Conference of Christians Calls for Shared Future for Jerusalem
Episcopal News Service. February 8, 1996 [96-1377]
J. Martin Bailey, Acting Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches
(ENS) Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning of the Episcopal Church has called for "justice, mutual respect, and love" in determining the future of Jerusalem.
Browning sent a message of support to the international conference on "The Significance of Jerusalem for Christians and of Christians for Jerusalem," held in the holy city January 21-27. Because Browning was unable to attend, his wife, Patti, read his message to the nearly 300 people from 30 nations who represented Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches at the conference.
In his statement, Browning saluted the government of Israel and the emerging state of Palestine for their "immense and courageous steps toward peace." He praised their resolute determination" as they seek "a way to live together in peace and security," which he called "a noble undertaking."
As Christians "make their rightful claim to Jerusalem, we also recognize that Muslims and Jews have equal and powerful claims to Jerusalem from their perspectives," he said. "It is pointless and futile for any one of the three religions to argue a greater claim to the city than another. Instead, we need a spirit of mutual respect among us to guide the future of Jerusalem."
Canon Naim Ateek, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Theology Center known as Sabeel, which sponsored the conference, said that each of the three world religions in the Holy Land has suffered religious discrimination in Jerusalem when the city was controlled by one of the others.
"The lack of political freedom has always hampered and hindered religious freedom. It has been our daily experience under occupation," said Ateek, who is also pastor of the Palestinian congregation at Jerusalem's Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr.
He asserted that "in its attempt to judaize Jerusalem, Israel has suppressed that which is Muslim and Christian, and magnified everything that is Jewish. In spite of this, Christians and Muslims cling tenaciously to Jerusalem. It cannot, and should not be exclusively Jewish."
What makes Jerusalem great is "not its political character," but "its religious character which is equally important to Jews, Muslims and Christians," Ateek said. "That is why it is mandatory for political sovereignty to be shared. We can either make Jerusalem a city of perpetual strife, or we can make it a paradigm for peace."
During the conference, a prominent member of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) joined two leading Palestinians in affirming that an undivided Jerusalem could serve as the capital city for both Israel and Palestine. Dedi Zucker, who chairs the Knesset's law committee, said that a compromise on the future of Jerusalem can be achieved if both Israelis and Palestinians take a more pragmatic approach and work patiently.
"Both sides need each other," the Meretz Party parliamentarian said, "and Jerusalem needs both communities." He warned that compromise does not mean "drawing a line that divides the city" as was done prior to 1967.
The key Palestinian negotiator in the peace process, Faissal Husseini, predicted that "the warm sun of Jerusalem will shine across the whole Middle East" if the final status negotiations scheduled to open in May are successful. But, he warned, "if we fail, Jerusalem can also be the black hole of the Middle East -- swallowing everything including the peace process."
In a sermon opening the conference, Samir Kafity, president bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, referred to Jerusalem as the mother of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. "True motherhood does not discriminate or have preferences," he said. "Jerusalem is a mother who loves all her children equally and alike."
Kafity said that he believes that when Jerusalem is true to its name as a city of peace it will be a "symbol that could change our present world and be the starter of the new order. May it once again be the answer to the quest for peace. May it be a city completely shared in every respect and at every level by Jews, Muslims and Christians -- including a sharing of sovereignty."
A prominent Anglican layman, Jonathan Kuttab, urged the conference to take practical steps by asking Israel to end the closures that prevent Arab Christians and Muslims from reaching their places of work and worship in Jerusalem. A lawyer who was an unsuccessful candidate in the recent Palestinian elections, Kuttab also urged that Israel end its practice of confiscating land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, for the building of Jewish settlements. His appeal was echoed in the final statement adopted unanimously by the conference.