Church leaders urge Obama to step up diplomacy for Israeli-Palestinian peace
Episcopal News Service. March 9, 2011 [030911-01]
ENS staff
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is one of 20 ecumenical leaders who wrote to President Barack Obama on March 7 urging him to "open up broad new channels of diplomatic effort" to encourage successful peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
The church leaders have expressed regret that the United States vetoed a resolution in the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 18 that would have reaffirmed the illegality of Israeli settlement building in the Palestinian territories.
"While we appreciate statements affirming continuing U.S. strong opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements, these must be followed by concrete measures to halt this activity," the letter said. "We believe bold and immediate new steps are needed now to prevent this veto from further damaging America's credibility as a broker to help resolve this conflict that threatens the security of both peoples and denies self-determination to Palestinians."
The church leaders are uniting as Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a national Christian coalition which includes 24 Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant national church bodies and faith-based organizations, including the Episcopal Church.
The full text of the letter is available here.
CMEP issued a statement on Feb. 2 urging the Obama administration not to block the U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop illegal construction of settlements. Jefferts Schori made a similar plea some two weeks earlier, saying that use of the U.S. veto power "would send the wrong signal to both parties, as it would be interpreted by many as a break from past U.S. positions against settlement building."
Israel and the Palestinian Authority briefly came to the table in September 2010 in negotiations mediated by Obama, but those talks faltered when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a temporary freeze on the construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian negotiators have maintained that a full settlement freeze is a condition of their participation in peace talks.
For most of 2010, the Israeli government maintained a temporary freeze on settlement construction. Obama had sought this freeze in order to bring the parties to the table, but the Israeli government declined to extend the moratorium past September unless the Palestinian Authority would formally recognize Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people. Palestinian negotiators refused to do so.
"Negotiations to end this conflict have foundered not just because of remaining differences over the specific issues, but also because of deep fear and mistrust," the church leaders said in the March 7 letter. "Both sides need to have confidence that any agreement for a just peace with security will be lasting and reliably executed in a reasonable timeframe.
"We call upon you therefore to open up broad new channels of diplomatic effort to encourage both sides to take responsibility now for creating the conditions necessary for talks to succeed. This initiative must necessarily include support from the Middle East Quartet, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference for a set of proposals, building on the Arab Peace Initiative."
The letter also noted that the Middle East Quartet recently expressed support for concluding an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians by this September, "and you also have expressed the hope there can be an agreement by then. With that time frame in mind, we hope that you and the other Quartet leaders will travel to the region together soon, visiting Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring Syria, to propose specific steps to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israel and all its neighbors."
The Episcopal Church has repeatedly stated its support for a two-state solution in which Israel's right to exist in security is affirmed by all nations, while a free, independent, and secure Palestinian state exists alongside Israel. Under such a scenario, the Episcopal Church and most peace advocates support the sharing of Jerusalem as a capital between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem -- with its 27 parishes and 33 institutions throughout Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon -- is committed to a stable and lasting peace through a two-state solution. The U.S.-based Episcopal Church supports the Jerusalem diocese through partnerships and companion diocese relationships.