CMEP statement on proposed UNSC resolution on settlements

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) has issued a statement calling on the Obama Administration not to stand in the way of the resolution regarding settlements in the UN Security Council vote.

We can reach out to President Obama by phone and email with the same call and urging him to take this opportunity to spur both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take decisive new steps toward a comprehensive peace agreement.

For more from CMEP, go to the new, redesigned website: http://www.cmep.org/

Here is the complete statement. Below is contact information on how to reach the White House.


February 2, 2011

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a coalition of 24 national church communions and faith-based organizations advocating for robust U.S. government policies to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is deeply concerned with the lack of progress in negotiations for a comprehensive peace. Brief direct talks were suspended last September. U.S. proposals intended to reignite direct negotiations failed to bring the parties back to the table.

A United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop illegal construction of settlements in the territories over which it gained control in 1967, including East Jerusalem, has been submitted for Security Council consideration and will be discussed by the Middle East Quartet (U.S., UN, EU and Russia) later this week. The language of this resolution reflects language that the United States has historically used to describe settlement construction activity: illegal, an obstacle to peace, and not legitimate.

CMEP calls on the Obama Administration not to stand in the way of this resolution in a Security Council vote. Furthermore, in the context of the resolution’s consideration, CMEP urges the U.S. government to take this opportunity to spur both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take decisive new steps toward a comprehensive peace agreement.

With new tensions and transformations rapidly emerging in the Middle East, regional stability and security require a comprehensive peace agreement in the near future. In addition to believing the current situation to be politically unsustainable, CMEP continues to be deeply concerned about the impact of the existing stalemate on people’s daily lives. The absence of any progress toward a resolution compounds the humanitarian situation on the ground, stranding many Palestinians in a state of perpetual food insecurity and leaving most without access to adequate water resources.

Palestinians deserve self-determination and Israelis deserve the security of a comprehensive peace and recognition by their neighbors. The outlook for an agreement is not hopeless. Recent reports confirm that in 2008 both sides made significant progress in defining their positions on important final status issues, including security, borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. Yet little progress has been made since then. The United States must send a robust message in word and deed to both parties that delay is not an option and that new substantial steps toward a comprehensive agreement are needed immediately.

“Blessed are the peacemakers” is a call from Jesus that is today most timely and urgent. Churches for Middle East Peace offers its prayers and active support to all who are willing to take bold steps to help bring about a comprehensive peace among Israelis and Palestinians.

Warren Clark, Executive Director
Martin Shupack, Board Chair

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Contact the Administration
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United StatesThe White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

(Include your email address, if any, in mailed correspondence)

Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
email: president@whitehouse.gov

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Bishop Younan preaches on Christian unity

Bishop Munib A. Younan preached a sermon for the Week for the Prayer of Christian Unity at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. I have provided some excerpts here. For the complete sermon, please go to the link: http://gallery.mailchimp.com/c9c32f1679d067d8ca8107b9e/files/Bishop_Younan_Sermon_WeekOfPrayerForChristianUnity.pdf

The wonderful resources of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are not limited to a single week but can be used anytime in prayers and vigils for peace, conferences and events, special worship services. Explore this website at the World Council of Churches: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and-order-commission/xi-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity.html

Here are excerpts from Bishop Younan's sermon -

Jan. 25, 2011
“One. . . in the apostles’ teaching. . . .”
(Acts 2:42)

"(...) As I often say, to work for unity in Jerusalem is an art. We are in need of capable artists to produce something so beautiful. We all know the work required and the careful planning to design a Middle Eastern Carpet. It is as if each of our churches is a different color of thread (or yarn), yet woven together the carpet becomes so much more beautiful than each strand of yarn by itself.
The individual threads do not loose their identity or individual character. The beauty of their particular color remains intact. Yet coming together under the direction of an artist, the finished carpet is more beautiful than all of the individual strands. And it is none other than the Holy Spirit that guides this process of coming together to produce this beautiful ecumenical carpet. Picture with me such a beautiful carpet hanging here on the wall—a beautiful carpet, perhaps with an image of the Lord’s Supper with Jesus sitting in the middle—Imagine how beautiful this carpet would be. If ecumenism succeeds in Jerusalem, it can succeed in the whole world. And so we are called to this purpose, for we are capable artists weaving together this beautiful carpet of the holy communion. It is not a burden, nor an effort. It is simply our duty to which we have been called to answer Christ’s priestly intercession so that we maybe one as Christ and the Father are one (John 17).

"(...) This can be an example of how Christian unity can take place here in Jerusalem. Ecumenism is not built on the shoulders of others, not on finding mistakes and disagreements with others. Nor is it in concentrating on particular events in our common histories. Unity starts when we are open to live in a spirit of repentance and forgiveness, and ask our Lord to guide us. Unity is not uniformity. A carpet of all red threads is okay, or one that is all blue, or all green. But we all know that much more desirable in the market is that carpet which brings together various colors into one with a carefully designed pattern of the Holy Communion. Each of the churches brings to our ecumenical carpet special gifts that benefit us all. Those of us from the Lutheran tradition stand in appreciation of the witness that each of you give:
• To the Orthodox we say thank you for your witness of steadfastness in faith.
• To the Armenian and Coptic for your example of faith in martyrdom.
• To the Syriac for the way that you have preserved a history going back to the Aramaic roots of our faith.
• To the Latin Catholic for your example of church order and for the spirit of faithful obedience.
• To the Maronites for your ability to contextualize our faith.
• To the Greek Catholic for joining East and West together under one roof.
• To the Anglicans for your liturgical forms and hymnody
• And I hope that you would say the same for our Lutheran zeal and fervor inpreaching and especially our devotion to justification by faith and the priesthood of all believers. We stand appreciative of each of you and your witness in the faith. And now that we have worked together for some time here in Jerusalem, we can only say that we cannot imagine for one moment trying to exist without each other.

"(...) Unity in a spirit of repentance and forgiveness calls us as reconciled diversity to see Christ in the other, and to find a common witness here in Jerusalem. Why did God decide on that first Pentecost to make use of 19 different languages including Arabic? Why has God today placed us here in Jerusalem: Orthodox, Catholic, Oriental Catholic and Orthodox, Lutheran Evangelical, Anglican? Why here in Jerusalem? Why us? Why these particular different churches? One thing is certain: he called us to be in Jerusalem to be a light to the world. It is a light that emanates from Golgotha and the empty tomb. It is a light reflecting this spirit of repentance and forgiveness. It is a light that calls us to be living witness and creative diakonia together.

"(...) We must have strategies and action plans. Most of all we are called to remain steadfast in the apostles’ teaching. We all as churches are responsible to deepen the understanding of our witness and presence in the Holy Land. We are called to educate our people:
To know the Bible deeply.
To understand its message.
To emphasize the importance of Christian education.
To know why we are here in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
To show the world that we in Jerusalem continue to be both the church of Golgotha and the church of the empty tomb, the church of suffering, but also the church of resurrection.
We are called to educate our people that what unites us is Jesus.
We are called through this teaching to confess together that There is one body and one spirit, one hope in which we are called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one eucharist, one God and father of us all.
We are called through this teaching to stand together, to present a common living witness."

Learn more about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem and the Holy Land: http://www.elcjhl.org/

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Episcopal bishop and St. Olaf college students concerned about justice and peace

Episcopal presiding bishop writes to Obama on Israeli-Palestinian peace process

This news courtesy of the ENS staff. For the complete story and the full text of Bishop Jefferts Schori's letter, go to this link: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_126599_ENG_HTM.htm

January 18, 2011

[Episcopal News Service] Stressing the urgency of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori last weekend wrote to President Barack Obama urging United States leadership to "reignite a negotiations process that can produce immediate and sustainable steps toward a just, comprehensive and lasting peace."

The Jan. 16 letter also cautioned against U.S. use of its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block a possible resolution on Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories. Use of the veto "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," the presiding bishop wrote.

Stalled peace talks
The presiding bishop's letter comes at a moment when U.S. efforts to broker direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are stalled. The parties briefly came to the table in September in direct negotiations orchestrated and mediated by Obama, but those talks faltered when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a temporary freze 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.

[Full story and complete text of the bishop's letter at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_126599_ENG_HTM.htm]

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St. Olaf College students get a view from the Holy Land

This news courtesy of St. Olaf College News. For the full story, go to this link: http://www.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsShorts#5019

JANUARY 18, 2011

St. Olaf students participating in the Interim program in Israel and the Palestinian territories received a tour of the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem last week from Rev. Mark Brown '78, the organization’s regional director.

The students, led by Associate Professor of Religion Jim Hanson ‘83, are taking a course titled Historical Geography and the Bible in the Holy Land. It’s the first St. Olaf group to visit Israel in more than 11 years. In addition to touring the Lutheran World Federation compound that is located on the Mount of Olives, the group has toured an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, a Palestinian refugee camp, and many sites pertaining to Biblical history.


[For the complete news brief and photo, go to: http://www.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsShorts#5019]

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During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, look to Jerusalem

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draws attention to Jerusalem
20 January 2011

Shortly after the beginning of each year, Christians around the world pray for church unity. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionally celebrated from 18-25 January, draws on resources sponsored jointly by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church. The materials for January 2011 have been prepared in partnership with the churches of Jerusalem.

"In a present-day context of despair and suffering, the churches of Jerusalem show determination and witness together with the global church for a just peace in the city of peace," said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a sermon at Geneva's Ecumenical Centre during a service of prayer organized by the city's churches. The service on Wednesday evening, 19 January, included traditional music from the Middle East and was led by local church leaders. It was attended by more than 200 people.

Tveit observed that the New Testament portrayal of the Jerusalem church "describes the original oneness of those early believers in Jesus. Being one means being together, breaking bread, praising God, but also giving and sharing, according to who is in need." He described the image of sharing around the table as a striking image that "gives great spiritual energy" to ecumenical endeavours.

He continued, "The table is also a place and space that demands that we think about justice and the way food and access to power are shared in the world, especially at a time when speculation with food prices will mean that the poorest will become poorer, and go hungry."

Tveit noted that "there is still sadly one table where we as Christians do not yet eat together," referring to differences among churches that mean all Christians cannot share together in the eucharist. "Yet here too the witness of Christians in Jerusalem, the mother church of us all, can help us. They show us that it is possible to work together despite divisions, to carry forward prophetic calls for justice and peace, and try to be one in action together."

In the Geneva service, Father Mikhail Megally of the Coptic Orthodox congregation thanked other local churches for their support in the wake of recent violence perpetrated against the Coptic community in Egypt. He told the gathering, “Copts are children of the Middle East. They belong to this region and are part of its development and identity. We cannot imagine either Egypt or the Middle East without their Christians.”

Full text of the sermon by the WCC general secretary: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/sermons/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-2011.html

The general secretary mentioned the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, "... created in 2002 in response to a call from the churches in Jerusalem – individual accompaniers from member churches live alongside Palestinians and Israelis and see what life is like. Afterwards they return to their own contexts and tell the story of what they have experienced."

Full text of the introductory remarks by Father Mikhail Megally (pdf) - http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/2011pdfs/WOPCU2011_FrMegally.pdf

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Action Alert: Support UN SC resolution condemning settlements

This Action Alert just in from the ELCA Middle East Network and Peace Not Walls. Click the link for the complete alert, plus links to more resources:
http://capwiz.com/elca/callalert/index.tt?alertid=22390501

Tell the President: Support a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements.

Click the link above, then click the "Call Now" box for helpful talking points. In case you don't get that far, here is the phone number:
Washington office of President Barack Obama, 202.456.1313.

Tell the President to join the international community in reaffirming that Israeli settlements are illegal, are a major obstacle to peace, and should be halted immediately and completely.

Call the President today in support of a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

The UN Security Council may soon be considering a resolution

• reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlements in Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967,


• naming settlements as a major obstacle to peace,


• demanding that Israel cease all settlement activity including in East Jerusalem,


• calling on both parties to act on the basis of international law and previous agreements,


• calling on all parties to continue negotiations on final status issues, and


• urging intensified efforts to invigorate the peace process.

U.S. leaders have said each of these things before. Our support for this resolution encourages the Obama administration to reaffirm these positions.

Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, wrote in Foreign Policy online magazine on January 5 that "the U.S. should rejoin the virtual international consensus on these issues, stand up for its own declared interests, and vote for the proposed Security Council resolution."
[http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/05/the_us_should_vote_for_a_un_security_council_resolution_condemning_israeli_settleme]

This resolution comes at a critical juncture when negotiations have lapsed specifically over the settlement issue. The U.S. administration has repeatedly called for a settlement freeze and has criticized settlement activity including in East Jerusalem. A UN resolution now, reaffirming previous UN resolutions and stating clearly the international consensus on settlements, could serve as a catalyst to get negotiations back on track to finally achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

Contact the president today.

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New book: Palestine sixty years later

Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU) has published Palestine sixty years later, by Thomas Suarez. Because this book is so photo-driven, I recommend it for gifts and church libraries.

While the website might change, right now you can see samples of the beautiful pages at this link: http://palestine.org.il/

AMEU: http://www.ameu.org

Palestine sixty years later combines 171 photographs and commentary into a vivid glimpse of modern-day Palestine. An Introduction summarizes the origins of partition, compares the methods of Zionist expropriation used in 1948 to those employed today, and analyzes how Israel has exploited Judaism and the collective Western subconscious. The main part of the book is divided into three section: Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. Although its focus, inevitably, is on the realities of life under siege and Occupation, the author depicts side-by-side the "other" Palestine, people living their own lives as best they can under that reality, refusing to be defined by it. A concluding commentary addresses the reasons the conflict has remained unresolved, and argues for immediate action to end the injustice.

A violinist, Thomas Suarez has written about Palestine both online and in print, and is the author of three major works on the history of cartography, and a novella. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Gaza Mental Health Foundation.

Palestine sixty years later
Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank 2008-2009
Photographs & Observations
Thomas Suárez
Price $18
112 Pages. Softcover. 8.5 x 9.5 inches. Published by Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU), 475 Riverside Drive, Room 245, New York, NY, 10115-0245. Photographs and text © 2010 by Thomas Suárez. ISBN 978-0-578-051

From Middle East Books Reads - http://www.middleeastreads.com/?p=255 -
"Palestine: Sixty Years Later [is] a full bore assault against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, rejecting assumptions of symmetry between Israel and Palestine or presumptions that Israel acts in self-defense.

"Suarez’s... photographs of contemporary Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank are incontestable. They offer an unnerving portrait of a people and a land under an inconsolable occupation... The value of this photo essay lay in its capability to remind its readers that Palestinians are people like themselves,wishing the best for their families, but living under extremely harsh conditions... Suarez’s narrative accompanying the photos provides a powerful indictment against Israel’s practices and ultimategoal of erasing the Palestinian presence."


"A beautiful, evocative book. Suarez’s marvellous photographs capture more eloquently than any words the essence of what it means to live under Israeli occupation. The accompanying text is authoritative and to the point. An aesthetic and educational experience not to be missed." — Ghada Karmi, author of Married to Another Man: Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine

"[This] extraordinary book of photos and text ... should be read by every American citizen."— U.S. Senator James G. Abourezk

"A moving, fact-filled and insightful portrait of a people under relentless siege."— Norman Finkelstein, author of Beyond Chutzpah and "This Time We Went Too Far"

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Kairos Palestine study launched by Presbyterian Israel/Palestine Mission Network

On the first anniversary of the launching of Kairos Palestine - A Moment of Truth, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has released a 24-page booklet that includes the Kairos document and a three-week congregational study plan.

Info at this link: http://israelpalestinemissionnetwork.org/main/index.php/component/content/article/140-kairos-palestine

Kairos Palestine is the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" of our time, according to the Network. "This Confession of Faith, written in 2009 by a broad spectrum of Palestinian Christian leaders, is addressed to Palestinians, Israelis, the international community--as well as all the churches of the world. It lifts up the classical theological virtues of faith, hope, and love that lie at the heart of the Christian Gospel, and affirms that resistance to injustice and oppression is firmly grounded in these principles. It is both an anguished cry in a dark hour and a profound testament to unquenchable hope."

The study plan includes informative background material on the Israel-Palestine conflict including three maps in color. This material provides essential historical, political, and theological context for the Kairos Palestine statement. The booklet is an excellent guide for readers undertaking an individual study of the document. Church-based groups will benefit from the detailed lesson plans for a three-week congregational study, inclulding a list of thought-provoking questions to stimulate reflection and discussion.

Cost and ordering info: $2.00 each for 1-19 copies $1.50 each for 20+ copies
Order: http://store.pcusa.org/ or 800-524-2612 PDS No. 2646610001

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