, and for freezing settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the news release.
Other Christian leaders who participated represented the Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), National Baptist Convention, and the United Methodist Church. Other Jewish leaders represented the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. Additional Muslim leaders were with the Islamic Center of Southern Maryland, Georgetown University and the Council of Mosques, USA.
The Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, general minister, president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said, "We all pray to the one, merciful God that these negotiations will succeed and that prisoners will be released; and we call on our government to work urgently to restart negotiations and move forward in 2010 toward Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace."